What happens when…

…You wash some clothes that are “dry-clean” or “hand-wash” only in your machine that has a “Hand-wash” setting?

Everything comes out great. The Silk Tiered Camis didn’t fray. The pencil skirts didn’t shrink. The beading on the tees didn’t fall off.

Now…what happens when you add this dress along with your light colors?

And toss in a few white items. Yes I said white.

Favorite Bermuda shorts

Great summer skirt

An ebay purchase I haven’t even worn yet.

HTF!
Double HTF! (But I have another in a different size.)

And let’s throw in my favorite color Jackie.

WAAAAHHH!

Did I mention I also had these in the wash?

I really did cry.

Any way…This all happened before my birthday and party and family visiting. So I re-washed as quickly as I could with bleach. All, except for the whites, came out of the 2nd wash with no green or barely noticeable in natural light.

As for the whites, I was finally able to soak them in a water/bleach mixture today and re-wash with more bleach. (I know…very bad.) But everything now seems to be it’s original color. I took all of them outside for a good sun-dry and don’t see a spot of green anywhere.

Lesson learned.

But I’m glad to know I can wash those “dry-clean only” items in the machine on the “Hand-Wash” setting. I’ll just make sure to stick with the same colors. Even if that means washing one item at a time.

Have a great evening!

11 Comments

  1. July 12, 2010 / 11:16 pm

    Have you tried Shout Color Catchers sheets? You put them in the washer and they suck up dye that any of the garments release in the wash. They come out kinda tie-dyed and you can definitely see they work. I use them if I'm nervous about any color transfer! I buy them at Target but you can probably get them at the market too.

  2. July 12, 2010 / 11:33 pm

    OMG…I read this post and almost had a heart attack!!! I would seriously die. I'm so glad it all worked out:) Those are some very lovely things…

  3. July 13, 2010 / 1:46 am

    Heart attack is right! Followed by a huge sigh of relief. Glad to read you were able to get the green color out of your fabulous pieces.

  4. July 13, 2010 / 2:02 am

    I would have cried too! I am so glad you were finally able to get it all out….phew

  5. July 13, 2010 / 2:58 am

    Oh my – this is why I don't let the BF do the laundry. HE just throws everything in the wash and washer settings be darned!

    Glad to hear it all worked out, but goodness stress!

  6. July 13, 2010 / 3:17 am

    ac – Thanks. That's on my shopping list now.

    Jordyn – Thank you. I will certainly be more careful next time.

    ABC – Thanks. I certainly know better. I've been doing my laundry for over 20 years.

    Debye – Husband had no reaction to my tears. I guess if I would have told him how much it all cost he might have cried too.

    Lisa – I wish I could blame it on Husband or The Boy but it was all me.

  7. July 13, 2010 / 8:02 am

    I would have been bawling! Glad it turned out okay!

  8. July 13, 2010 / 11:22 am

    Glad it all worked out. I almost cried reading your post, but we've all done it! I have had good luck with a mystery product called Carbona stain run remover that I buy at HEB….not sure what's in it but it works. Has removed many a mystery stain from (mainly my college age son's) clothing!

  9. July 13, 2010 / 11:23 am

    OMG, i would have been sick. If I have any issues, I tend to use Oxyclean and it's worked well so far. I'm bad with bleach bc inevitably I splash some on myself and end ruining something else!!!!

  10. July 13, 2010 / 1:15 pm

    You and I were both doing laundry at the same time, I think! My youngest is away at the beach this week with a friend's family, and I decided to "help her" (myself) and wash the tons of clothing thrown all over her room. Of course, I was doing mine as well. One of her flowered (on white) tank tops turned some items a reddish pink color! The most interesting one was my J Crew pink roses tee from last summer. It looks kind of tye dyed now, on the edges, and I think I like it! haha But I just rewashed everything right away (before dryer) and it all came out. Every now and then, we goof up. Life is too short to worry about it! Glad all your items are back to their original colors! I wash many dry clean items as well! Sometimes the pressing/steaming is a bit tricky.

  11. July 17, 2010 / 2:43 pm

    You were really "GOING GREEN!" smile