How to remove severe yellow stains from white pillowcases?

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Here's a question - I don't know the answer and am c

Can some oil/fat based stains in laundry be removed using another oil, one which is easier to remove?

I'm thinking of how we often use warm olive oil to remove greasy/oily stains from our hands.

No idea, but I am curious.

(I'm not going down the lighter hydrocarbon road here. No benzene, kerosene, etc. Sure do miss Carbon Tetrachloride, though. That stuff would have removed this problem, 100% sure.)
 
Yep, that is why I asked about the fabric and the fiber content in reply 20.

It was then it came out then we were dealing with something other than 100 percent cotton.

If they are a poly-blend they simply may have seen better days and the yellowing will always be present.

The lemon yellow you describe is very common in that blend once a bleaching agent has done all it will be able to do.

Sebum binds with the esters used to produce the polyester. The Ammonia suggestion is a good one with Ammonia being a strong base.

It may lift the yellowing a bit and if you then use a vinegar rinse, there should be no problem with the animals being attracted.
 
Yellowing can also occur if there is too much iron, copper or manganic content in the water. The metals bond to residual sebum that has not been removed sufficiently in previous washes.
If that is the case a lime and rust remover (bathroom spray) might help.
The next step would be to remove the remaining grease stain completely. If you prefer boil washing with Persil, ammonia, soaking, TSP, STPP, dry cleaning or all together is up to you.
 
There are basically few ways of getting oil out of fabrics

Using moderate to high pH (think sodium hydroxide (lye), sodium metasilicate, washing soda, phosphates, etc...

That and or using emulsifiers such as soaps along with solvents such as types of alcohols. http://www.cleantool.org/teilereinigung/reiniger/alkohole/?lang=en

In the old says commercial laundries and others could purchase soaps built with benzene. That or people simply bought the stuff straight to use with laundry as a spot treatment and or in the wash. Other extreme was to add gasoline or kerosene to the wash tub.

Mr. Fels solved this issue by finding a way to build naptha (Stoddard solvent) into a soap in such a way it wouldn't evaporate and thus remain shelf stable. This spawned a host of copycat "naptha" soaps.

Am here to tell you Fels naptha soap of old (the one with naptha/Stoddard solvent) will remove all sorts of oil/fat stains from fabrics. This along with lipstick, makeup, etc....

If you examine the ingredient list of modern emulsifiers for commercial laundries most contain soaps, and some sort of alcohol (butyl being common) or alcohols.

Commercial laundries faced with items badly soiled by oils/fats (such as candle wax) will first launder in water (dry cleaning can set certain stains due to the heat), dry, then dry clean the article. Solvents used in the latter process are normally more than enough to remove whatever fats/oils remaining in fabrics.
 
Napisan

When I was a bar attendant, many years ago, working long hours and perspiring in the heat of a busy, smoky bar or nightclub, my white shirts used to get very yellow under the arms after a while, which I guess was a combination of sweating and deodorants/antiperspirant building up. Some kind person mentioned that I soak my shirts in a solution of Napisan before washing - at 23 years old I had never heard of Napisan so she bought me a box and sure enough, it took the yellowing out completely. I went on to make this part of my laundry routine from then on. Not sure if Napisan would work in this instance?
 
When I had my first washer in 1972, a used Maytag wringer, I always used Fels Naptha Powder. That stuff was the bomb! With the combination of the vigorous Maytag agitation, hot water and Fels Powder I never have before or since see such perfectly immaculate laundry. And the clothes were soft, even though I used to hang them outside to dry most of the time.

I sure wish they still sold this product.

Thanks for the memory Launderess🙂
Eddie
 
If all else fails, I'd try Didi Seven.

I know people tend to roll their eyes....

HOWEVER, the fact remain that since I was given a tube back in the 80's it's removed stains nothing else touched.

Jim
 
"Didi Seven..."

Ah - I vaguely remember the adverts on British telly! The wonder stain remover!

However, according to Wikipaedia...
"In 2011, Interwood Marketing was acquired by Northern Response. As of August 2017, the product is no longer available."
 
There are two ways to bleach fabrics; one can either add oxygen (oxidizing bleaches such as chlorine or oxygen/hydrogen based), or remove oxygen by use of a reducing bleach (sodium bisulfite, etc....)

Commercial and or professional laundries, dry cleaners, etc.. have long known about both types of bleaches and use accordingly. While DiDi7 formula was a closely guarded secret, going by the adverts and description of what product did/worked, am going to guess it was some sort of reducing bleach.

Reducing bleaches are also sold as color removers, and they do so *VERY well. RIT and other dye makers sell such bleaches to remove all color from fabrics before they are to be dyed (just as in the professional side of things).

Oxygen bleaches in most cases and especially if used properly will not remove colorfast dyes. OTOH reducing bleaches again can and will.

One suspects reason why Didi7 was removed likely involved same fate as similar products from Europe and elsewhere; the ingredients gave regulators fits about safety, and then there were consumer complaints. Things like someone trying to remove a red wine stain from a blue shirt and got a nice white spot.
 
Uhm...not to be a smartass...

 

 

Why not just buy new white pillow cases? And then just keep those white. When my white pillow cases get dingy, and no Tide/hot water/Clorox helps, out they go. For me, it's just not worth the extra effort and expense. 

 

 
And... Done!

Last night I soaked the pillowcases in a concoction of a full scoop of OxiClean, a full OxiClean scoop each of Borax and Baking soda, about 1/2 cup of Awesome degreaser, and about a load worth of Tide. Also a squirt of Dawn for good measure. All mixed in a bucket of HOT water. The water started turning yellow almost immediately, I let them soak for a couple hours while we went out to dinner. Came back and rinsed them out thoroughly, then washed in HOT water with a Tide pod, a scoop each of Baking Soda and Borax, and about a cup of bleach. The results- Spotless. No yellow to be seen. Also did the same to the sheets (although in the washer) and a little lighter on the products. Soaked those overnight, washed this morning. All look like new. Sheets/pillowcases were 60% cotton, 40% polyester.
 
Congratulations on your success and tenacity Dustin!

Necessity is once again the Mother of invention. I’ve never heard of just quite that exact “mix” for stain removal, but you proved to yourself it works. Good for you.
Eddie
 
Hotel laundries

Working in a hotel laundry we use a Ecolab product called POWER PAK. You might ask your local hotel manager about buying 1 package from them. We put 1 full package in the 50 pound washer and 2 packs in the 100 pound washer. Our reclaim cycle is a 45 minutes soak with a regular cycle that follows. We do our reclaim loads at the end of the day because the cycle time is so long.

Using a small machine you may only want to put a couple of tablespoons worth in the machine. Also you would need to rinse such items three times to get all the chemical out. This power pak becomes extremely sudsy. When drying use a medium or low heat as well.

At the hotel where I work we do around 200 pounds of reclaim laundry a week. Not bad for a property that does 2-3000 pounds of laundry every day.

David
 
Ecloab frowns upon domestic consumers

Or anyone else not "professional" or industry related getting mitts upon their products. Ecolab will provide *NO* customer support to domestic consumers. Industrial/commercial customers go through their local sales people IIRC.

That being said Ecolab's like many other commercial laundry *reclaim* products are highly dangerous things to mess about with if one does not know what one is doing.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...lusReclaimWhite.pdf+&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

At dilution the stuff has a pH of 10.5 - 11.5, which makes it a hair less powerful than ammonia.

As noted reclaim washes are normally done before the main cycles. For one thing it will take several water changes and the actions of other chemicals to bring down the pH of fabrics and neutralize the strong base substances used in reclaim formula.

For the small amounts needed in a domestic washing machine (again you'd have to work out the dilution ratios on one's own as Ecolab won't divulge), even one packet would last a very long time.

Given the high amount of chlorine bleach and strong base pH level Ecolab rightly states this reclaim product is not safe for colors. IIRC the pillow slips in question have a print pattern.
 
Weakened fiber and fabrics

Dustin...this is great news regarding the removal of the staining!!

The products David mentions being used in hotels and other commercial applications are similar in alkalinity to the mixture you used.

They significantly weaken and degrade the fibers. A "reclaim" wash/cycle is used to try and get as many uses out of the sheets (and towels) as possible. I am a former hotelier and it was my experience when sheets and towels were reclaimed, they were very prone to tearing and becoming threadbare.

Strong alkaline chemicals also "open the pores or cuticles" of the fibers making them more prone to future staining.

Please use care when laundering in the future so you do not go from sheets to.... gauze. (I have seen this happen).
 
Good job Dustin! And you didn't have to throw them out! I use White King with my whites to soften the hard water here. Does wonders for dingy whites. If Wisk was still in production I would suggest using that but, unfortunately, Wisk is no longer. But it managed to get old yellow arm pit and collar stains out that had been in my white t shirts for years. I would still consider getting some White King if you have hard water in your area. You will start to notice how much brighter your whites and bright colors will get.
 
Believe one has stated before

In commercial laundries "reclaim" is for linens that otherwise were destined for rag bin. If the stains come out and things can be restored to service, so much the better. Should in the end you have items that didn't come out as planned, well there is always that rag bin.

Yes, all reclaim formulas (rust, yellowing, dingy, etc...) are extremely hard not only on the textiles in question but the washing machine as well. The process is all but certain to shorten the lifespan of both if repeated frequently.
 
Glad it worked!

Sounds as if the bucket did the trick! Using the bucket made the Borax, OxiClean, Tide, ect into what you might call "concentrated" emulsifiers and water softeners. More of these in the hot water than if they had been in normal amount water in the washer. Then rinsing all that out, and away...and starting over..
Good trick to know. I may have some dingy white sheets packed away in the attic.. If I can find them, I'm going copy technique to test
(I might change the concoction though)
 
Isn't there an old time solution for yellowed linens?

Namely, BLUING???

Me, I'd soak the yellow stained linens in a bucket of hot water plus STPP plus powdered detergent.

Then wash as usual with a good quality powdered detergent (like Tide).

And if all fails, add some bluing (if you can find it!).
 
Bluing can only counteract the slight yellow tinge

That comes from age and or poor laundering; it cannot nor will not totally reverse really bad "lemon yellow" stains.

Home economists, professional laundries (good ones) of old had a saying; properly laundered linens and clothing does not need bluing.

Suppose one could make up a bluing bath that would be dark enough to "hide" bad yellowing; but then you'd also likely have an article tinted dark blue as well.
 

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