Hey everyone!
I started to do a load of laundry this weekend and in the process of the washer filling, something happened with our water so I had to shut it off. We are still not sure if it was frozen pipes or what, but we had very little water until yesterday. To make a long story short, after the plumbers got our water flowing again, there was black gunk in it that looked like potting soil.
Yesterday, my husband started the washer back up to finish the load that I had started when the water stopped. Yes, I know I'm a lucky one...my husband does laundry :-) Today he brought the basket of clothes in and there is something red all over them and the dryer. It looks like it could be crayon or marker, but I never found a crayon or marker in the load. There was also red clothing in the load and it may have been the dye from sitting in the washer together so long??? But, I've had dye run before and it looks worse than that did. So, I don't know if that could be it. Plus, the washing machine doesn't have any red in it, just the dryer. Also, I'm wondering if it could be from our whole water problem, but I would have thought it would be black.
So, my question is...1. How do I save this load of laundry? and 2. How do I clean the dryer out? I'm concerned that anything that goes in it now, will end up with that red on it.
Thanks so much for any and all help!
Thank you so much everyone for your advice!! I did find out that it was definitely crayon when my 8 year old narked out one of the twins. So, as Angela suggested, I went to Crayola for advice. They suggested WD-40. However, that may have worked if I wanted to scrub and scrub and scrub for umpteen hours. But, time is very limited for me, so I turned to a Melaleuca product. I used Solumel undiluted to clean out the dryer..which did take some scrubbing, but nothing like the WD-40. Also, it is not as bad to smell when your whole upper half is in the dryer trying to clean it (great picture, I know, sorry! ) To clean the load of laundry, I used Melaleuca products there too (MelaPower, MelaBright and Solumel). It was a full load of laundry and there are only 3 articles of clothing that have any spots left whatsoever!! This stuff is amazing!!! It's a bit expensive, but was definitely worth it to me to save a dryer, laundry and time. Thanks again for all the help! Oh, and one more thing....I learned to check pockets more carefully before washing! :-) It was in a little tiny pocket of a jacket.
Could it be a listick that was left in the pocket of something.I have done this before. It is a mess. When it happened to me I put lestoil on stains and let it sit. Some were successful some were not. I think it depends on the fabric. As for the dryer use a non'scratch pad to clean it out. Good Luck!
One, I'd wash a load of rags, old sweatshirts or something you don't care about to see if it does it again. HOPEFULLY, it won't.
You need IMMACU-10. I've even taken out permanent black ink from a white sweatshirt. I use it not only for laundry, but also for carpet spots, windows, floors, etc. Saves a TON on numerous other cleaning supplies. Best of all.....it's enzyme based, NOT chemical so safe around EVERYONE & EVERYTHING!
Where do you live? I'm in Fishers, IN. You CANNOT get this in stores.
My guess is it's rust. Mix a paste of salt + lemon juice and scrub onto stain. Let set for 30 minutes and then scrape off paste. Repeat as necessary. This website has some other suggestions:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?source=ig&hl=en&a...#
Since you have a whole load, you can always soak the clothes overnight in a 5 gallon bucket with 1 gallon white vinegar and 2-3 gallons hot water (let sit in garage because of smell). You might have to do it in batches, or you can scale it up depending on how big a bucket you have.
For the dryer itself, try one of the following: lemon juice + borax, magic eraser, CLR, hydrogen peroxide + cream of tartar. Good luck
Ok, I've never dealt with this one before, but here was my first instinct. As for the clothes, I would start a load in the washer (or in a large sink if you have one to spare for a few days) fill it with cold water and LOTS of Oxyclean. let it agitate a bit to make sure all of the clothes are saturated, but turn it off before it starts spining and just let it soak. Leave the lid open and forget about if for a few days, I'm talking like 3-5 days. Then finish running the wash cycle adding your regular detergent plus a little extra. Check the clothes out before putting them into the dryer to make sure the stains are gone, and if they're not, try the whole process again.
As for the dryer, well I have an idea for that too. Soak some towels in Oxyclean as well (I say towels because they're not as bad if they're stained, you can still live with them) and wring them out just enough so they are not dripping wet. Throw them into the dryer on a cool down cycle. My idea is that the cleaner on the wet towels will rub off onto the dryer barel (sp) and the rubbing action of the towels will help remove it.
Like I said, I have no idea if this will work or not, but this is what I would do first. Whenever I notice a stain after it comes out of the dryer, the first thing I do is soak it in Oxyclean. I swear by that stuff. Good Luck!
I wouldn't even bother on cleaning the stain you can buy or maybe even get a new one for free on this website.
Hi L.~
I am a SAHM of 4...lots of laundry here too! I also work from home ~ with a wellness company. They have a wonderful line of laundry products and several cleaners (one that took red permanent marker off my butcher block table after several days...just by rubbing on a drip w/my finger and wiping with a napkin!) My website is: www.KidsNeedMomHome.com if you'd like to learn how you can shop for these products for your family, just fill out the "get info" form and it will come directly to my inbox. I'll then give you a call and share the free info with you so you can decide if you think it would be a good fit for you and your family. Hope I can help ~ C.
This may sound strange, but could it be silly putty? I have a 5 yr old girl and she had a tiny tiny bit of silly putty in her pants pocket and I apparently didn't check them well enough before I did the wash and it ended up pretty much as you've described. fortunatly it was just on some undies and socks. I used some goo gone on the dryer spots and then after the red goo was up, used dawn to get the greasy spot from the goo gone off, as for the clothes, they still have the red on them. Hope this helps!
Wow, your first response just taught me a thing or two for any future problem I may have with mine. It sounds good, I'd go w/ that! :)
I would spray Shout or some other spray stain remover on all the spots, let it set 5-10 minutes, then put a little Chlorox two on the spots and a little laundry detergent directly on also. Put them on as warm a temperature as the fabric will allow, let it agitate a few times, then turn off and let soak for at least 30 minutes. I've done this for many stains and it works quite well.
As for the dryer, I would try to wash it out with Mr Clean or other scrubbing soap. If that doesn't do it, try some Soft Scrub, but make sure you rinse it out good as it does contain bleach.
It makes sense to me that it is a red crayon. In a washer, the crayon would not melt (WAX)causing the stain- but in the dryer it would. So....who knows how to get out crayon?? Perhaps try what some have suggested- ORR- call a company like CRAYOLA, and ask them. I bet they have a remedy.
Good luck!
A.
It sounds like it could be iron or rust to me. I would get RLR (you can find it online if not at your store). It helps remove mineral deposits from clothes; I use it periodically when clothes start looking faded, and it helps bring more life back in them.
Is there any chance it could be iron? We have tons of iron in our water, and on nights when it's so cold that we leave the water dripping, we get a red stain in our sinks. Also, occasionally when they shut our water off to fix the pump (we have well water), the water that comes on when they're done is bright red. We get stains once in awhile anyways, and I can only imagine how bad my laundry would be if the line got plugged up and then got going again--all that iron/iron sediment (it builds up in the pipes) would come pouring through for the first little bit until it was cleared up to normal again.
I'm not sure if this would stain the dryer though... But if it is iron, IronOut works wonders! Good luck!
It really sounds like crayon to me. This happened to me a couple times. I am not sure if you can find my post for some of the answers I got for this same question (providing it is crayon). Do some of the stains have a waxy feel to them? Or since they were dried, do you notice greasy stains also? If so then I would definately say crayon. Mine was a black crayon that I did not find in the wash, but it melted in the dryer. Sickening. Anyway, what seemed to work the best for me was actually a bar soap found in the laundry stain remover section of our IGA store. I have not found it at Wal-Mart, or tried anywhere else. It is called Fels Naptha Soap and is less than $2 and last for a long time. I will tell you it is not fun to use especially on a full load and I am sure a ton of small spots. You have to wet the stain scrub the bar over it and then scrub it in with a brush. Even then there may still be residue, so you may need to hang the clothes to make sure the grease stains came out. You also may decide that pajamas and underclothing are okay to have the stains, and just focus on the nicer ones because it is a lot of work. I tried the OxyClean and other ideas but this was what worked the best for me. If you think it is more likely dye or iron then for colors this will help with that also, but not so much on whites. They make stuff to remove iron, Iron Out, but you need to read the labels as most of them will take color out better than bleach. Good luck. It is not fun, but may save the clothes. This soap was recommended to me by my kids preschool to get paint out of clothes. It works great for that too. I see you have twin boys around preschool age. I have twin boys turning 4 in a couple weeks.
