What to do if you wash and dry a tube of lipstick

First of all, I am so excited to announce that next week this blog will have a very special guest host-my talented and beautiful Trophy Daughter.  So come by next week to check out some fabulous ideas to keep your daughters busy this summer and even some fun ideas us old ladies will like as well.


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The other day when I blogged about how to get rid of bees w/ dish soap, it reminded me of another helpful hint.   When we were poor newlyweds I once left a tube of dark red lipstick in a pair of light khaki pants. I threw the pants in the washer along with a full load of whites and then to completely ruin the load, threw everything  in the dryer. I was horrified when I removed the load from the dryer and noticed that everything was covered with dark red spots and stains.


My mother is the queen of laundry, she can get stains out of anything and so I called her in a panic.  Here's what she told me to do:

Step 1: Rub a little dish soap (not antibacterial-it will eat holes in your clothes) on each spot.  This took a very long time. I used and old toothbrush.  Dish soap will help get the "grease" from the lipstick out.
Step 2: Let the load soak overnight in the hottest water that won't shrink stuff. (I  figured everything was already ruined, so I put it on hot)
Step 3:  Wash with your normal detergent (By the way, my kid did a science project on the best laundry detergent on getting out grass, blood,  and dirt and Kirkland Powder detergent from Costco won-even beat Tide).  I threw in some stain fighters b/c I figured it couldn't hurt.

Step 4: Pray really hard (honestly I think this might have been the most important step and the biggest reason it work)
Step 5:  Line dry-just to make sure you got all the spots
Step 6: repeat steps 1-5 if needed (I didn't)


I was amazed and thrilled.  The lipstick came out of almost every piece of clothing except one t-shirt.  I'm not sure if knit just absorbed the lipstick more, but I was happy to only have to throw one thing out.

Of course, the easiest solution is to check everyone's pockets BEFORE sticking stuff in the wash.
What's the wierdest thing you've ever washed?

 
 More hints here.
Linking up here.