Common Laundry Disasters and How to Fix Them

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• Oops! The Tighty Whiteys Are Pink!
• Who hasnt opened the washer or dryer only to
  find their lovely whites got a bath in someones
  brand new red T-shirt? A bottle of color remover,
  such as Rit, is all it takes to bring those
  whites back into the realm of wearable.
• You can use the color remover in one of two ways
  
• The Stovetop Method Bring a large pot of water
  to boil and add the color remover. Add the
  pinkish whites and simmer until once again bright
  and light. This can take from five minutes to
  over an hour.
• The Washing Machine Method Re-wash the clothes
  in the color remover as directed on the bottle.

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• Bam! A Pen Explodes in the
  Washer
• You realize youve made the unfortunate mistake
  of forgetting to check your pockets before
  throwing your clothes into the wash. Try these
  steps to remove that stain
• Lay the stained garments out on an old towel.
• Dab rubbing alcohol onto the stain, and agitate
  with the towel until the ink works its way off of
  the clothing and onto the towel.
• If the alcohol doesnt work, rinse that out and
  try the same procedure using nail polish remover.
  
• These tactics are more successful if you catch
  the ink stains before the clothes go into the
  dryer, but can sometimes work even on dry, set
  ink stains.

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• Your Brand New Sweater Now Fits Your Toddler
  Better than You
• Shrunken sweaters how infuriating! It isnt
  always possible to fix this particular goof-up,
  but if you love the sweater (and paid enough for
  it to power a small nation for the next month),
  these steps are definitely worth a shot
• Fill a bucket with room temperature water.
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of hair conditioner to the
  water and mix well.
• Add the sweater and soak for about 5 minutes.
• Take the sweater out and allow the bulk of the
  water to drain into the sink or tub.
• Lay out on a towel and gradually, carefully
  stretch the fabric back into its original size
  and shape. This takes time and finesse, so be
  patient.
• If these steps fail to work, donate the sweater
  to your daughters doll clothing collection and
  try not to cry when Suzy rocks it at the next tea
  party.

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• A Food Stain from a Dinner Date Dried before
• You Could Get Home
• During dinner last night, you totally didnt
  notice spilling some of that rich, savory sauce
  on your new blouse. By the time the movie was
  over and you drove home, the stain had set for
  good. Or maybe not! Try these solutions
• Apply some full-strength laundry detergent or
  stain remover to the stained area liberally.
• Allow it to sit for several minutes.
• Rinse well and check to see if the stain is out.
  If not, try a more powerful stain remover and
  agitate the stained material well before tossing
  for another go in the washing machine.

If this fails and the stained garment is white,
try applying lemon juice to the stain liberally
and setting it out in the sun. Keep re-applying
the lemon juice until the stain fades. Dont try
this with colors, though.
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• Drab Gray Whites Darken Your Day
• Sometimes after lots of wearing and washing and
  drying, white clothes become dingy gray. There
  are a couple of methods to revitalize whites
  before relegating them to the dust rag pile.
• Soak the whites in a bucket of lukewarm or
  room-temperature water with a couple of
  tablespoons of liquid dish soap. Hand rinse or
  run through the rinse cycle of the washer.
• If this doesnt restore the brightness, soak the
  whites in another bucket of water with 2
  tablespoons of ammonia. Do not breath the
  ammonia! Rinse and check for whiteness.
• The most stubborn dingy whites might need a third
  soak in another bucket, this time with 2
  tablespoons of vinegar in the water.

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Uh Oh. The Laundry Smells like Mildew What busy
person hasnt tossed a load into the wash and
forgotten it for, say, a week? What you need to
do depends on whether or not the laundry has
developed those tell-tale black spots mold. If
the laundry is smelly, but not yet moldy (has
black spots), toss in a half-cup of bleach (for
whites only) or color-safe bleach and rewash the
load. When mold has set up shop, toss in a cup
of hydrogen peroxide with the bleach or
color-safe bleach. If neither of these steps
works, try soaking the laundry in a cup of borax
with a washer full of water for a few minutes.
Then allow the wash cycle to complete. Be sure to
mix the borax in well with the water so it can
reach all the clothes.
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• Red and Green, Yellow and Blue! Crayons in the
  Laundry What Shall I Do?
• Ah, the precious little one has left a beautiful
  crayon in the pocket, and now its gone through
  the washer and dryer, where it left colorful
  stains all over the dryer drum. Lovely. Heres
  what you can do
• Remove as much of the wax as possible by
  scraping. One of those fake plastic credit cards
  that come in the junk mail are ideal for this
  purpose, because it wont scratch the interior of
  the dryer.
• Use a blow dryer to heat the wax and help remove
  the more stubborn marks.
• For marks as stubborn as the three-year-old
  responsible for this little mishap, use a dab of
  WD-40.
• Clean off the last of the crayon and WD-40
  residue with some household cleaner. Wipe well so
  it wont stain the next load of laundry, and
  avoid oil-based cleansers that might cause
  additional stains.

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• Achew! Somebody Left a Tissue in the Dryer
• Facial tissues and bath tissues leave a
  horrifying disaster when washed in the machine.
  Fortunately, this is one of the easiest laundry
  mishaps to address. Which is good, because the
  event normally happens when the household laundry
  guru has a punishing head cold.
• Dig out the big chunks that are easiest to get
  your hands on.
• Go ahead and toss the load into the dryer and run
  it as usual.
• The dryer lint trap will catch most of the tissue
  remnants for you.
• When the clothes are dry, its usually pretty
  easy to remove any remaining tissue pieces with a
  lint roller or by hand.

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About Automated Laundry Systems
Automated Laundry Systems services the California
area with quality, dependable laundry equipment
and repair parts, and has since 1976. Located in
Burbank, Automated Laundry Systems offers
everything needed to set up a laundromat business
or coin-operated laundry in apartment complexes,
hotels, sports facilities, and more. Eco-friendly
laundry solutions are available to cut down on
water waste, power waste, and help preserve our
environment. For more information, please visit
www.automated-laundry.com.
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Sources http//housekeeping.about.com/od/laundry
/a/laundrydisaster.htm https//www.ritstudio.com/
techniques/the-basics/rit-color-remover/
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Summary Everyone has experienced a laundry mishap
or two in their time. Learn the best (and
easiest) ways to save your clothes from ink
stains, shrinkage, and much more.