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Post by skatters on Sept 2, 2010 13:55:55 GMT -5
My son is interning at a diesel mechanic shop, working on those BIG trucks. He comes home COVERED in grease. We have been washing his clothes in HOT water, with Tide, and oxy clean. But that just isn't cutting it. We are not drying the clothes, since my dryer is broke. Last night, his clothes came out sticky/tacky feeling.
I hear that dawn dish soap works well to get grease out. But everything I have read says to spot treat the spots. Well, his uniforms are COVERED in grease. Literally. Do you think I could add a bit of dawn to the washer? Or would this be a bad bad mistake?
Anyone have any other ideas?
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Post by messymimi on Sept 2, 2010 14:24:21 GMT -5
Dear Skatters,
I have a friend who washes all of her family's clothes in dish detergent; Dawn, Palmolive, Joy, Ivory, whatever brand is on sale.
We have very, and I mean extremely, soft water here. Some of the softest in the country, and she uses a couple of tablespoons.
You might need more than that unless you have a water softener, but experiment, keeping a close eye on it, stepping up the amount slowly so you don't overflow your washer and create a bigger problem.
I hope this helps, and good luck with the grease.
messymimi
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Post by MissABCD on Sept 2, 2010 14:46:35 GMT -5
Do you happen to have access to any of the Stanley Degreaser? I have no idea whether they still make it or not, but I think a little in the wash water or again just pouring a little on the spots used to help. Stanley is usually sold under a home party plan. You might look in your yellow pages. Our daily newspaper lists the local party plans/dealers, etc. Can he at least keep wearing these pants during his internship, or does he have to wear a new, totally clean pair each day? Oh, I have also heard of rubbing a Lava soap bar on the spots. MissABCD
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Post by peppermint66 on Sept 2, 2010 15:49:30 GMT -5
Skatters: Unfortunately, if DS is getting axle grease on his clothing, rather than oil, it will be much harder to get out. Hairy occasionally leans on the fifth wheel connection on the big trucks and comes home with the front of his shirt coated in the this thick sticky grease. There is a product on the market now, nationally I do believe, called Greased Lightning. It was originally formulated to clean car parts and engines in shop settings, but has been found to treat/clean around the home as well. I use this on Hairys really greasy stuff. Fair warning, not all of the grease may come out. Oil will with Dawn dish soap, normally. Remember that Oil and Grease are two different substances and must be treated differently. a Citrus based degreaser might also help as a pre treat/soak.
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Post by urocyon on Sept 2, 2010 17:48:45 GMT -5
I was going to suggest treating spots with dishwashing detergent and scrubbing at it with a brush, but that won't work so well if it's all over the clothes. The presoak with a citrus degreaser might well help. After that drains out, I'd be tempted to let the machine fill about halfway up, add the full dose of detergent and some washing or baking soda (to help cut grease), and let it soak for a while before letting the machine finish filling up and wash. That's what my mom used to do when my dad worked as a mechanic, and it worked pretty well. Instead of that, you could let them soak in a bucket for a while with a couple of tablespoons of dishwashing detergent and just enough water to moisten them--maybe get your son to work the detergent into the clothes. And with that detergent already on the clothes, you wouldn't need to use any more in the wash, maybe just some baking or washing soda to help degrease. But, I am basing this on experiences dealing with oil, not heavy grease. One good point I saw here, when your dryer is fixed: "DO NOT place in the dryer until you are sure the stain is completely gone – if any stain remains the heat from the dryer will set the stain and it will be virtually impossible to remove." I hadn't thought of that, since we don't have a dryer now. Edit: I was wondering if you could pretreat clothes with GoJo, and apparently you can. That might work. You'd need to wash them apart from other clothes (I would with the greasy ones anyway!), and run them through a second wash with just baking or washing soda instead of detergent. If the grease is all over them, that would take a lot of GoJo, though. Maybe put some on a sponge or brush and rub it in? Good luck!
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Post by nell on Sept 2, 2010 20:06:43 GMT -5
Goop. That's right, Goop hand cleaner for mechanics. Rub it in the spots, let it sit for a bit (overnight) and wash in your machine as you usually would. My mother swears by it, and I am always amazed at what kinds of grease and oil stains it takes right out, even roofing tar. www.goophandcleaner.com/Never used anything but the original but it is amazing stuff. I get it at Wal-Mart in the automotive area.
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Post by skatters on Sept 3, 2010 22:11:18 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
Yesterday, I finally got desperate, and used about a cup of "Awesome" degreaser in the wash. Washed in hot. Then rewashed in hot, with Tide. Got rid of the tacky feeling.
I want to try the dawn dish soap. And we do have a gallon jug of citrus degreaser, for hands. Like goop or gojo. But I am just afraid it will get pricey using hand cleaner. And we aren't talking about spots, we are talking about DS LAYING in the grease and oil on the ground. It is bad... he has to use the hand degreaser in his hair too.
Thanks for taking the time to reply, everyone!
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Post by lizzie on Sept 4, 2010 5:09:20 GMT -5
I wonder the other mechanics use? (or their mums, )
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Post by fluffernut - now Jannie on Sept 4, 2010 13:10:22 GMT -5
There are two products you can buy that are good degreasers. Lestoil and Pinesol. Pour full strength on the stained clothes, then add your regular detergent and run a heavy duty wash with hot water, rinse cold. It doesn't do any good to use a hot rinse, it just wastes our energy resources.
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Post by yearning4order on Sept 5, 2010 0:55:32 GMT -5
Citrasolv. Diet coke. Yeah, not joking, diet coke might suprise you. Soak clothes in a bucket of diet coke for a few hours.
One thing I'm a bit suprised about--his internship can't hook him up with some laundry service? If he has uniforms, company should be laundering them. He might want to look into that. Also, why isn't he using a creeper when on the ground?
Laundry services will sell used coveralls made of heavy cotton canvas--he could buy a few of these and plan to throw them away fairly quickly.
The other thought I have...bring a change of clothes to work. One night before laundry day, rinse the work outfit in the solvent tank. Wear rubber gloves while doing this, and wring 'em out as best as possible, toss in a plastic garbage bag and bring them home. Be sure to run a rinse first, and don't expose to any heat before those clothes hit the wash.
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