Laundry Question

[Raelyn Fey]

I was getting ready for the faire this week and realized I had orange stains on my lovely chemise! I did some reading and apparently some sunscreens react to hard water and turn into rust stains. We use water softener, but apparently that's not enough. I was advised to let me chemise soak in some OxyClean and Dawn over night and then wash it. I did as instructed and it doesn't look any better. It actually gained a couple blue lines somehow during the process. This chemise is ruined and I spent a fair amount on it. I'm gutted I spent so much on a one use chemise that seemed to be of great quality. I have no choice but to wear it as is this Saturday. How can I keep this from happening in the future? I know I'm not the only person to wear sunscreen at the faire with a muslin/cotton chemise. How do you all keep your chemises from staining?

[isabelladangelo]

Actually, I rarely wear sunscreen.  I'm allergic to a couple of them and it's easier to just grab a parasol and gloves.   

Handwash the chemise.  Soak it, again, in oxyclean.  Use a LOT of oxyclean.   Wait an hour and use the powder detergent to hand wash the chemise this time. 

[Ms Trish]

I've used a combination of blue Dawn dish detergent, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide as a spot cleaner. (1 part Dawn 2 parts peroxide soda to make it less fluid) Let it set on the stains for a couple hours and wash.

[Raelyn Fey]

I hand washed it the first time which I guess resulted in the stains since it reacted to the hard water. The second time I did it I used distilled water.

The stains are long streaks around the sleeves, shoulders, and neck area going down. There's a lot of orange. Spot treating it would mean pretty much just soaking the whole thing in it.

[gem]

Did you try just machine washing it with bleach? Muslin is pretty hardy stuff and can take a fair amount of rough treatment.

[Raelyn Fey]

No because it's unbleached muslin.

[Rani Zemirah]

Is dying it a possible option?  Maybe a nice, rich burnt orange color?  I have no idea if it would cover the other stains, but if they don't come out it would be a shame to not ever be able to use a nice piece of garb again! 

Oh, and what about the stain removers that are sold in the fabric stores?  I've never actually tried any of them, but there is one sold at Hancock Fabrics that several seamstresses I know swear by, for removing anything.  It's this stuff, and quite a few people I've asked about it actually rave about this stuff!  It doesn't cost much, so maybe worth a try? 

[DonaCatalina]

No because it's unbleached muslin.

Muslin is so rugged that even using household bleach doesn't change it much, unless you use the whole bottle. I would suggest you try the Dawn dish liquid first and then machine wash with bleach.

[Amyj]

I agree with DonaCatalina...Go with the bleach.  I've bleached unbleached muslin before and it doesn't lose it's "natural" tan-ish color.  It lightens only a tiny bit if at all....you won't get bright pure white.  You could also try soaking it in Simple Green (the stuff you get in the automotive section for cleaning your whitewall tires and such).  I got a burgundy wine stain out of a white shirt with that stuff...and it didn't even leave a "shadow"!!  Make sure you get the REAL Simple Green...the other "Green Cleaner" types don't work as well.  You can find it at Walmart or any auto store.  Plus, it's natural so there aren't harsh chemically smells or anything that would hurt the fabric.

[Rowan MacD]

  You can try Dreft in the place of the regular laundry detergent.  I use it to get set in stains out of natural fibers.  If it can get old formula stains off of cotton baby shirts, it may work on this.
   Get a bucket (gallon or two) of hot water-add a cup or two of Dreft add chemise, and Let set overnight.   Hope something works!

[max and kate]

Rust and Bleach don't work so well together, try Iron out follow directions.

[Raelyn Fey]

I had also heard rust and bleach were a bad combo. I'll look into some of the other stain removers.

[Adriana Rose]

I soak all of my festival shirts in a bucket with 2 big scoops of Oxyclean for 3 days once festival is done for the season. It pulled out the gnarly set in stains that I had on the sleeves.

[Rowan MacD]

Oh, and what about the stain removers that are sold in the fabric stores?  I've never actually tried any of them, but there is one sold at Hancock Fabrics that several seamstresses I know swear by, for removing anything.  It's this stuff, and quite a few people I've asked about it actually rave about this stuff!  It doesn't cost much, so maybe worth a try?

I have a bottle of  Grandmas' that I bought on a whim.  I have tried it on two grease spots and it didn't work either time.  I tried Oxyclean sprayon pretreater with the same results. 
  Shout works fine on practically all stains, and got the two out that Grandma's and Oxyclean left behind.   
   I don't know if it's the water in our area, but Shout is the only thing that works.

[Rowan MacD]

I agree with DonaCatalina...Go with the bleach.  I've bleached unbleached muslin before and it doesn't lose it's "natural" tan-ish color.  It lightens only a tiny bit if at all....you won't get bright pure white.  You could also try soaking it in Simple Green (the stuff you get in the automotive section for cleaning your whitewall tires and such).  I got a burgundy wine stain out of a white shirt with that stuff...and it didn't even leave a "shadow"!!  Make sure you get the REAL Simple Green...the other "Green Cleaner" types don't work as well.  You can find it at Walmart or any auto store.  Plus, it's natural so there aren't harsh chemically smells or anything that would hurt the fabric.

We used Simple Green to clean upholstery and carpets in aircraft. 
  We would soak grease stained fabric seat covers overnight and it works great.
   I don't like it for home laundry because I don't care for the Wintergreen smell; reminds me too much of the stuff the janitor at my elementary school used to sprinkle on pools of puke. Ewwww.   It neutralizes offensive odors very well, just make sure you get the real stuff.  You don't want to use it full strength unless you want some serious decreasing,  (I use it on my BBQ grill) a little goes a long way.   
  I have yet to find a fabric that it will harm, and it won't effect the color.