Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Wash

Machine Washable EEEPC Case?

AltReality — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:12:11 -0800

I was sick all weekend. I brought some dayquil to work with me in my backpack...along with my eeepc 1000he.... The cap came off the bottle and spilled all over the inside of the backpack..soaking the eeepc case and the book I was reading. They are now a nice day-glo orange color. The netbook is fine, but I want to find out if the case (the standard case that comes with the eeepc) is machine washable. I guess it doesn't matter too much, as I will not be using it anymore if it's not...but I just thought I would ask.

It looks like a neoprene sort of material, but it is soaked through with the dayquil.

Thanks

Make the hockey jersey soft

Silvertree — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:46 -0800

What is the best way to soften up a hockey jersey to make it comfortable to wear without ruining its appearance? I recently purchased a couple of authentic Penguins jerseys for Mrs. Silvertree and I. We were so excited when they arrived on Saturday we popped them out of the box and wore them that day. The fabric is pretty stiff and scratchy at this point. Presumably they will soften if and when I wash them, but does anyone have any other advice? I would guess washing them is going to take its toll on appearance. Is that correct?

Stop my tee's from cracking up!

Thrillhouse — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:10:30 -0800

How do keep the design on my tee shirts from cracking over time? I have several tee's with designs on them. Some flat designs, some are raised ink (or whatever) where you can feel the texture of the design on the shirt. All of them begin to crack and some of them start peeling after just a few weeks or months. How do I keep this from happening? I want my tee's to look good longer, not like they're falling apart because the design is wearing out before the shirt does.

ScentFilter: I love Caress Moroccan body wash. Help me find a similar scent.

pghjezebel — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:26:11 -0800

ScentFilter: I love the smell of Caress's Moroccan body wash. Help me find a similar scent in perfume form! I love Caress's Moroccan body wash. I want to find something similar in a perfume form. Bonus points if I could recreate this smell (or have it recreated for me) with natural oils. I tend to like to keep my beauty/cosmetics items on the natural and healthy side.

As far as the scent goes, it's very exotic. It has a spicy, musky and yet sweet smell to it. The closest I've come is Jasmine Vanilla line from B&B Works - and that's still not remotely close in smell. But it has those exotic vibes to it.

Any suggestions?

The Joy of Nasal Rinsing

Toekneesan — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:20:21 -0800

What do you put in your Neti Pot? I'm tired of paying >$9 for 50 small packets of salt. I'd like to make my own but I'm wondering about recipes. If you use a Neti Pot, do you make your own rinse? If so, what do you add? Does it ever change— during cold or allergy season, for example? Anything beyond salt and baking soda? What ratios do you use? Bonus points for bulk recipes.

Save my pants!

kmtiszen — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:04:35 -0800

StainFilter: So, I've seen plenty of questions about getting wax off clothing, but what about the dark stain it leaves behind? I recently had an incident involving candle wax and my favorite pair of khaki pants. I immediately threw the pants into the freezer and the wax came off easily, but I haven't been so lucky with the dark, blotchy stain – what I can only assume is residual from the dirty, oily wax.

I've washed the pants multiple times, pre-treating with Spray 'N' Wash and things like that. I'm wondering if there's any methods and/or chemical treatments I can use to get rid of the stain (or at least fade it slowly over multiple washes)?

Thanks in advance!

How can I wash oil/grease out of my leather gloves?

autojack — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:09:55 -0800

How can I wash oil/grease out of my leather gloves? About a week after I bought a really nice pair of leather motorcycle gloves, my bike broke down on the road and I spent 45 minutes fixing it, getting my hands absolutely filthy in the process. By the time I was done it was raining pretty hard, and I decided that it would be unwise to tempt fate by riding the rest of the way bare handed. As a result, the inside of my gloves are very, very dirty.

The tag on them says simply, "Do not wash." Is there anything I can do to get them clean that won't ruin them? I'm not even sure if I can turn them inside out, because they have plastic impact armor on the knuckles.

denim distress

roger ackroyd — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:36:14 -0800

I just bought a pair of jeans that are almost perfect – except they have that "wrinkled cloth" effect around the front pockets. Is there any way to remove that without having to iron it every time?

Cute Hat or Cootie Hat?

cachondeo45 — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:09:37 -0800

Found: 100% acrylic (super cute, made in USA) winter hat on the (mostly abandoned) street in 20ºF weather (on New Year's Day). I washed it. Can I wear it? Not to be a cootie phobe, but do you think it's safe to wear now? My thoughts were that the cold probably killed any cooties, and then I washed it, but I wanted to check with the more experienced hatted hive mind just in case.

Can I really wash my hair less?

sian — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:34:21 -0800

Can I really wash my hair less? I'm a woman with long hair. It's fine (but there's a lot of it), it's stick straight, it's staticky and if I go a day without washing it, my scalp immediately gets unbearably itchy and flaky. Wash it in the morning, and my hair is a grease trap by the end of the day.

I read here and there that if you stop washing your hair daily, it gets back its natural oils and for straight hair, might even get some natural wave, which is why I'm interested in this idea.

How long can I expect the greasy, flaky, itchy, staticky mess to resolve if I stop shampooing? How often should I do it? What products (cheaper the better, please) would best help? Also, is this even a feasible idea for someone with dandruff?

I wash my ears regularly, I swear...

allkindsoftime — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:59:23 -0800

How do I wash / clean foam earplugs (specifically, these ones) without completely ruining them? I have a hearing "problem" in my right ear (see here). Thanks to it, I've been carrying foam earplugs for years (these kind, not the ones above). I usually cut them about in half and only use the rounded end in my problem ear. When they get too grimy from use, I just toss them, because they are cheap.

The ones I linked to in the headline, however, are not cheap ($25 / 10 pair). And for some reason they seem to be of lesser quality than your average foam earplugs. These ones are sleeves for my Shure E4C headphones, and as I use them frequently, it seems I have to replace these more often than once / month, which seems rather fast to me. I'd like to be able to clean them somehow, but to date, scraping them off with my fingernail to get an extra couple wears out of them seems the only way to go.

As I know from years of finding "washed" earplugs that I left in my jean pockets when they went through the laundry, earplugs absorb all the liquid and then lose their pliable shape and are basically useless when you try to wash them with soap / water.

I realize this one is a stretch, but if anyone has any other ideas, I'd love to hear them...

How do I wash this sweater?

penciltopper — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:58:05 -0800

Grownup has never washed a nice sweater. Help. OK, so I got a couple of nice merino & cashmere sweaters for Xmas. Maybe as a hint that the wool/woolblend sweaters I owned were no longer socially acceptable, having been worn for years & never been washed. (blush)

I poked around a bit on the boards, and there are lots of things mentioned for sweaterwashing, then contradicted, then ???

So I need some votes:

1) Drycleaners, espcially with the cashmere
2) Dryel at the laundromat
3) Wash 'em in the sink, then spread out to dry
3a) with woolite
3b) woolite is death, buy special goo at the yarn store
4) write in candidate here

I have another sweater question while i'm at it.
All my sweaters, cotton, wool, whatever, make me look like I've got a "muffin top". (Chest fits, waist at hem/ribbing fits - but they bag out above the waist so that it looks like I'm trying to smuggle a bicycle tire underneath.)
I don't actually have a muffin top, and if I tug the hem down, everything is fine for a few minutes until it rides up and I'm back to dumpy again.
What am I doing wrong here?

How can I wash a furry toy without ruining it?

Joe in Australia — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:46:48 -0800

My daughter has a stuffed kitten ("soft kitty") and lo, the whiteness and furriness of it is surpassing. When I washed its predecessor ("matted kitty") its fur became less-white and the fibres less separate. How can I wash the new one (whose odor doth verily surpass an outhouse) while retaining its new appearance? The fur is synthetic and the animal is a white "Animal Alley" kitten, if that helps.

Do people really dry clean their linen?

russmail — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:23:55 -0800

I find it hard to find a duvet cover that I like, and now that I've finally found this one, I'm dubious because it says dry clean. How can this be? Who dry cleans their linen? Is this common? Is this a subculture I've just blissfully been unaware of my entire adult life? Or are the manufacturers being overcautious and you can just shove it in with your regular wash?

Wash my car for free?

tradeer33 — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:50:33 -0800

Today I washed my car at one of those touch less car washes that you just drop money into and drive in. This particular one was a Laserwash There was a maintenance man in one of the bays with a company truck. I watched him point a remote control at the exit of the wash and initiate a car wash two different times for testing purposes, I assume. My question is, if I had the code and it was an IR remote is it possible to program a universal remote to send that code and activate the carwash in the same manner? Searching Google for Laserwash codes didn't help me much.

Where is there a full service laundromat in Quincy, MA?

pikaboy202 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 18:51:28 -0800

Does anyone know of a good full service laundromat in Quincy or Milton in Massachusetts? I live on the border of Quincy/Milton in Massachusetts and I'm trying to find a full service laundromat. I'm looking for a laundromat that would do my laundry and fold it for me when I drop it off.

Currently I go to the one Wash n' Dry Center on Hobart Street in Quincy but they're expensive and I think they don't separate colors and whites because I've had several shirts come back stained.

Any suggestions?

My eyes, the burning!

adamrice — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:45:41 -0800

Tricks for sanitizing hands after handling very spicy peppers? I'm not a pussy about spice. I can handle it. But we have some thermonuclear habaneros growing in the garden, and I chopped one today. I used some plastic wrap between it and my hand. The infernal oil penetrated or got around that. I kept my pinky elevated so at least one digit would be safe to, you know, scratch with. I washed my hands repeatedly.

I just carefully scratched near my eye with said pinky and it burns. Oh, my eyes, the burning!

Since the habanero plant is quite productive, this problem is going to repeat. I need a way to get the habanero fire-juice off me.

Bucket wash my car.

backseatpilot — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 07:04:25 -0800

How do I wash my car without a hose? I hate paying for car washes. Even the do-it-yourself coin-op power washers annoy me. I would like to wash my car myself, but I live in an apartment building without a hose hookup outside. What's the best way to clean the exterior of my car using, say, a bucket of soapy water and a bucket of clean water?

3rd floor windows show water spots

CaptApollo — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 12:41:37 -0800

How do I clean the outside of windows on my third-floor apartment? I have nice big floor-to ceiling windows, but I live in a South-facing 3rd floor apt; the direct sun really shows off the filthy rain 'hard water' (read: Washington DC air) stains.

Ladder is out of the question, but I do have a balcony outside some of the windows. The others are ~ 6 feet away and only open ~1/2 a foot.

If I had a hose, this question would be moot, but I don't. I have an extension pole for a squeegee, but that's only half the solution.

Surely there's an easy way to clean hard-to-reach windows?

Google says I should clean my registry

Stain Removal Tips

piers — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:56:08 -0800

Advice on removing a stain from my canvas bag? I recently bought a purse that I love, a beige canvas bag with leather straps and fittings. Now one side of the canvas is all gray and dingy, presumably from being set down on an unclean sidewalk. I brought the bag to two dry cleaners, but both refused to clean it because of the leather fittings. Any ideas?

how to wash out flour?

iloveit — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 15:15:03 -0800

How do I wash flour out of my towels? What do I do with the towels I use for breadmaking? I have some flour sack towels that are covered in copious amounts of flour. Dough has stuck to some of them and dried into a hard mass. I'd like to wash them out and reuse them, but I'm worried about making a batch of wheat-paste in my washing machine. How do I wash these things without making a bigger mess than I started with?

Deodorant goo removal?

sentient — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 19:24:57 -0800

What will dissolve deodorant/antiperspirant goo? My shirts all have white deodorant goo on the armpits once I'm done wearing them for the day. (This happens with any kind of stick deodorant -- even the ones that are supposed to 'go on clear' or whatever.) When I put the shirts in the laundry, the goo leaves the armpits of the shirts, but much seems to remain in the wash-water. It forms this filmy layer on the surface of the rinse water and it ends up on all the laundry. If I re-wash, more goes away, but never completely.

I've also noticed that if I get some deodorant on my hand while applying it (no idea how), soap and hot water don't seem to completely remove it. So I'm guessing the same thing happens in the laundry. I've tried oxyclean, but this doesn't seem to have much of an effect.

Is there a product that will dissolve the deodorant/antiperspirant so it will actually rinse away in the wash? Has anyone else solved (or even had) this problem? (btw, I know that switching to gel or liquid or certain-dri-type deodorant would work :) (Oh -- to clarify, I intend the term deodorant to be synonymous with deodorant/antiperspirant)

How to best clean my bloody face?

atom128 — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:00:20 -0800

How best to shower with a bloodied up face? I want to take a shower. Tuesday night while riding my bicycle I was struck by a car. I damaged my front teeth, scraped up the side of my cheek and my chin, requiring several stitches. My dr didn't give me much advice on how to wash up, but due to the teeth damage, talking is difficult for me at the moment. How do I wash without doing anything to mess up the stitches or make things worse for myself? Id love to get rid of some of this dried blood, I look like a mess.

I see your cardboard and I want to paint it... red.

Satapher — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 16:57:03 -0800

What kind of dye/wash should I use to make thin brown cardboard a dark red? The thin brown cardboard ill be using are the Arigato CD Cases at Stumptown Printers -- they come unfolded and are brown. Im going to have them screenprinted by a local artist, and intended on spraypainting them dark red, but was informed by the screenprinter that spraypaint would make the cardboard unscreenprintable (I imagine this is because the cardboard would lose its porousness)

I was given the idea of dipping the unfolded cases in dark red dye, but im not sure what im looking for.

Any ideas, related to what dyes would do the job (hoping for blood red) or any ideas for the "enreddenation" of the cardboard while keeping its screenprinting friendlyness?

How to get my car clean?

willbaude — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:16:34 -0800

My car is really dirty. How do I find somebody to clean it? Reallly really dirty. Somebody basically lived out of it for a year, and it's got years of other accumulated dirt and grime. I tried to take it to a full-service car wash to get it cleaned, but they basically just wiped the inside with a towel and let it go. It needs some much more serious treatment, and I don't want to do it.

So I tried googling and the yellow-pages and so on, but I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. Things like "car-cleaning" turned up only car washes rather than anybody who did heavy work. Is there a term for this that I'm missing? Is it time to just lower my standards and live with a certain amount of dinginess? I live in New Haven, CT, if that helps.