What can these flecks be?!?

sarahd

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 2:31 am

I posted a couple of months ago about removing glue stains from my son's sweater. No one had any suggestions and google couldn't help me either, so the sweater is still unusable.

Since then the same stains have appeared on my son's pants (also not removable) and this week on his Shabbos sweater. Now I am really perplexed. He did not come in contact with glue at any point while wearing this sweater, yet he has these stains all the way down his sleeve. They showed up (or at any rate I only noticed them) after the sweater was washed.

What can they be?!? Am I condemned to keep throwing out new and beautiful articles of clothing that develop these spots somehow? Sad

sarahd

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 4:38 am

I don't think so because it doesn't come out when I wet and rub it. The spots look like little pieces of plastic stuck on to the material.

gila-rina

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 7:21 am

I had a crayon melt (and get stock) in the dryer once. Maybe check your dryer for the treasures your son puts in the pockets.

Mommy3.5

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 9:15 am

Use rubbing alcohol and a scrubby and rub it out gently. The alcohol breaks down the adhesive in sticky substances. Works really well on duct tape and sticker residue, and is worth a shot on good clothes. I have successfully done this after things have gone through the dryer.

sarahd

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 11:39 am

What's Carbona and where do you get it? It's probably not available here, but I have a friend coming for Purim and maybe she would bring me some.

chani8

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 11:49 am

I can relate. Just pulled out a load of new baby clothes, worn once, and there must have been a piece of panda(like crayon, only it's oil based instead of wax) in the 3yr old's pocket (that she swiped from my 12yr old) and now everything has brown panda on it.

To OP, if your machine is older, it could be the tub sealer on the washing machine. Or, on the dryer, it could be a buildup of lint in a hard to clean place that has turned to gunky stuff.

So back to my problem, if I run these clothes back through in super hot water with stain remover, any votes that it'll work?

ra_mom

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 2:14 pm

sarahd wrote:

What's Carbona and where do you get it? It's probably not available here, but I have a friend coming for Purim and maybe she would bring me some.

I would buy the Carbone stain devils #1 meant for glue, gum, nail polish, candle wax, white out...
http://www.carbona.com/stain-devils/
See if your friend can bring it for you.

Liba

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 2:19 pm

chani8 wrote:

I would try dish soap like Dawn in the US or Fairy if you are in Israel. If that doesn't work I would try Goo Gone. Smile

paprika

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 2:31 pm

chani8 wrote:

I don't know what panda is, but I just got a load full of crayon marks out by putting into the machine Clorox 2 bleach for colors.

mommy27

Mon, Feb 13 2012, 6:06 pm

Could the flecks be remnants of stickers? Sometimes I have found exactly what you've described left behind if I'm not careful about taking off every last sticker before the clothes go through the wash. Unfortunately, if that's what they are, I have no clue how to get them off!

sarahd

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 12:50 am

No stickers on clothing, no crayons or anything like that, all other clothes are free of residue including older ds's Shabbos sweater. Machine is 4.5 years old and except that right now it happens to be leaking water from somewhere is supposed to still be in good condition. I did not dry the sweaters.

Tried the rubbing alcohol and it didn't help. I guess I'll try ordering Carbona.