Tuesday, March 31, 2009

WFMW Backwards Edition: Laundry Staining





I was so excited to learn that this week's edition of Works for Me Wednesday is the "backwards edition," where I ask y'all for help with a problem.

Because I desperately need help with this little laundry issue I'm having.

Every now and then, I'll pull some clothes out of the wash only to discover they have blue stains on them.





The stains are impossible to remove. Nothing I've tried (even my beloved Carbona Color Run Remover) has touched them. I'm pretty confident the stains are not the result of another piece of clothing "running" because I don't think a color run would spot stain like that.

At first, I thought it was the laundry detergent. So, I switched to a clear-colored liquid detergent and made a point to add the detergent only after all the clothing was completely submerged in water (so the detergent wouldn't hit dry clothing and spot stain). But, that hasn't fixed the problem.

I'm completely stumped -- and a little irritated. It always seems my favorite items of clothing -- or even worse, my daughter's school uniform -- fall victim to the blue spots.

Does anyone know what is going on here and how I can stop it from happening?

Thanks in advance for trying to help a sista out.

And, after you solve my little issue -- be sure and head over to We are THAT Family and check out the dilemmas other people are having this Wednesday. They need some input from smart peeps like you! :)

12 comments:

Pam said...

Could it be ink? Have you tried alcohol? Or Goof off? I had a MAJOR fiasco with ink, so that's my first thought. Although its a little pale for that.lol Umm a sorting problem? Wow! I hope you find the answer! : )

Superchikk said...

Is there something melted to the inside of your dryer? We once had some goop that got stuck on the drum and would come off on the clothes with the heat.

Good luck!

The Halbert Home said...

I would guess with Kay that there's some ink in your dryer. If so, you can get it off with nail polish remover and a LOT of elbow grease.

Jeni said...

Try washing out the inside of the washing machine, too. Sometimes detergent or softener builds up where you can't see it, and redeposits on the clothes. Good luck!

Dawn @ simply transparent said...

I had the same thing happen to some very nice "nile" sheets..I was so irked! Turns out a pen found it's way in and once the stain is dried ..it's in place..so we should look through our wet washed laundry before placing it in the dryer.

Good luck!

suzannah | the smitten word said...

weird!

i've had luck soaking old stains in bio-kleen bac-out, and then sunning dry on a clothesline. old stains fade right away.

good luck.

Kim said...

If you are finding the stains when emptying the washer, check the washer for something stuck in one of those millions of tiny holes in the drum. If it's after drying, check the dryer.

Also, try removing ink using liquid hairspray, pour it on and let it soak in a while then scrub with an old toothbrush.

Hey just found this.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf284068.tip.html#tff43274020

Hopewell said...

put the soap in first?? Clean out the drum of the washer & agitator? Goo-gone? GUM stuck in your drier? [Clean drier drum]

Unknown said...

I would check inside the drum. I've had crayons stuck in the rubber seal around the door before.

QAMom said...

My favorite stain remover is Shout (there's one for set in stains too).

I had a similar issue once where there were blue stains coming out on my daughter's clothes. I finally tracked it down to an off brank "permanent" marker that I was using to mark my daughter's clothes for Day care with, and her diapers. When it got wet, it bled and left a blue mark (even though it was a black marker).

J Family said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J Family said...

Okay, I had to re-do my comment because it was just too weird to have my dh's name show up as the commenter in a homemaking thread! Hope this works this time.

Anyway, I had blue spots like that years ago and found out I wasn't diluting my liquid fabric softener enough when I added it to the rinse cycle. It can be removed with plain Ivory soap, if Downy is the culprit.

BTW, I found you through your white shirt article and wore a white button-down yesterday. :-)