This is a shameless call for help.
I’m having a problem with my laundry and I’m wondering…
All of my husband’s (and Simon’s) shirts keep coming out of the washing machine like this.
All their collars look like giant vampire fangs after a feed.
(And I don’t even like vampire’s…but don’t get me started on that.)
Here are the facts:
The white shirts go into the machine white.
The shirts come out with the collar tips (and only the collar tips) coming out looking like they’ve been burned.
What is this madness and how do I stop it?
Help meeeeeeeee…….
have you run an empty load with vinegar? i don’t know if it would help. . . but it might be worth a try– http://www.askannamoseley.com/2011/02/reader-question-cleaning-your-washing.html
good luck!
leisel
Maybe there is rust in the little holes in the drum??? The collar tips are the only thing small enough and stiff enough to get in there???
I would say the vinegar thing too…..does your machine have a “clean washer” setting? I do that periodically too.
And this is Elizabeth 😉
I would say the vinegar thing too…..does your machine have a “clean washer” setting? I do that periodically too.
And this is Elizabeth 😉
Do you have the plastic thingys still in the collar tips when washing? I’ve never seen this, but that’s what comes to mind, first.
Are there little things in the collar to keep them stiff and pointy? Usually they are plastic but maybe there is something up with these that is causing them to rust. I saw on Pinterest that a mixture of dawn dish soap and hydrogen peroxide (1:3) works well on getting weird stains out. Worth a try. Good luck. I hate laundry.
I’ve never seen this before so had a quick look on google. I found this: http://www.championcleaners.com/Dry-Cleaning-Blog/bid/54232/Dress-Shirt-Defects-Three-Common-Problems. Are the shirts “wrinkle-free”? Hope that helps 🙂
My best guess is that the collar stays in his shirt are made of metal. Flip over the collar, and see if the stays are removable. Take them out and replace them with plastic collar stays. To remove the rust, I’ve used this method:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/cleaningtips/a/removerust.htm
Good luck! Keep us posted!
maybe your guys secretly like chewing on their collars:) no really, i think it is those little colllar stays, weird that they are not plastic everything else in this world is plastic by now. geez, hope you can get the rust out.
Looks like rust…Folex (http://www.folexcompany.com/folex_facts.html) will get it off the shirt. If it’s your washer you can use “Iron Out” (http://www.superironout.com/). I was having a similar problem but it was actually our dryer where the felt around the dryer drum had come loose. Good luck!
We used to have this happen at my house growing up. It was from a metal ring on the inside of the dryer that was rusting. If small corners rubbed past it, they got rusty. If it’s happening in the washer, I would say it is something similar.
Are you removing the plastic tips from the shirts? Possibly they have melted and stained the fabric.
We used to have horribly rusty well water – that Iron Out works wonders. But beware, it will also take the color out of most colored fabrics, too.
As a side note, I SUCK at laundry and especially ironing. It was a constant battle between my husband and I until he took over the job of doing his white shirts. And then… (surprise, surprise) he started taking them to the dry cleaner to have them laundered, starched and pressed. It costs VERY little, and it’s VERY worth it – at least in keeping our marriage happy! 🙂
That is crazy! I once got rust out with lemon juice and sunlight.
My husband is very insistent that his collars get tucked inside his shirt when they are washed and dried. I was skeptical when we first met, but his collars have stayed nice looking for a lot longer. We just flip them inside out and tuck them in the shirt. This helps them not get discolored, but also stops them from getting folded weird and creasing where they shouldn’t. This doesn’t help clean your washer, but if it’s the only part of the shirt that comes out looking like that it might avoid the problem while you figure something else out. 🙂
I was going to say stays also. My son has this issue if he forgets to remove them. Good luck!
The other comments have some great ideas but if none of them work try soaking the shirts in water before washing them. The corner of my pockets were getting discolored from chemicals I used at work reacting with the detergent. It was only copper but it still reacted.
Thank you for posting this! I am noticing the same types of stains on a few of my daughters’ baby clothes lately. Bizarre looking. I’m off to check for rust!
It is from the dryer. The felt ring along the back wall of the dryer is wearing out and anything tiny like a shirt collar or the corner of the front of a dress shirt goes in the crevice and rust gets on the shirt.
Here’s a video on how to replace the felt ring in the dryer:
Same exact issue with my shirts. I took an old one and cut the collar stay out…it was clear plastic and sewn in, no adhesive.
The problem is located in your clothes dryer, in which the edges of clothes (collars, handkerchiefs) come in contact with a strip that surrounds the drum. This strip collects lint, which burns and turns brown over time. So, you’re more likely to have this problem in an older dryer. A dryer repair person can fix the problem by cleaning and/or replacing the strip.
Thank you!
After spending 32+ years in the military, I can tell you that this is from the heat being too high in the dryer when drying the white shirts. This is almost never a problem with color shirts, only white shirts. The shirts can be laundered (washed) in a normal fashion but… they must absolutely be dried in the dryer on the low heat cycle. It is the only way to prevent this from re-occurring. After the fact tid-bit: you can try a white dye (Rit brand) or peroxide and laundry soap to try and remove the burn (which is what it is) but it will almost always bleed back through after several launderings if the damage has already been done. Good luck.
Thank you!!!