Monday, January 12, 2009

My Hero

No, I'm not talking about my Sound Man. Although he does fit that description. No, I'm talking about a dish detergent. No, I haven't lost my mind. And no, I'm not even talking about doing dishes.

See, one lovely day last year my Kiddo forgot to tell me that he had placed crayons in his leg pockets. The pockets that I didn't check before putting the pair of pants in the washer and subsequently the dryer. Oh, what a mess. All over my dryer as well as my clothes, was red crayon. Melted, waxy, red crayon. I cried. I wailed. I Googled. Yes, I put in "How do I get red crayon out of clothes?" or something along those lines. It said anything from WD-40 to Borax, but the one thing I had on hand was Dawn dishwashing liquid. Enter my Hero.

I used Dawn on those awful red crayon spots, washed the clothes again, and you know what? It worked. Dawn dishwashing liquid got out dryer-melted red crayon from my clothes! So, I figured, hey, it might work on all my grease spots. Nothing I've ever used before has worked, so what do I have to lose? And guess what? (you probably know where this is going, don't you?) It has worked. Every. Single. Time. Even clothes that I had put in the dry cleaning bag that had sat for months came grease-spot clean. Here, let me show you.

Here's Kiddo's shirt with two greasy stains on it. It has already been washed AND dried. I used to think, "Well, this shirt's done for!" But now I know better. See the grease stain on the shoulder and the one on the tummy? Here's a closeup on the shoulder:

Now, all I do when I find one of these stains is pull out the old Dawn liquid. It can either be the original or ultra, they both work the same.


And here's the shirt after washing.

Now, because I believe in full disclosure, let me say that this was with two washings. It was movie butter popcorn that made those stains. I had some on my jeans that required two washings, too. Man, whatever they use for that popcorn is scary industrial grease. Makes me wonder if I will ever order butter popcorn anymore, for sure.I have wanted to write Dawn and tell them what a miracle product they have in the hope that they'd send me a lifetime supply of the stuff, but that's probably not going to happen. Oh, well, I'll just let this little blog post suffice.

So, if you've got some greasy stains you've been putting off trying to get clean, try putting some Dawn on it (regular dish liquid might work too, but I've only tried Dawn). I really scrub it in the spot, then I leave it on for a LONG time. Like overnight. If not, it might need another washing to get it out. If the first try isn't completely successful, keep trying. Dawn has given me back many of my shirts that I had forgotten about in the abyss of the dry-cleaning bag.

Yes, Dawn is truly my Hero. At least for my laundry, where I need all the heros I can get. Whatever that means.

14 comments:

Tonya said...

Not sure how I got to your blog, but glad I did!

What a great tip!!! I have been inundated with grease stains from my kiddos and haven't been able to get them out.

SoBella Creations said...

Thanks for the tip.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah!!!! See thats why I blog. We NEED each other. I had this happen last year.... wish I knew you back then, smiles

Trixi said...

That is a great tip. You will never know how much I needed that one!!

Tiffany said...

Great tip! I hope I remember it next time I need it. :)

Anonymous said...

Awesome tip!

HSingMama said...

I love Dawn! Its great stuff. :o)

The Beauty Bargainista said...

wow, I think your my hero now! Everytime I get grease on a shirt, I throw it away!!!! DARN IT! :) I cant wait to go try this, and I know just the shirt to try it on too!

cherry said...

Thank-you for this...my son is always getting oil or something on his shirts...(been there with the red crayon a time or two too) and I had no clue that Dawn would do this. Awesome. cherry

Kimba said...

What a fantastic tip! Those greasy popcorn butter-type stains make me nuts. I've never gotten them out of anything...not even with my beloved oxyclean.

I guess their slogan is right - "Dawn gets grease out of the way."

YOU are my hero now!
Kimba

Windy said...

I keep Dawn in my laundry room - it's wonderful! I put it on the stain and let it sit until I'm ready to wash and it always works!

SusanB said...

Thanks so much for the tip. I have always used Lestoil on grease stains and it works great, but I am out and have not been able to find in where I live now. This is great to know.

Kristina said...

My husband is a jet mechanic and we keep dawn in the shower for when he needs to degrease his arms! It works like a charm!

Tracey said...

Good to know! I keep a toothbrush in my laundry room and when I have a stain I put stain remover on the front and the back of the fabric and scrub it with the toothbrush. And then I pray that it will come out. :)