Oops! The Tighty Whiteys Are Pink! Who hasn’t opened the washer or dryer only to find their lovely whites got a bath in

someone’s 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.

Bam! A Pen Explodes in

the Washer You realize you’ve made the unfortunate

mistake of forgetting to check your pockets

before throwing your clothes into the wash.

Try these steps to remove that stain:

1. Lay the stained garments out on an old

towel.

2. 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.

3. If the alcohol doesn’t 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.

Your Brand New Sweater Now

Fits Your Toddler Better than You Shrunken sweaters – how infuriating! It isn’t 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:

1. Fill a bucket with room temperature water.

2. Add 2-3 tablespoons of hair conditioner to the

water and mix well.

3. Add the sweater and soak for about 5 minutes.

4. Take the sweater out and allow the bulk of the

water to drain into the sink or tub.

5. 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

daughter’s doll clothing collection and try not to cry

when Suzy rocks it at the next tea party.

A Food Stain from a Dinner Date Dried before You Could Get Home During dinner last night, you totally didn’t 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:

1. Apply some full-strength laundry detergent or stain remover to the stained area liberally.

2. Allow it to sit for several minutes.

3. 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. Don’t try

this with colors, though.

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 doesn’t 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.

Uh Oh. The Laundry

Smells like Mildew What busy person hasn’t 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.

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 it’s gone through

the washer and dryer, where it left colorful stains all over the dryer drum. Lovely. Here’s 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 won’t 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 won’t stain the next load of laundry, and avoid oil-based cleansers that might

cause additional stains.

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.

1. Dig out the big chunks that are easiest to get your hands on.

2. Go ahead and toss the load into the dryer and run it as usual.

3. The dryer lint trap will catch most of the tissue remnants for you.

4. When the clothes are dry, it’s usually pretty easy to remove any remaining tissue

pieces with a lint roller or by hand.

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.

About Automated Laundry Systems

Sources:

http://housekeeping.about.com/od/laundry/a/laundrydisaster.htm

https://www.ritstudio.com/techniques/the-basics/rit-color-remover/

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.