I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT

wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT


Are the pillowcases plain white? Are they cotton, or synthetic? Are
you going to throw them away if you can't get rid of the stain? :-)

I usually try methanol, acetone, or bleach. Or sometimes, a sort of
chromatography - dripping water or solvent to make a stain sort of
migrate until it's too faint to see. One of them will usually work, but
it depends very much on what you're working with - you could end up
destroying them.

On 23/01/18 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT

bio detergent, heat and time by whatever method you choose.

New pillow cases?
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
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Blind user, so no pictures please!
wrote in message
...
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with
just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no
way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at
least a day before I can rewash them.


NT

wrote:

I have pillowcases with unknown stains on,
Any ideas as to how to proceed?

Straight to Dunelm?

In article ,
TimW writes:
On 23/01/18 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT

bio detergent, heat and time by whatever method you choose.

+1, and definitely not an eco washing powder.

If cotton, a 60C or 90C wash, otherwise hottest the label allows.

Sometimes, I'll rub a wet bar of soap on any stubburn stains before
re-washing.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 23/01/2018 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


Was the first wash a hot or cold wash? A hot wash may have cooked the
stains in.

If it's oil try pouring some dish washing liquid on them and leave for a
few hours before re-washing.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 23/01/18 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT

fill bath with hot water: add bleach. leave to soak.


--
In todays liberal progressive conflict-free education system, everyone
gets full Marx.

Andy Burns Wrote in message:
wrote:

I have pillowcases with unknown stains on,
Any ideas as to how to proceed?

Straight to Dunelm?


Where's Iggy when you need him?

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On Tue, 23 Jan 2018 12:32:01 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
TimW writes:
On 23/01/18 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT

bio detergent, heat and time by whatever method you choose.

+1, and definitely not an eco washing powder.

If cotton, a 60C or 90C wash, otherwise hottest the label allows.

I thought biological detergents worked best at low temperatures?

I would tend to soak overnight in lukewarm biological detergent then
give it a hot wash the next day. I could be entirely wrong.

On 23/01/2018 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT


If unknown start with a soak in a bio washing powder at low temp, maybe
overnight.
If that doesn;t work a hotter wash with a non bio powder.
if that doesn;t work try bleach.
Dye it
buy a new one

Oh no dave has moved my ' key!!!!!
or its a virus affecting my alcohol intake like TNP has.

In article ,
Scott writes:
On Tue, 23 Jan 2018 12:32:01 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
TimW writes:
On 23/01/18 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil, with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them. There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT

bio detergent, heat and time by whatever method you choose.

+1, and definitely not an eco washing powder.

If cotton, a 60C or 90C wash, otherwise hottest the label allows.

I thought biological detergents worked best at low temperatures?

The enzymes only work up to about 40C, after which they're destroyed.
The detergent in the powder will work hotter.
So, a modern machine (last 35 years) should fill at no more than 40C
anyway, and for a hot wash, it will crank the temperature up in stages.
There are other reasons too not to dunk clothes directly in 60 or 90
degree washes, but to work up to that in stages - some dirt which
is removable at lower temps will cook on at higher temps and be more
difficult to remove.

I would tend to soak overnight in lukewarm biological detergent then
give it a hot wash the next day. I could be entirely wrong.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 2018-01-24, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Scott writes:

I thought biological detergents worked best at low temperatures?

The enzymes only work up to about 40C, after which they're destroyed.
The detergent in the powder will work hotter.
So, a modern machine (last 35 years) should fill at no more than 40C
anyway, and for a hot wash, it will crank the temperature up in stages.
There are other reasons too not to dunk clothes directly in 60 or 90
degree washes, but to work up to that in stages - some dirt which
is removable at lower temps will cook on at higher temps and be more
difficult to remove.

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

On 24/01/2018 21:59, Adam Funk wrote:
On 2018-01-24, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Scott writes:

I thought biological detergents worked best at low temperatures?

The enzymes only work up to about 40C, after which they're destroyed.
The detergent in the powder will work hotter.
So, a modern machine (last 35 years) should fill at no more than 40C
anyway, and for a hot wash, it will crank the temperature up in stages.
There are other reasons too not to dunk clothes directly in 60 or 90
degree washes, but to work up to that in stages - some dirt which
is removable at lower temps will cook on at higher temps and be more
difficult to remove.

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

I think those always filled with hot water if available. I had one which
took ages - about 30 minutes as the hot water pressure was so bad [1] -
so I filled it on a cold setting and then reset it to the hot to heat up
with the immersion element.

[1] Actually the next one I had, which was also hot-and-cold, took only
10 minutes to fill with hot, so maybe there was something else wrong
with it.

--
Max Demian

In article ,
Adam Funk writes:
On 2018-01-24, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Scott writes:

I thought biological detergents worked best at low temperatures?

The enzymes only work up to about 40C, after which they're destroyed.
The detergent in the powder will work hotter.
So, a modern machine (last 35 years) should fill at no more than 40C
anyway, and for a hot wash, it will crank the temperature up in stages.
There are other reasons too not to dunk clothes directly in 60 or 90
degree washes, but to work up to that in stages - some dirt which
is removable at lower temps will cook on at higher temps and be more
difficult to remove.

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

My Hotpoint did. Initial fill was always 35C in that machine.
It went up in a few steps at perhaps 10 min intervals to 60C,
and then straight to 90C (which I only ever used a couple of
times in 25 years).

It started with cold first, and only switched on the hot when
there was some cold in there, presumably to ensure it didn't
damage the washing enzymes before they could be used. Worked
well when it was about 2 feet from a multipoint heater, but
not so well after moving it somewhere where the hot wouldn't
run through the pipework before it finished filling. That's
why machines tend not to have hot fill anymore.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
TimW wrote:
On 23/01/18 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil,
with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them.
There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to
proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.


NT

bio detergent, heat and time by whatever method you choose.

Quite a few are allergic to bio detergent.

--
*It's lonely at the top, but you eat better.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 24/01/2018 22:58, Max Demian wrote:
On 24/01/2018 21:59, Adam Funk wrote:
On 2018-01-24, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Â*Â*Â*Â*Scott writes:

I thought biological detergents worked best at low temperatures?

The enzymes only work up to about 40C, after which they're destroyed.
The detergent in the powder will work hotter.
So, a modern machine (last 35 years) should fill at no more than 40C
anyway, and for a hot wash, it will crank the temperature up in stages.
There are other reasons too not to dunk clothes directly in 60 or 90
degree washes, but to work up to that in stages - some dirt which
is removable at lower temps will cook on at higher temps and be more
difficult to remove.

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

I think those always filled with hot water if available. I had one which
took ages - about 30 minutes as the hot water pressure was so bad [1] -
so I filled it on a cold setting and then reset it to the hot to heat up
with the immersion element.

[1] Actually the next one I had, which was also hot-and-cold, took only
10 minutes to fill with hot, so maybe there was something else wrong
with it.

Was the restrictor for mains pressure hot water removed I wonder?

SteveW

On 25/01/2018 20:36, Steve Walker wrote:
On 24/01/2018 22:58, Max Demian wrote:
On 24/01/2018 21:59, Adam Funk wrote:

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

I think those always filled with hot water if available. I had one
which took ages - about 30 minutes as the hot water pressure was so
bad [1] - so I filled it on a cold setting and then reset it to the
hot to heat up with the immersion element.

[1] Actually the next one I had, which was also hot-and-cold, took
only 10 minutes to fill with hot, so maybe there was something else
wrong with it.

Was the restrictor for mains pressure hot water removed I wonder?

No, the hot water tank was fed from a cold water tank above it.

--
Max Demian

On 25/01/2018 23:25, Max Demian wrote:
On 25/01/2018 20:36, Steve Walker wrote:
On 24/01/2018 22:58, Max Demian wrote:
On 24/01/2018 21:59, Adam Funk wrote:

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

I think those always filled with hot water if available. I had one
which took ages - about 30 minutes as the hot water pressure was so
bad [1] - so I filled it on a cold setting and then reset it to the
hot to heat up with the immersion element.

[1] Actually the next one I had, which was also hot-and-cold, took
only 10 minutes to fill with hot, so maybe there was something else
wrong with it.

Was the restrictor for mains pressure hot water removed I wonder?

No, the hot water tank was fed from a cold water tank above it.

No, I meant that washing machines were usually supplied with a
restrictor fitted to the hot inlet to restrict the flow if they were
plumbed to a mains pressure supply (such as from a combi) and that
restrictor needed to be removed to give reasonable flow if the hot water
was fed from the lower pressure of a header tank.

SteveW

On 25/01/2018 23:51, Steve Walker wrote:
On 25/01/2018 23:25, Max Demian wrote:
On 25/01/2018 20:36, Steve Walker wrote:
On 24/01/2018 22:58, Max Demian wrote:
On 24/01/2018 21:59, Adam Funk wrote:

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

I think those always filled with hot water if available. I had one
which took ages - about 30 minutes as the hot water pressure was so
bad [1] - so I filled it on a cold setting and then reset it to the
hot to heat up with the immersion element.

[1] Actually the next one I had, which was also hot-and-cold, took
only 10 minutes to fill with hot, so maybe there was something else
wrong with it.

Was the restrictor for mains pressure hot water removed I wonder?

No, the hot water tank was fed from a cold water tank above it.

No, I meant that washing machines were usually supplied with a
restrictor fitted to the hot inlet to restrict the flow if they were
plumbed to a mains pressure supply (such as from a combi) and that
restrictor needed to be removed to give reasonable flow if the hot water
was fed from the lower pressure of a header tank.

I see. It's quite likely that the first one hadn't been installed
properly. One that was installed when I was home took them a total of 10
minutes including removing the old one - the new one was cold fill so
there wouldn't be a restrictor. (These were washer/driers - the middle
one lasted eight years which was considered a good lifespan.)

One repair job was because the belt driving the drier fan had worn out.
To check that was all that was wrong he fitted a couple of rubber bands
(of the kind that postmen used to drop all over the place) that I had.
He said I could use the drier until the proper part came, but I didn't
risk it.

--
Max Demian

On 23/01/2018 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil,
with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them.
There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to
proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.

Any good?

https://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/i...e-semen-stains

On 2018-01-25, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Adam Funk writes:
On 2018-01-24, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Scott writes:

I thought biological detergents worked best at low temperatures?

The enzymes only work up to about 40C, after which they're destroyed.
The detergent in the powder will work hotter.
So, a modern machine (last 35 years) should fill at no more than 40C
anyway, and for a hot wash, it will crank the temperature up in stages.
There are other reasons too not to dunk clothes directly in 60 or 90
degree washes, but to work up to that in stages - some dirt which
is removable at lower temps will cook on at higher temps and be more
difficult to remove.

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

My Hotpoint did. Initial fill was always 35C in that machine.
It went up in a few steps at perhaps 10 min intervals to 60C,
and then straight to 90C (which I only ever used a couple of
times in 25 years).

Interesting, thanks.

It started with cold first, and only switched on the hot when
there was some cold in there, presumably to ensure it didn't
damage the washing enzymes before they could be used. Worked
well when it was about 2 feet from a multipoint heater, but
not so well after moving it somewhere where the hot wouldn't
run through the pipework before it finished filling. That's
why machines tend not to have hot fill anymore.

Right.

On Friday, 26 January 2018 12:22:53 UTC, Max Demian wrote:
On 25/01/2018 23:51, Steve Walker wrote:
On 25/01/2018 23:25, Max Demian wrote:
On 25/01/2018 20:36, Steve Walker wrote:
On 24/01/2018 22:58, Max Demian wrote:
On 24/01/2018 21:59, Adam Funk wrote:

We had a hot-and-cold-fill machine until about 10 or 15 years ago.
Would it have filled with a mixture of hot and cold water even for the
60° or 90° programmes?

I think those always filled with hot water if available. I had one
which took ages - about 30 minutes as the hot water pressure was so
bad [1] - so I filled it on a cold setting and then reset it to the
hot to heat up with the immersion element.

[1] Actually the next one I had, which was also hot-and-cold, took
only 10 minutes to fill with hot, so maybe there was something else
wrong with it.

Was the restrictor for mains pressure hot water removed I wonder?

No, the hot water tank was fed from a cold water tank above it.

No, I meant that washing machines were usually supplied with a
restrictor fitted to the hot inlet to restrict the flow if they were
plumbed to a mains pressure supply (such as from a combi) and that
restrictor needed to be removed to give reasonable flow if the hot water
was fed from the lower pressure of a header tank.

I see. It's quite likely that the first one hadn't been installed
properly. One that was installed when I was home took them a total of 10
minutes including removing the old one - the new one was cold fill so
there wouldn't be a restrictor. (These were washer/driers - the middle
one lasted eight years which was considered a good lifespan.)

Some machines had 2 fill valve options, one for mains one for low pressure supplies from overhead tanks. The latter had to be obtained from the mfr when installing.


NT

On Friday, 26 January 2018 12:47:56 UTC, Fredxx wrote:
On 23/01/2018 10:48, tabbypurr wrote:

I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil,
with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them.
There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to
proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.

Any good?

https://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/i...e-semen-stains

I don't think it's that and they don't have anything to offer that hasn't already been covered here.
I've been busy on other things, so have only washed it twice so far.
1. Cold wash, bio detergent. Fail.
2. Warm wash in bio detergent with oxi-whatsit powder. Fail.
The material is probably a cotton-synthetic blend so I don't want to boil it. The stains have no feelable bulk or stiffness, ie the cloth is just as floppy as elsewhere. They're just a uniformly noticeably darker shade.

I don't have acetone or methanol, so my best next move options a
overnight soak in detergent
apply strong detergent solution to stains an hour before washing

If those fail I'll start exploring the chemicals cupboard more, but most of my cleaning substances would likely destroy the cloth. It's red so can't be bleached. What have I got that might not kill it... ammonia, washing soda, vinegar, paraffin, assorted detergents, will see what else is there.


NT

On 26/01/2018 12:47, Fredxx wrote:
On 23/01/2018 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil,
with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them.
There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to
proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.

Any good?

https://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/i...e-semen-stains

They don't say anything about computer keyboards.

--
Max Demian

Max Demian wrote:
On 26/01/2018 12:47, Fredxx wrote:
On 23/01/2018 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil,
with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them.
There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to
proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.

Any good?

https://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/i...e-semen-stains

They don't say anything about computer keyboards.

Apparently you wash them in hot soapy water, give them a good scrub and turn
them upside down to let them dry.
The guy that recommend this to me did not like me too much.
I would be pleased if you could try this method and come back with the
results........... if you can.

In article , Max
Demian writes
On 26/01/2018 12:47, Fredxx wrote:
On 23/01/2018 10:48, wrote:
I have pillowcases with unknown stains on, they look like maybe oil,
with just slight darkening, but standard washing doesn't touch them.
There's no way to find out what's on them. Any ideas as to how to
proceed? It'll be at least a day before I can rewash them.
Any good?

https://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/i...vice/stain-rem
oval/remove-semen-stains

They don't say anything about computer keyboards.

You've wanked all over your keyboard?
--
bert