General Chat

Hi all...
My son works for a food company and wears a long white overall with dark green cuffs and collars. Lifting boxes etc the overalls get marked easily and end up really dirty. I have tried all sorts of stain removers and also boil washing but nothing seems to get them clean.

Any tips or advice PLEEEASE....

Alyson, have you tried Vanish
Hazelx

Washing soda in the wash and for the stubborn marks put on washing up liquid.

Unfortunately you've probably set the stains when you boiled them but the suggestions from Hazel and Janet may help.

Sue xx

Someone told me to buy Vanish Oxi Action Intelligence Plus.In a pink tub and you put a scoop in with your normal washing powder/liquid.I only bought mine yesterday so haven't tried it yet lol

Jane thats the one i use .
and i find it usualy gets the stains out
Hazelx

Thankyou ladies..

I have tried Vanish and Oxi and also Stain Devils but nothing seems to work.

i would soak them in hot water and tesco lemon washing tablets
then wash with ariel gel

I would suggest the firm sends all overalls to the laundry!!!!

Thankyou for your suggestions. I will try them all.
I agree with you Maggie !!!.
They are a nightmare to wash.
The firm supplies 5 shirts but only 2 overalls so they are constantly being washed, how silly is that ??

Alyson

Well I can see you have lots of replies - I must admit I prefere Ace over Vanish - but if I've washed something and the stain still dosent come out - even with colours - I find a good old fashioned soak overnight in a bucket of warm water and Biotex. The only problem is its a nightmare trying to find these days.

I found some small boxes the old launderette size, Im showing my age there, in the 99p shop last year and bought ten! Im nearly out and dont have a clue where I can get it now. None of the major supermarjets stock it anymore - I dont know why.

Biotex should be found at Waitrose and Tescos. The old distributer went bust.

What sort of stains are they? Is it dirt, grease or something else? Sometimes you can get dirt out with squirt of high pressure water from a hose. What about those gel bleach pens? Also Napisan.

Rose

I use Ace and it works on most things, and is gentle on delicate fabrics too.
Maybe your son needs to talk to his employers and get them to arrange for laundering or provide more overalls so they can be washed more often. Or maybe they need to provide dark green aprons to go over the fronts.

Lizx

Alyson, I'm in Australia and don't know all of the brand names which have been mentioned, but we do have Napisan and my daughter swears by it. The length of time she soaks depends on the type of stain, but up to a couple of days at times will be needed, but does the trick!

However, I see your son is only provided with 2 overalls and five shirts - which would no doubt be protected by the overalls, but may not allow for them to be soaked for that long.

Is there any chance he and his colleagues could approach the management and ask for the overalls to be laundered? They could come to some agreement where only the overalls are laundered and the shirts be their own responsibility. For heavy stains, white overalls really do need to be professionally laundered.

Thankyou all for your replies.

The stains on the overalls are mainly dirt, grease, oil and dye from the wrappings on the boxes.
I will try all you have suggested as they are driving me mad.
I doubt very much that the company will foot the bill for professional laundry service though..

Alyson

My o.h. works in a corugated cardboard factory fixing and maintaining computerised machinery and he has his overalls laundered by the company but brings home his work tshirts and sweatshirts for washing. Lately tho he has been bringing his bright orange overalls too as he only likes them when they are old and wellwashed so softer and more flexible to move about among rollers and such. If he sends them to the laundry he doesn't always get the older ones back, they seem to bin them. I don't even try to get the stains out which are mainly oil, as long as they are clean and freshened up he is happy, altho I hate the thought of the oily gunk going through a domestic machine. I am sure the company your son works for should consider laundering the overalls if they want them kept pristinely white.

Lizx