Washing Uniforms with Drano?

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ajhuff

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I wash my whites in heavy bleach but was thinking that most of the stains on my chef jacket are fat based. I was wondering if lye would not work better. Since lye is sodium hydroxide and that's what Drano is I was wondering if anyone has tried this?

-AJ
 
I just get them dry cleaned. They always come back brand new looking.
 
A long soak in a generous amount of oxyclean. Works great and doesn't eat away your clothes. I would be scared to do drano.
 
An old colleague of mine used to swear by cloudy ammonia, I was never game enough to try it.
 
OxiClean is sodium percarbonate, a relatively "green" oxidizing (bleaching) agent. I tend to use a bit more than the instructions recommend, but it works really well for most organic stains. It's also fantastic for cleaning stainless steel items that are stained or clogged with organic oils -- think espresso gear and food robots.
 
+1 on the OxyClean. I have a five gallon bucket in my laundry room where my coats get soaked if they have anything nasty on them. With the sole exception of one peculiar stain on the arm of one coat, it's removed stains from everything I've thrown in there.
 
+1 on oxyclean. Lots of it in the soak water, give it a day(don't forget to poke it, as it builds up bubbles and exposes some of the fabric out of the water, and strange stains remain). Then dump the bucket, with the soak water into the machine, with some more oxyclean. Mine came out stark white.
 
Chlorine trifluoride is the oxidizer of choice for really stuck on stains, i believe.
 
Chloroform is a good solvent will get out most stains I like to use it on my white handkerchief's (;
 
At first I thought he said his wife's handkerchiefs! Kinky??
 
I soak mine in HOT water, oxy clean, and dawn dish soap as a degreaser and a little bleach. Iv also used the heavy duty cleaning stuff like used in restaurant for really bad stains. I always run my coats twice to get any extra soap off a second time with bleach and regular laundry detergent. Works for me. Iv also sprayed coats with tilex mold and mildew which is just bleach.
 
I did a little research. I think the Drano idea would work, just not sure about in the washer. Historically it appears that the use of lye was done as a soaking treatment called bucking. I have used Oxyclean to decent results. I can't tell if it does any better than bleach. I will try using a full scoopful rather than just to the bottom as directed. Using ammonia sounds promising. I will look into that also.

-AJ
 
Have you tried "laundry break", sometimes used in conjunction with a more normal laundry detergent and a whitener?
 
The problem with bleach is that it yellows and eats away at the fabric, making the buttons fall off and eats holes in the sleeves.
I use HOT H2O in the washer on small load setting. Add 3-4 scoops of oxyclean, add laundry. Let agitate to mix in well with clothes. Then let sit in washer, agitating periodically over a period of 4-12 hours.
Then add regular laundry detergent, more H2O by bumping up load size and complete wash. I.ve been doing this for at least 10 years. My jackets last years and are way brighter than most, save for the ones professionally done.
 
4-12 hours in the washer! Good lord you don't have a wife and kids do you. LOL!!!

It does sound like I need more oxyclean.

-AJ
 
4-12 hours in the washer! Good lord you don't have a wife and kids do you. LOL!!!

It does sound like I need more oxyclean.

-AJ
Oh well a wife and 2 young kids......however I am the laundry master, so the washer is my domain.
 
I have a couple black 4-ways that are getting a little stiff from fryer oil (I make a lot of tempura). Will the oxyclean work well on this?
 
I have a couple black 4-ways that are getting a little stiff from fryer oil (I make a lot of tempura). Will the oxyclean work well on this?

Absolutely, oxyclean rules!!! And no I don't get any kickbacks from the Billy Mays estate.
 
Oh you don't need oxyclean for that, just wipe that up.




With your nose.
 
I've also used degreaser with good results. I've heard someone swear by purple power, but that stuff is really harsh. I've used simple green with good results.
 
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