Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 00:55:18 -0700 From: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> To: David Kelly <dkelly@HiWAAY.net> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Washing Beige Beastie Hat? Message-ID: <3CF5DAE6.81EF6356@mindspring.com> References: <20020529164514.A43327@grumpy.dyndns.org> <3CF56C08.149E91E1@mindspring.com> <200205292003.39397.dkelly@HiWAAY.net>
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David Kelly wrote: > On Wednesday 29 May 2002 07:02 pm, Terry Lambert wrote: > > David Kelly wrote: > > > Maybe this is better suited to FreeBSD-questions but thought to try > > > here first: Dropped my nice beige FreeBSD hat on Alabama red clay > > > dust, which stuck like glue. Know any safe ways to wash it? > > > > Clay: Use a phosphate based detergent; the old non-eco-safe "Tide" > > is the best one I'd recommend. > > > > Yeah, phosphates are bad for the environment: the environment is > > mostly dirt, and phosphates get rid of dirt. Go figure. > > > > (I spent several years growing up in an area where there was enough > > clay that if you went out after it rained, your feet would be twice > > as big on the way in as they were on the way out. 8-)). > > I was too brief. The hat says its 100% cotton but I'm worried about the > bill being made of cardboard or something which would be destroyed if I > put it in the washing machine. Don't dry it in the dryer. You may also want to "stack" the bill to keep it from curling. But mostly, the bills have plastic, not cardboard, inside. > Fortunately the dirt and the hat are pretty close in color. > > All of my "white" socks are red clay stained. Bleach does no good. Clay won't come out with bleach. The interesting thing about clay is that the particles are incredibly small, and can carry a static charge. Typically, this means that when they get into the wash water, unless you have something incredibly electronegative to displace it, then you get a colloidal suspension. It goes right back in the socks, and loves the surface tension boundary. This is pretty much why it doesn't want to go away. You can pretty much demonstrate this to yourself by putting the "stained" socks into the sink, putting hot water in the singe with them, and as much table salt as you can, to get some really fierce ions in solution. You'll get to see the clay particles stay in your sink, and it will get (some) of them out of the socks. You can also try "dawn" diswashing liquid -- NOT the "New Fast Action"... the stuff that works. THis is actually what spas use to get massage oil and the clay from mud baths out of sheets and towels. This works because dawn dishwashing liquid is actually one of the best surfactants out there. You could do the same trick with alum as with the salt... and get better results. But then you will never get the alum out of your socks. 8-) 8-). Probably, your really white socks are goners. You should put them in the dryer when washing other socks, as sacrifices to the dryer sock fairies... -- Terry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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