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AdviceLaundry question
About a year ago I got some cute green cargo pants. Love. But then I started noticing after washes they looked like they had oil spots on them. I would try stain treating them but they got worse. It got bad enough I can't wear them anymore because it looks like I got something all over them.
Well, I got some new pants, light gray this time. I just washed them for the first time and THE SAME THING IS HAPPENING! These are brand new and they fit so cute 😭
Does anyone have any clue why this is happening? It has happened with different types of detergent. Is my washer just too old and it's got something in there that is staining my clothes? This has only happened to my cargo pants, no jeans, no tops, no active wear. Help!
Get yourself some washing machine cleaning tablets, and see if your machine has a cleaning cycle option. I would try that.
For sure it doesn't have a cleaning cycle option but I will look up a how-to tomorrow lol
I've had this machine for 12 years and it was a hand-me-down, they'd had it at least a decade before me. It's a sturdy sucker. I did used to clean it from time to time but it's been so long now idk how.
You can use 2 cups of white vinegar, or 2 cups of white vinegar and 1 cup of bicarbonate of soda, or or 500g washing soda crystals and the hottest cycle.
Are the insides of your washing machine and dryer clean? Grease and soap can build up in the drum and gaskets and leak onto your clothes.
That sucks and is really strange. Not sure about the cause but to try and remove the spots I cannot suggest Oxiclean powder enough, if you can get it where you live. I had a pair of black leggings bleed onto two light gray tops and it took that out. It looked like black dye, huge dark patches everywhere. I soaked the tops with water and the powder for a day, washed and you could never tell it happened. It's also taken out permanent marker, blood and vegetable oil for me. I promise I don't work for Oxiclean lol, it's just a great product! Good luck.
Handwash your next pair.....see if the same thing happens.
I'd even be tempted to buy a new pair just to see if it's something on your end or the pants themselves.
Me? First thing I would've tried on the stains would have been Sunlight Soap
I'm assuming you are not on well water. My well water makes bright orange stains everywhere my clothes touch me where I wear sunscreen. Depends on your minerals. I also get things that look like black oil splashes on my linen dresses and some other things; God knows where those come from. If that sounds like what you have, I hope you can find an answer. I have been blaming my well water for it.
I think a similar thing has been happening with a shirt I wear as a coverup for the pool. It always had these strange light orange/brown stains on it and I couldn't figure out why, because I only wore it at the pool and wasn't spilling juice on it or something like that. But I do wear sunscreen to go swimming, so the shirt would be in contact with the sunscreen on my skin.
I don't have well water, but apparently there are still some trace minerals in the municipal water supply.
I have no idea but yet sprinkling the areas with dawn dish soap and baking soda, lightly rub in, leave overnight and wash.
This has gotten rid of very bad oil stains that nothing else could get out.
I don't know that it's oil, is the problem. Ive tried tricks for getting oil stains out and that didn't work, and I have no clue how oil would have gotten on them in the first place. And these stains are pretty significant in radius.
I know it's sounding like I don't want help, it's just that I really have tried so many things and nothing has worked! I thought it was maybe the dye in the first pair of pants specifically, but now I'm panicking that it's happening to a different brand/color.
I agree about cleaning the machine but it seems odd that you don't notice this on any other clothes.
Borax is a great fabric treatment. You can get borax powder and mix it with water then let your clothes soak in a bucket of that for a couple of days. Keep changing the borax water every couple of days. It is known to remove some of the most stubborn stains.
Also, do you use a dryer on these? If so, perhaps something is happening with a dryer sheet.
And I see someone else asked about whether these are from the same maker. It could be something wrong in the fabric.
If nothing seems to help you can always try re-dying the pants.
Are the pants same or different brands? I would look at whatever the stained clothing has in common between the two pairs if it's just those two since your other clothes aren't stained and the detergent is different. Maybe those cargo pants have some kind of finishing chemical or a bad dye composition that reacts to washing. You could use the first ruined pair as a control experiment for different cleaning products (meat tenderizer, white vinegar, oxyclean, etc.) to protect the second pair from further damage. It might be beneficial to self-clean the washing machine too.
I've tried so many things on the first pair. I do think maybe I need to clean the machine
It's genderfluid.
Practically unavoidable, I'm afraid.
🤣 not helpful