DIYbanter - View Single Post

jeff_wisnia

Ulysses wrote:

"The Ranger" cuhulain _ wrote in message
ndwidth...

One of the daughter-units took it upon herself to lube-and-grease her
bicycle. I applaud her self-starter can-do attitude and follow-through.

The

bike looks marvelous and rides like new.

Unfortunately, a favorite sweatshirt took a direct hit from tire-and-road
grime. I'm not even sure how she got it tagged but there is clearly a

large

scuff dead-center in her hood. The sweatshirt is 100% cotton, white, and
fleece-like in texture. I've hit it with my three spot removing cleaners
already; Zout, Spot it, and Shout. None of the three even dented the black
hole.

I'm looking for other ideas without damaging the fabric's integrity.

Many thanks!

The Ranger

You didn't say exactly what the stain consists of but assuming it's bearing
grease it is probably soluble in a number of solvents. I would first try
paint thinner or naphtha and only use more powerful solvents if necessary.
Dampen a Q-tip in some of the solvent and blot out excess solvent (damp, not
wet). Try applying it someplace where it isn't noticeable just in case it
causes the color to run. If it appears to not damage the fabric then take a
paper towel and seperate the layers so you have a 1-ply sheet. Get a vacuum
cleaner with a hose and cover the hose with screen or whatever to keep the
fabric from being sucked in. Place the fabric (right-side-up) over the
screen with the paper towel between the screen and fabric. Turn it on.
Gradually apply the solvent, moving the paper towel as it becomes full of
the grease. Do not allow the fabric to become too saturated or a stain ring
will result. Feather the edges of the solvent to prevent rings. The idea
here is to suck the grease from the sweatshirt into the paper towel.

Uh, I don't think it's really wise to suck solvent vapors into a vacuum
cleaner where they may pass through the motor's cooling path which
likely includes a sparking commutator.

You could qualify for a Darwin Award that way.

Even though you may have done it several times without ill effect,
thet's no guarantee that the next guy who tries it, with a different
vacuum cleaner, won't get into trouble.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.