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25 April 2007

Gaaa! I washed my Chapstick with my clothes! I left my Chapstick in my pants pocket and washed and dried my clothes.[More:] I took them out of the dryer and saw intensely greasy spots all over. I rubbed laundry detergent and Shout in the spots, soaked the clothes for an hour, and did a heavy duty wash and put them back in the dryer. Now I swear there are more spots but in different places. Now what?
Dish detergent and Oxy clean might work.
posted by arse_hat 25 April | 00:21
It says it's white petroleum and this says how to remove a petroleum jelly stain.
Apparently you can use petroleum to get rid of stains. Oh, cruel irony.
posted by ethylene 25 April | 00:48
This page even deals with Hog Confinement Odor.
wow.
posted by ethylene 25 April | 00:51
I'm guessing that hog confinement odor is definitely something you want to remove. Outdoor hogs are bad enough.
posted by bmarkey 25 April | 00:56
i cannot even imagine what that is but i don't want to.
posted by ethylene 25 April | 01:01
I've done that before. I've also washed and dried clothes with sticks of gum and peppermints. The only real damage came from the gum, which ended with me throwing away a few shirts i think.
posted by puke & cry 25 April | 01:37
HogConfinementOdor just might be my new MeFi sock puppet account name.
posted by PaxDigita 25 April | 04:49
I don't know that Chapstick is waxy enough to do this, but I'd consider Chapstick-ing or waxing the entire everything for a complete waxed cotton wardrobe.

You'll never fear the rain again.

[Pronounce that rain agĀn.]

Waxed cotton rules.
posted by shane 25 April | 08:23
At least you won't have to worry about your garments getting dry rot.

*ducks*
posted by Smart Dalek 25 April | 08:25
ethylene's advice is good, but in my experience, even 91% rubbing alcohol won't be a good enough solvent for removing waxy type products, which have higher paraffin content than petroleum jelly.

"White gas" was the miracle dry cleaning fluid of the early 20th century. It's cheap, and a terrific solvent on most any type of organic fabric (cotton, linen, wool, etc.) The major reason the dry cleaning industry abandoned its use was that it has a very low flash point, which is the same thing as a predilection for exploding when confined in interior spaces.

But you can still safely use it to solve your problem, if you work with it outdoors, don't breathe the fumes, and keep it away from sparks, flames and ignition sources. What you want to do is get some Coleman stove fuel at any camping store place, or even Walmart or Target. You'll also need some white rags or perhaps Viva disposable towels to act as blotting cloths.

Basically, you just use blotting cloths to blot the Coleman fuel on to the spots on your garment, and then use additional fresh, dry blotting cloths to absorb the solvent bearing the grease. The power of capillary action is working for you, and if you use plenty of solvent, and keep blotting enough (10 - 15 "spot and blot" cycle should be plenty), you can get the grease out to any level of clean you'd like.

Test for the colorfastness of any dyes on an inconspicuous area of the garment, before cleaning visible areas. Air the garment outdoors for at least a couple of days after treating it, so that the white gas fumes are completely dissipated before bringing it indoors. Don't substitute other solvents like gasoline, which has identification dyes inserted for tax purposes, and don't mix other solvents like alcohol until the garment has been aired out thoroughly and perhaps water washed again.
posted by paulsc 25 April | 08:27
I was going to mention Ronson lighter fluid, which should be pretty much the same stuff as white gas or Coleman stove fuel for cleaning purposes. Smoking lamp's out while working with the stuff, natch. Foomp!
posted by PaxDigita 25 April | 08:42
Here's a page (scroll to bottom) that heartily recommends "Un-Du candle wax remover", and says that the Chapstick manufacturers recommended it themselves. However, according to Un-du's site, it has been discontinued, sort of... so I don't know if it will still do the trick.
posted by taz 25 April | 11:32
Will dry cleaning work? The solvent they use is good on oil-based stains.
posted by theora55 25 April | 11:55
Weekly Traditions A.K.A. "Band Practice" || Bert, my talent is an interpretive dance entitled "This Perp's Goin' Down"

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