We have a customer who needs to clean very oily, greasy clothes from oil field workers. What detergent or other chemicals are needed to do this job properly?
There’s are a couple of key factors to removing oil and grease from garments, especially if those stains are very heavy. First of all, you must use hot water – the hotter the better. Secondly, you need to launder the clothes in a long wash cycle of at least 18 to 20 minutes.
The proper detergent for tackling oil and grease stains is any high-quality “built detergent,” which simply means that the product contains chemicals prone to removing certain oils and greases. In addition, you’ll require an additive called Laundry Wetspo. The combination of a strong built detergent and Laundry Wetspo will remove 80 percent to 90 percent of all oil and grease stains, if the clothes are washed properly.
Again, remember to use hot water and a fairly long wash cycle, followed by two or three rinses. The magic words are “hot water” and “built detergent.”
Lately, I’ve had a problem with white garments coming out of my washer with brownish-yellow spots. What are they? And how can I get them out?
The spots are likely either rust or tannin. When you go to the supermarket, buy a small bottle of rust remover. Wet the stained area with warm water and apply a few drops of the rust remover to the spot. You should see the spot begin to fade away immediately. Once you’ve finished removing all of the spots, be sure to re-wash the garment.
If these same spots continue to appear, it could mean that either your pipes are rusty, or you may be using well water and your softener system is not working properly.
However, if the spots don’t come out with the rust remover, these stains are likely tannin spots. In that case, order a bottle of tannin remover from your local distributor and work it into the garment the same way you did with the rust remover.
I have a customer who brings in garments stained with iodine. How can I best remove these stains?
First of all, I would suggest that you isolate the iodine by soaking the garment for 12 to 18 minutes in warm water (approximately 90 degrees) with an enzyme detergent. After this process, re-wash the item with your regular detergent-and-bleach formula.
If the stain persists, your next step is to wash the item in hot water (150 to 160 degrees) with sodium silico fluoride. This should be an extended wash of about 30 minutes. Then follow up with a normal detergent-and-bleach wash.
Also, there are various enzyme products out there, which are effective at removing iodine stains. With those, soak for two to three hours. In many cases, this process will remove most of the iodine. If a slight stain remains, proceed with an after-wash, because you may have loosened the stain enough to remove it with the wash.
When using enzymes, be sure that your water temperatures aren’t too low or too high. Approximately 70 to 95 degrees is preferable.
I have been very successful in the drop-off segment of my laundry business. Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of men’s shirts, and I’m having trouble cleaning the cuffs and the collars. What should I do?
Your problem is not unique. Most shirt laundries experience trouble in removing soils from collars and cuffs. But there are two ways of eliminating the problem.
One way is to use a quality product designed for that specific job. One such product is called Citrizyne; of course, there are other similar products available. Simply ask your local distributor for a product designed to eliminate the stains on the cuffs and collars when used in a standard washing procedure.
Another method is to use a cuff and collar spotter with a spotting brush – scrub the cuffs and collars before you wash the shirts. If you cannot buy a spotter in your area, try using Wisk, which works very well.
