Spa Day Success + Lessons Learned
Hi everyone!
I wanted to post about my success (and hiccups) as a new entry to r/laundry for the fun of it.
The Problem: custy, musty, dusty t-shirts that would spontaneously develop a certain odor that could NOT be washed away. I kept piling the shirts in a deep, dark corner hoping I would find a solution and there were some that spent over 5 years waiting for a revival.
The Solution: Spa day!
Warning: I did NOT follow all the instructions to a T so please, no scolding. I KNOW I switched it up and I have no complaints I just wanted to write about it anyway in case someone did something similar. Plus, I wasn’t too attached to these shirts in case something went wrong because either way, if I couldn’t figure the smell out, they would have to be trashed.
- I did a variation of spa day where I combined both Options 1 and 2 for a ‘brute force’ approach. I used both the Tide powder and Resolve Gold because I saw some people commented throughout that combination worked for them. And mind you, some of these shirts have been sitting for half a decade and I had unsuccessfully tried just the Tide powder with them before; I needed all the help I could get.
- I used a large clear storage container and filled about 5.5 gallons of water (not exact as I was using conversions and a 1.7L kettle to fill the bucket 💔).
- I used the suggested amount of Tide powder for 5 gallons of water. I used the suggested amount of Resolve Gold for 3 gallons of water. I figured I want the effect of the Resolve Gold without overdoing it.
- I added that extra 0.5 gallons in the end because despite mixing with a wooden spoon and metal whisk for over 30 minutes, there were still MANY detergent bits floating around. I genuinely gave up and my tap was running out of hot water so I used a sieve to get the top floating chunks out and hoped for the best for the ones settled on the bottom.
- I used two 10lb weights wrapped in garbage bags to keep the clothes submerged and ended up soaking them for 14 hours before draining.
- THE WATER WAS SO DISGUSTING. Just a few minutes after going in the water started rapidly changing and by the end it mirrored Lex Luthor’s soul.
- I followed all the normal directions to run the rehab wash. This batch of all black t shirts was basically half a load’s worth and so I used 0.5x the Tide powder, 0.5x (aka half scoop) of the Resolve powder, and 1 whole cup of the ammonia.
- I ran the washer on high heat, full soil, extra soak + rinse, etcetera.
- The wash time came out to ~ 140 minutes 😵💫
- I was worried for a hot minute throughout the wash because it was like a foam party in the machine (front loading with translucent glass) and I thought I added too much soap or should have wrung out the spa day solution (despite the instructions telling you not to). However, when the washer was done, the bubbles seemed to be gone, with a little stiffness in the shirts.
- I air dried the shirts inside with a fan blowing on them.
The Results: BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN SMELLING SHIRTS 🤑
This horrid stench that has not come out despite trying so many products with so many variations has been VANQUISHED.
Hiccups to note: Two of the shirts have slight areas where there looks to be a small ‘bleach’ effect, I expect as a consequence of those remaining floaters at the bottom. But this is genuinely so tiny, unnoticeable, and/or on the back of the shirt so I do not care. The shirts are all stiff, I suspect because of the extra soapiness, which should fix up after the next wash.
All in all, this was a fantastic success for me because genuinely the incorrigible has been rehabilitated. I would love it if anyone has any advice on how they may have made their detergent dissolve better or manage extra soapiness but I’m a happy duck either way.
Thanks for reading!