We’ve owned our small laundry in northern Minnesota for just over a year now. Recently, I noticed a slight musty odor in our store, so I crawled into our laundry wash pit to clean it out. Not only did I find a bucket full of dirt, sand, hair and lint (along with a treasure trove of coins, bobby pins, nails, etc.), but I discovered the standing water was black and the pit was filled with a black tar-like sludge.
Do other laundries experience black sludge in their wash pits? Is this a result of decomposition of detergents or other contents in the wash water? Could this “tar”in the wash pit indicate a washer is leaking oil? We wipe out our washers daily and have never noticed residual oil or tar in any of them. What else might cause this?
We’re located 500 miles from oil fields in North Dakota; however, because our rural economy is still struggling, a few local residents commute there for work. Can oil from a rig worker’s clothing be causing this problem?
The black sludge you’re encountering isn’t necessarily tar or oil. In fact, the chances are very good that it isn’t. Typically, fabric softener, detergent and other chemicals used during the washing process tend to emulsify and mix with the soil and other dirt in your catch basin.
Although it can look like oil or tar, in most instances it’s not. More than 90 percent of the time it’s just a combination of all of the chemistry used in during the wash cycle. For instance, fabric softener contains a lot of solids, which can mix with the soils during the washing process and then give off that black appearance of tar or oil.
Also, oil and tar would not emanate a musty, mildew odor – it instead would have a petroleum scent.
Therefore, my advice is to regularly keep your catch basin clean and not to worry – what you’re finding is most likely not a tar or oil byproduct.
I have a customer who didn’t pay me, yet now has clean and folded laundry. I picked it up, washed it, dried it, folded it and dropped it off. My price is clearly stated on my website; this price includes detergent and dryer sheets. I have called him twice, but have received no response. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can get this customer to pay?
A personal call or even visiting the client in person are probably the best ways to handle such a situation. However, if this doesn’t work, I would mail the customer a 30-day notice, stating that if the garments in question are not paid for with that time period, you might be forced to file a small claims form. In your 30-day request, ask if the client was unhappy or unsatisfied with the finished product in any way, as this likely might be the reason he is not paying.
If non-payment for your laundry services continues to be a problem, perhaps you should institute a pre-pay policy so that you’re not confronted with the same situation in the future.
I recently had a customer who brought in a load of clothes that were stored in mothballs for several years. This customer has already washed and dried the clothes once, but the smell is still there. Any suggestions?
If the garments you’re dealing with are whites, one method to try is to soak the items in a chlorine bleach solution of no more than one-half of 1 percent per volume, for a period of five or six hours. Then proceed to wash the clothes in a customary fashion. Generally, if you repeat this process a couple of times, the mothball odor will disappear. Sometimes, it will disappear after the first soaking and wash.
Another suggestion is to use an odor eliminator, such as Febreze. Of course, if you chose, you also can purchase a commercial-grade odor eliminator from your local distributor. Odor eliminators can be applied as sprays; however, I suggest applying them into the washing machine. Basically, use anywhere from three to six ounces in a pre-wash, and three to six ounces more in a regular wash with your detergent in warm-to-hot water. Repeat this process one or two times, and it also will eliminate those mothball odors.
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