Laundry science pt.2 oil stains & stain removal

I already addressed in my laundry blog pt. 1 easy trouble shooting for why clothes aren’t coming clean and the difference between detergents, soaps, boosters, and softeners. Today I’m addressing common laundry complaints external of those things.

So …. Let’s dig into it.

🧺 Oil stains after washing

I looked into this a bit because I’ve seen it said that it’s happening with Molly Suds or truly free,  root and and splendor and  it’s even happening with mine (holy naturals) all of these have vastly different formulas so it is very unlikely the detergent is the issue but not impossible. So before you go tossing your detergent lets go over some possibilities so we can fix the issue and if it’s not your detergent at least you don’t have to make a switch again 😅

From what I researched it could be a few  possibilities

• not enough washing is happening so oils and such from sebum, sweat, dead skin, personal care items aren’t being fully washed away. This could be due to not enough detergent in use, conditions requiring a booster, trying to clean unstripped clothes with build up
• the washing machine
• the dryer
• water supply issues.

“ Appliance guidance confirms that invisible oily soils can become more noticeable after washing and drying, and that greasy-looking spots do not automatically indicate a faulty washer”

https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=36388

Try these steps to narrow it down.

🔍Check the clothes before drying. This is the most important next step.

🔍Run a small test load of previously unstained clothes. Use a measured amount of detergent, don't overload the machine, and air-dry the items.

If the spots appear, clean the washer according to its manual and repeat the test. If the marks persist on clean test items, inspect the dryer drum and consider an appliance or water-supply issue.

🔍Treat existing stains separately. Apply a small amount of liquid dishwashing detergent to the stain, gently work it in, then rinse and rewash according to the garment's care label. Air-dry to check the result. Don't use dishwashing detergent as the regular washer detergent.

🔍Have you seen the oil stains on wet clothes fresh out of the washer or only out of the dryer?

Laundry is a lot more complicated than we are let on to believe. So sometimes it takes some digging to have a successful laundry journey.

🧺 Why are stains coming out for one person and not another when using the same detergent?

Why the same detergent can give different results

  🔍Different soil loads and stain histories

stains such as “food,” “dirt,” or “oil,”  cover categories of a huge range of substances and concentrations. Fresh food stains are different from old, oxidized, repeatedly washed stains. Some may need pretreatment regardless of the detergent used. Some may need boosters and treatment. It really depends on the stain and its history and also your cleaning conditions.

🔍Differences in water chemistry beyond hardness

Even a detergent tested for both hard and soft water and overall found to perform well can have limitations depending on other factors in the water aside from hardness. water hardness alone doesn't describe everything about water chemistry. Alkalinity, iron, and other dissolved minerals can influence laundry results. This is a possibility to investigate.

🔍Differences in machine performance and wash conditions

Load size, actual water volume, cycle length, temperature, agitation, and rinsing all affect cleaning. Sometimes with hard water you need more detergent not less and in soft less not more. Sometimes in overly soft water you need washing soda to boost ph of your water and in hard you need water softeners and boosters like washing soda and baking soda. Each detergent has limitations in certain circumstances.

🔍A specific compatibility or performance limitation

It's still possible that the detergent you’re using  performs less well under a particular combination of conditions, even though its overall performance is strong for other individuals.

Sometimes the issue is the detergent and sometimes the issue isn’t the detergent at all and the only way to really determine what maybe happening is through thorough investigation 🔍 otherwise the issue won’t be resolved OR you may revert back to detergents that mask the problem not fix it. Something not often educated on is the fact your detergent, garments, machine, and water all work harmoniously to clean your clothes. When something is not working well it means one of the harmony peace’s is struggling and the best way to fix it is by figuring out which and why.

So what do we do once we’ve done these tests and narrowed down the cause?

Well I’ll discuss that in part 3 of laundry science as well as diving into how your water impacts your garments, machine, and detergent as well as how water temperature impacts certain stains and detergent performances.

And…. I’ll be discussing how certain ingredients in a detergent can become counter productive in certain conditions 👀