Does Anyone Use Pine Oil In Their Wash?

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Mor than you wanted to know about pine oil

From the "bible" on Materials:

"Pine Oil: An oil obtained from the wood of Pinus palustris, or longleaf pine, in the steam extraction of wood turpentine. It is used as a cold solvent for varnish gums and for nitrocellulose laquers and as a frothing agent in the flotation of ores. In paints and varnishes it aids dispersion of metallic pigments and improves the flow. It is also used in metal polishes and in liquid and powder scrubbing soaps, as the oil is a powerful solvent of dirt and grease. When free from water, pine oil has a yellowish color, but it is water-white when it contains dissolved water. It has an aromatic characteristic odor and is distinct from the pine oils distilled from pine leaves and needles and used in medicine.. The distillate of the gum of the Jeffrey and Digger pines of California, called abietine in medicine, contains 96% heptane and is used as a cleaning agent and insecticide, and as a constituent of standard gasolines for measuring detonation of engines. Pine oil is obtained mainly from old trunks and branches and is a product formed by hydrolysis. Pine-oil disinfectants are made with steam-distilled pine oil. Pine Power is an oil with disinfectant properties from the Texize Div. of Dow Chemical Co. A similar product from Crystal Chemical Corp. is Pine Tree Disinfectant Cleaner #6. Yarmor is a refined pine oil of Hercules Inc. which is used to increase the detergency of soaps, for dyes, and as a solvent for oils and greases. Hercosol is a solvent made from pine oil by the same company. Synthetic pine oil made from gum turpentine by this company has a mild pine odor, a specific gravity of .0186, and a flash point of 154F. It is technically the same as the natural and has the same uses."
 
I don't remember if it was on AW.org, but last year I read a story about the woman who does the laundry for major league baseball teams. The story included photos, and one showed a big can of Comet cleanser on top of a commercial washer. I finally realized why players scratch their crotches so much.
 
Charlie:

I had no idea Lestoil was still around - thanks for the tip. I remember it well from the early '60s. I thought it was in that group of cleaning products that are gone forever, like Texize and the real Spic 'n Span (not the perfumey stuff sold under that name today).

I can still hear that commercial - "Lestare! Lestoil!"
 
Lestoil

Lestoil is good for removing motor oil off slacks and work clothes, pour on stain let it sit for a few hours and wash with detergent and hottest water garment allows.

The key to removing the scent out of the washed load is:

1. Re-wash with detergent.
2. 1st Rinse: use 1 cup Baking Soda and 1/2 to 3/4 cup of vinegar.
3. 2nd Rinse: use favorite Fabric Softener.

The scent of Lestoil will be almost eliminated!
 
At the suggestion of someone here at AW, I bought a bottle of Lestoil to use on grease-based stains on my dress shirts for work. I don't bother trying to pretreat my huge highly-stained loads of kitchen whites. I just dose those loads heavily with Tide or SA8, adding liquid chlorine bleach for the last 5 minutes or the wash cycle.

Lestoil certainly works well, but it also left its pine-scented calling-card on the entire load of dress clothes.

I now use Quixtar's (Amway) aerosol spray for greasy stains, and the Spray 'n' Wash Stick for shirt collars. The Quixtar product has a pronounced petroleum scent, but it washes out well.
 
It's because you worked in nursing...

That you say Pine Sol "smells like public toilets". My mother says that and so does my sister, and my sister said she felt that way when she started working as a nurse.
 
I have a few different combos for the wash:
for my Ceil Blue scrubs and Misty Green OR scrubs I use a combo of Sears ultra Plus powder detergent, 20 Mule team Borax, and a little Murphy's Oil Soap(just because I love the scent especially mixed with the original scent Faultless Heavy Starch)
To keep my lab coats a crisp clean hospital white I pre-treat spots with Kirby's Lickty Split then pre-soak in hot water, Austin's A-1 Bleach, and Super Clean(a heavy duty degreaser found in the automotive section of Wal-Mart), then I wash with Sears Ultra Plus Powder, Borax, Austin's A-1 Bleach, and a little Murphy's Oil Soap
For bed linens I use Sears Ultra Plus Powder, Clorox II, and Borax, I like to keep these scentless because I line dry bed linens no matter how cold it is and ocassionaly press and starch them and I enjoy that smell.
For my white Bathroom and kitchen Throw Rugs I use original scent non-ultra Dawn dish soap and Bab-O powder.
I also use Bab-O with whites if I am out of bleach.

Sam
 
My mother used to use that smelly Lysol on our play clothes as well as Fels-Naptha on the greasy tar stains, put it all in our 1957 RCA Whirlpool Imperial(with suds saver)and then the matching dryer.
I am surprised we didn't have a fire, with all that petroleum product. Everyone smoked in those days, and no one cared about flamabiliy standards on kid's clothes.

Aaah, the early 60's...one great big experiment.
 
I was inspired by this thread to pick up a lifetime supply of Pine-Sol at Costco this week ($3 coupon), 1.36 gallons of it. Maybe I'll find a smaller bottle around here that I can refill.

I don't find the aroma to be reminiscent of public toilets - most public restrooms seem to use a different sort of scent these days, more like urinal cake essence. I remember when I worked in a venerable bio research lab at UCSF in the 70's... the matronly lab ware washer woman told me she loved Pine-Sol and didn't feel a bathroom was clean without that "old timey smell".

I might try adding some Pine-Sol to laundry loads with my machine shop work clothes once I get back to working in that environment again. The water soluble coolant/lubricant used in the machinery tends to have a strong odor and the Pine-Sol probably would be effective in defeating it. So far STPP and/or Borax have failed to eliminate it completely from the finished laundry.
 
When I was growing up, my mother grandmother used nothing but Pine-Sol on floors, I don't remember either of them using it in the laundry. I use Pine-Sol on my floors and a mixture of Pine-Sol and water in a spray bottle to clean the bathroom counters and sinks. I did read on the Pine-Sol bottle that I can be used for laundry. I tried in once when I was out of bleach for a load of whites, but I don't think it did much because it was the only time I did it
 
I used to use Pine sol in the washer while washing my shower curtain-but the last time I used it the pine smell was vastly diffrent-was sort of artifical smelling.I don't use the Pine Sol anymore.Only used it for the shower Curtains.
 

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