Three tricky laundry questions

Jan 14, 2004 3 Replies
S
1) My daughter got red paint all over her new beige corduroys. The teacher says it's supposed to be washable. I have gotten most of the paint out after running it through several cycles of soaking/scrubbing the stain in laundry detergent, then soaking in hot water (I started with cold but that didn't make a dent so I switched to hot). Still, some paint remains. Any suggestions?


2) I have a silk bedspread that says it's dry-clean only, but I'm tempted to throw it in the washing machine anyway; I would let it drip-dry. It appears to me to be made out of washable silk. I have used water to remove spots now and then, and it doesn't leave a water mark. It does have a thin layer of batting between the top and bottom layers of the silk; wondering if the batting will fall apart if I put it through the wash? What do you think? Should I risk it?


3) I also have a matching duvet cover that is chenille (?) on one side and velvet (or rather, "velvet-like" - it is polyester) on the other. It also has a dry-clean only tag. Would really like to throw this one in the washing machine; I did once send it to the cleaners and it seemed to freshen it but not really clean it. I also bought a chenille throw from the same manufacturer, and once washed & dried this in the machine with no problems, so that part doesn't worry me as much as the velvet. What do you think? Can I risk it? Any suggestions?

jen


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Add some ammonia and fabric softener to the mix and soak for some time. Once the paint is dry it can be hard to break it down so, after it's soaked for a while, take a spoon and use the reverse end to try to break up the paint. Then soak some more and repeat before washing.

Not sensible to risk it. Even if you can wash the silk the fibres are likely to lose some of their surface covering, weakening them and making them feel harsher. Also the fill of the bedspread is likely to become very heavy in the wash and the silk is unlikely to be able to take the weight without splitting. The fact that you can spot clean silk doesn't make it washable unfortunately.

Chanile and velvet are tufted fabrics, where the yarn is cut to make the effect. This isn't a very strong bond and can be damaged quite easily. Crushing is also a problem, especially with velvet. The risk is that you will have a damaged item after washing but if the cost saving plus the extra cleanliness is worth the risk then take it. I (personally) wouldn't buy anything for the bed if it couldn't be washed.

Hope these help

-- DrClean

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1: don't know, but i've never got paint out of clothes, ever. 2: i'll be zany & disagree with dr c. silk is eminently washable. the thing about silk is to _wash it by hand in tepid water_. if you wash it by machine or in hot or cold water, bad things might happen. you should use plain yellow soap (flakes, fully dissolved, i suppose) & rinse properly. if, however, it all goes bung, you didn't read it here! ;-) i wouldn't drip dry if it's a quilt, i don't think. have you a light spin option where you can arrange it nicely within for a gentle spin? drip dry is ok for things that are very light. (maybe it qualifies). 3: not sure, but i'd machine wash it & hope for the best, *unless* the two sides are wildly different colours, in which case i'd hand wash it. i'd expect a lot of linty mess from this by the sounds of it (the chenille fluff getting stuck on the velvet). if washed by machine, & you don't want white fluff on black velvet (for example. or perhaps you do.) kylie
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