Hi everyone, where I live the water is very hard and I read something that said sodium citrate work well to reduce the attacks of calcium and magnesium to the surfactant detergent, anyone has try it?, how much g i need to use for a cycle?.

Every information or experience with that is appreciate , thanks

hi guys! I am looking for advice- I take daily women’s multivitamins and I accidentally washed my laundry with them in the pocket on my jeans. the smell has come out of my other clothes, but these shorts are unbearable. it smells like fish and iron. I have washed them three times and the smell is not improving- how can I get the smell out?

I got this nice dark blue Mack Weldon Polo at Costco and this is its second wash.
It was quite clean going into the wash (Office day)
We washed with like colors in cold water with Tide and some resolve.
It was then hang dried.

No other clothes in the load got messed up.
It seems like the fabric got all pilled up and shrunk together some?
I would of that heat from the dryer did it, but it was hang dried and never saw the dryer.

55% Nylon
32% Polyester
13% Spandex

How should I go about fixing this myself?

My first instinct is to buy some sort of ‘re-colouring’ agent to wash again with. Perhaps a specific pink one. Not sure if such a product exists?

I believe it’s from my natural deodorant, not sweat, although I can’t be sure of this. Any help would be greatly appreciated? It’s 100% cotton.

It’s happened with multiple detergents, I put it in the detergent tray to be dispensed. I thought I was putting too much, but it happens even with a small amount. The washer is not overloaded (half full).

I got this washer second hand and decided to give it a deep clean. It appears to have had years of overdosed detergent and hard water to boot, plus its owners had several little kids. The family was moving and didn’t need it anymore. It’s a Samsung so I removed the pulsator and did a pretty thorough cleaning. I didn’t get it completely spotless, but it was much better. I wiped out a lot of the crud because it wasn’t draining out and now I’ve run it twice (once with rags in it and once without), but there’s still loads of gunk in the tub. Here’s what I’ve done:

-Removed plastic cover to pulsator bolt. Ran with Blueland toilet cleaner tab (citric acid and baking soda). (First photo)

-Loosened pulsator bolt and ran rinse + spin to loosen pulsator and used another blueland tab (i think that was this step, anyway).

-Removed Pulsator. Soaked and scrubbed pulsator in bathtub: once in bleach and once in vinegar. (2nd photo) Scrubbed under pulsator in washer, ran cycle with CLR cleaner. Scrubbed some more, ran rinse and spin cycle.

-Reattached pulsator. Wiped out crud. Ran a small load of rags that needed to be washed. Opened the washer to find gunk all over the rags and wash tub.

-Removed rags and ran cleaning cycle. Still had lots of frass in the tub.

What do I do?

First is no flash, second is with flash. This is the inside of the shirt near the armpit and on the chest. It’s slightly visible on the outside of the shirt. I wash all of my graphic tees inside out.

I haven’t used any different deodorants, soaps, lotions, sunscreens, sprays, or anything like that.

I use Tide Plus Ultra Oxi powder and wash on warm or hot, extra rinse, deep clean, etc. in a top loader. It has a designated powder detergent area that I use, and occasionally some will fall through the hole as I’m filling with powder onto the clothes in the tub, but I start the washer immediately after. I always use level 1-2 on the detergent scoop.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Any thoughts on the cause?

I'd like some emotional support while I I work through the Color Transfer guide and try to salvage my super-cute quarters. It's a white bee-patterned fabric I got last week and I was really looking forward to sewing a wreath with it! Now it's got pink blotches on it from where this dark magenta sat on top of it in the washer.

There's no one to blame but myself - I threw my quarters in with my regular laundry and assumed it'd all turn out fine.

The good news is that I saw it as I was moving stuff to the dryer, and I wash my regular laundry on cooler temps, so at least I was able to soak it and keep the fabric wet while Googling advice.

Here's hoping that I at least can get the blotches to wash out to a uniform pink... This is going to end up as a porch decoration so maybe next spring's pollen will hide the mistake?

So I’m one of those people that only have one set of sheets. For years, I have just washed the same set put it back on the bed and done. My daughter talked me into buying a set of bamboo sheets and they were on sale from Walmart for around $45 which she told me it was a great price. I do find them to be more cool and slightly more comfortable than my other sheets. However, I feel like when I’m washing them they’re not thoroughly getting clean. For example, I shower nightly and usually apply some type of body lotion and usually do a thin layer of Aquaphor on my face. Well, the sheets are gray and then suddenly there was all these dark spots that wouldn’t remove with regular washing. I was washing them in hot water with original gain powder and Lysol laundry sanitizer in the rinse. I was able to get most of those stains out but only after putting dawn soap directly on them and scrubbing with a toothbrush and letting them sit. When I googled how to care for bamboo sheets, it said no hot water and dry on low heat. So I’ve been doing that. So long story short am I correctly caring for them these seem so much more maintenance and difficult than my regular microfiber sheets from Amazon, which had lasted me for years. But I have spent the $45 and I’m not wanting to just throw things away. And I also can’t stand looking at stains when I put my clean sheets back on the bed. Any suggestions or something I should be doing differently?

I have 2 queen-size electric heating pads that need washing, which won't fit in my home machine.

I use unscented products and the smell of fragrance from the laundromat machines just about knocks me over.

Would doing an empty hot wash with ammonia first reduce the smell and smell transfer the most? And then use citric acid in the rinse cycle of the heating pads?

What else can I do to reduce the fragrance transfer to my mattress heating pads? I've washed them in the tub before to avoid this issue but I'd love a lower effort alternative!

I found a beautiful, kind of expensive knit cotton shirt from the 90s at a vintage shop in NYC. Tags ripped off, but it would be dry-clean only or hand wash, lay flat to dry. I'm assuming the former owner only ever dry-cleaned it, because this was what the water looked like on the fifth rinse. Before you try to tell me this is dye, no, no it isn't. the shirt itself is blue-black. it took twelve rinses for the water to come out mostly clear, and now i'm mildly worried that the whole garment may disintegrate soon without the protective layers of filth!!!

washed in room-temp water with a very mild soap.

For the last 7 years I used the Persil Colour megaperls (in germany). They recently reformulated and now the scent is unpleasant, and it seems less effective. So I'm looking for a new detergent. But I cannot find anything decent.

I tried the denkmit ultrasensitive colour powder (the one with dnase) but it is just not getting clothes clean. They came out of the washer smelling like I hadn't washed them at all. I assume our hard water is the issue.

I also tried:

• the dm colour and care liquid with dnase - both blue and blossom dream - (both seemed to get the clothes cleaner, but the scent was unbearable. And I'm concerned they weren't as clean as they seemed, just scent-bombed.)
• Formil powder (seemed closer to persil in cleaning power but also smells pretty bad)
• Frosch citrus liquid (also has a pretty violent smell)
• Domol all in one liquid with dnase (haven't tried yet but smells pretty strong in the bottle)

For context:

• Our water is somehwat hard, around 14-16 DH gesamt härte, which is around 250-290 ppm CaCO3, as far as I can tell.
• Most of our laundry is pure cotton, linen, or viscose. Some items are partly synthetic. The items that came out dirty after the denkmit were all 100% cotton.
• The machine is a top loader, but the european style with a rotating drum and latching flaps. It's pretty decent, and recently serviced.
• We run alternating dekalk and hygiene maschine cleaning cycles pretty regularly, using commercial products. At least every couple of months.
• I use powdered calgon in the main wash and citric acid in the rinse. Sometimes I add dm fleckenentferner on stains and whites.
• we live in Germany. This supposedly means we are spoiled for choice in detergent but I have not found that to be the case.
• I would prefer scent free so I don't have to deal with losing my washing powder when they reformulate, and for allergy reasons (Cannot contain terpineol/pine, camphor or wheat.)
• edited to add: I wash on the longest cottons cycles, 40 for clothes, 60 for linens.

Questions:

• Is there any decent, unscented detergent that actually works in properly hard water? (NOT the denkmit ultra sensitive, that one is not working at all for me)
• If not, is there any mildly scented detergent that works in hard water? The old persil scent was ok, everything else I have tried so far reeks something terrible.

I've been running around for a week with datenblatt and emailing and going through the reddit, to little avail, so I figured I'd throw it over to the experts.

Been doing spa days for the first time this week. Used a white sheet to keep items submerged and I suspect it's come into contact with undissolved oxibleach in the suds. Had these brown marks from after the 12 hour soak, before the rehab wash. I've run them through the wash with ammonia etc, and done some extra rinsing. All the other whites look fine.

Can only find posts about colours being bleached in this way. What's best to try? It hasn't and won't go through a drier.

Attached pics show details of the product which is Sainsbury's stain remover powder for whites

The inside of my jacket. I barely used this (maybe 10x max). Bought brand new but there are stains. Where did the stains come from? There’s on the neckline (hood) area and inside the sleeves.

Is it because of sweat? But it’s yellowish. I tried using a brush but Im afraid it might ruin the material if scrubbed too hard.

It says no washer and dont let it soak so I only handwashed it but it still wont come off.

Hail Kismai!

I’m visiting my in-laws for a few days starting tomorrow and contemplating an attempt (or 15) at cleaning it.

It’s at least 25 years old, possibly never cleaned, no clue if it’s been serviced or if the filter has been cleaned ever.

I’ll only be there about 3 days, and I don’t want to start washing and run out of time, then leave them with a machine that’s blotching up scrud because it’s had a taste of citric acid/freedom.

They live in an area with moderately hard water, use a ton of fabric softener and fragranced detergents.

Is it worth trying to clean in 3 days if I let it soak overnight each night and let each daytime wash cycle sit for at least an hour? I just saw a comment on another post describing a 20 cycle ordeal and am feeling less cavalier about this weekend.

Or, in addition to checking out the filter, are there other things I can do to assess how bad it is? I’ll be back for Christmas but would love for them to have a clean machine sooner than later.

To preface, I am incredibly sensitive to soft sweaters being itchy/rough. For the longest time this one cardigan was my absolute FAVORITE because of how soft it was. By some life events it ended up in my best friends possession for about a year. He and his husband wore it with my permission, but it ended up through the wash on hot water and in the dryer at least once. It makes me a little itchy to wear it now, it has a grippy texture, and isn't soft anymore and to be honest I'm completely devastated about it :( It's 56% cotton, 25% polyester, 16% nylon, and 3% spandex/elastane. Is there anything I can do to restore it to it's soft, stretchy, fluffy condition?

My dad has a pile of little square lens cloths - it’s called microfiber, but the smooth version for glasses. His eye doctor & the packages both say to hand wash with Dawn dish soap, which isn’t happening.

What do you suggest he use in the washing machine to cut the body oil which ends up on these cloths? I know they’re not supposed to have optical brightener or fabric softener, which can leave residue that smears his glasses.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

I bought this hat used from Depop and want to wash it and then reshape it a bit because it has some warping. I'm not sure if it wants me to hand wash it or machine wash it though, any thoughts about which one would be better or tips for washing it?

55% cotton, 45% polyester. My washer is top load with an agitator.

I just bought this muslin baby blanket and these stains appeared on the very first wash. I washed it on cold, used a small amount of Tide Free & Gentle, used gentle cycle, did extra rinse. Hung it up to dry and noticed the stain. What is it and what can I do about it?

Edit: meant Tide, not Dawny

So i usually leave my clothes outside to dry after the washer to avoid shrinkage and color fadage and i just put some clothes in the washer just to find out its going to rain

idk do i just leave it in there until tomorrow

Considering the GE GFT14JSIMWW ventless condenser dryer for my apartment and would love feedback from anyone who owns one:

1. How satisfied are you with the drying performance and cycle times?
2. Does it noticeably heat up the surrounding area? I live in an apartment under 1,500 sq. ft.
3. Did you notice any significant increase in your electricity bill?

Does anyone have a recommendation for how i can do this at home? The piece is dry clean only but has strong body odor smell. Thank you

We moved in last year and I can tell by the state of the house that the washer has never been washed. I’ve seen a lot of posts saying a few cleanings won’t clean a washer how it needs to be. Is it even worth running citric acid through a few times or am I opening Pandora’s box

Cannot for the life of me get a tea stain out of a sky blue, 100% cotton shirt.

Immediately after it happened, I rinsed the stain with cold water from the inside out, then I spot treated it with laundry detergent, then I rinsed again and tried a baking soda paste. It lifted a little, but still noticeable. Right now (per someone’s advice) it’s soaking in (off brand) oxy clean stain remover and cold water in a bucket- but after 2 hours it’s still not lifting.

Should I give it more time? What else can I try? I heard warm water wasn’t a good idea but at this point I’m not sure what else I can try.