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Oil filled washing machine...... and its my landlords!!

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  • Oil filled washing machine...... and its my landlords!!

    My Flatmate decided to put clothes drenched in oil in our washing machine. The one provided by the landlord.

    Not only does my flat now stink to high heaven and give me further headache on top of my headcold/sore throat induced illness... but the washing machine stinks and has a huge raft of oil in the door seals let alone elsewhere.

    I'm running a large amount of washing up liquid and detergent in an empty wash to try to clean it but it isn't touching the door seals at all and I don't know if it will come out or not.

    Anyone know of any decent way to rescue the washing machine so I don't end up losing my deposit AND I can still wash my clothes until I move without them stinking?
    I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

  • #2
    Try emptying a can of coke in it before you run a cycle, it works to get oil out of clothes and may work to get it out of the machine. You can also get laundry machine cleaner at most grocery stores in the laundry aisle, that may work. It's mostly used to get rid of the musty, moldy smell when you've forgotten a load in the machine but might work for this too.

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    • #3
      yay internets!
      how to clean an oily/greasy washer

      there's tons of hits on the search
      Honestly.... the image of that in my head made me go "AWESOME!"..... and then I remembered I am terribly strange.-Red dazes

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      • #4
        Please tell me he didn't try to run them through the dryer >_> Good way to start a fire, is it not?
        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
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        • #5
          No, no dryer thank goodness! Apparently he's done this exact thing before with no issue and there was "only" about 500ml of oil in the items.... (both were in car and motor oil leaked and steeped into clothes).

          A friend bitchslapped him and he's got a industrial cleaner and that got run last night. Manually cleaned the door seals by hand and we get to try to find out today if it is still bad...
          I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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          • #6
            Sounds like the nut that trips the "cycle start" switch needs to be replaced.
            Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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            • #7
              Gah!

              Normally I would recommend something that soaks up oil (such as kitty litter); but NOT in this case, because such things would then have to be removed from the machine.

              So .. surfectants and detergents. I can't recommend specific brands for this problem; sadly. But I can explain roughly what you're trying to achieve.


              The molecules in detergents (detergents being a sub-class of surfectants - roughly speaking) have two ends. One end looooves water. Can't get enough of it. Hooks onto it like a pre-teen girl meeting Justin Beiber. The other end loooooves oil.

              You want a detergent whose oil-loving end loves motor oils, rather than vegetable oils or animal fats, but doesn't love washing machine plastics or other such things it'll encounter on its run through the machine.

              Because of the water-loving end of the detergent molecules, both the detergent bits that have grabbed an oil and the bits that haven't will flush out with the water - ideally in the wash cycle, but if not, in the rinse cycle.


              You'll need roughly one or one-and-a-half molecules of detergent to every molecule of motor oil that's gone into the machine. That said, the volume of detergent you'll need to achieve that is surprisingly small. Start with whatever it suggests on the package for a 'dirty' or 'heavy' load.
              You can probably find an excellent and suitable product at any place that supplies car repair stuff: an 'okay' one at a retail-to-the-general-public location, and the best one at a place that supplies businesses. If you have a good relationship with a mechanic, ask what they use on their dirtiest workwear.


              In the future, your flatmate should soak his filthy oily workwear in a mix of this detergent and water (which will give the detergents time to grab hold of the oil molecules), and discard the dirty oil/detergent/water mix thoughtfully.
              Agitating the mix will speed up the chemical reaction; getting the oil out more quickly.




              Edit to add: the reason normal household laundry detergents aren't as good at motor oil as industrial detergents is simple: normal household detergents are chosen to get out cooking oils, sweat, food grease, and blood. Grass stains from kids' heavy play, and vegetable oils from gardening stains, are also accounted for.
              But normal household laundry detergents don't need much ability to handle petrochemicals. Maybe a bit of wax from lipstick - unless it's a beeswax lipstick. A smear of vaseline here, a smudge from changing a tyre... but not a lot. Not compared to spilled food and sweat. So most of the detergent molecules in household detergents loooove household oils, not industrial petrochemicals.
              Normal household cleaning products rely on the water to clean out water-soluble marks and stains anyway, btw. They do very little about them - it's the water itself and the agitation of the washing machine that does most of the work. There are 'water softeners' (other types of surfactants) in them, but other than that it's the water.


              If you ever have something that's heavily oil-damaged enough to be worth the cost, take it to a dry-cleaner. Dry-cleaning fluid is an oil solvent, and doesn't need the assistance of a detergent to get oils or oil-soluble stuff out.
              Last edited by Seshat; 11-18-2014, 10:45 AM.
              Seshat's self-help guide:
              1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
              2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
              3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
              4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

              "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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              • #8
                Thank you all. Flat mate has run a load through and there is no noticeable smell of oil on his stuff after we used the uber cleaner he bought.

                I think I'll let him do the next couple of loads before mine goes in there though....

                And yep, Flatmate is on is way to replacement. I'm buying a place due to complete any day and he isn't moving with me.
                I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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                • #9
                  I've always used Dawn dishwashing soap to remove oil from things...including various tools and parts off the project car. Since it's basically soap, it probably wouldn't do any harm to run some through the washer.
                  Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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                  • #10
                    Quoth protege View Post
                    I've always used Dawn dishwashing soap to remove oil from things...including various tools and parts off the project car. Since it's basically soap, it probably wouldn't do any harm to run some through the washer.
                    If it's a front-loading washer, the OP will not want to do that. Those washers require high efficiency detergent, because it doesn't make a lot of bubbles.

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                    • #11
                      I don't think I can get Dawn in the UK anyway. I'm waiting the flatmate to put one more load through before I use it but I think we've cleaned it.... I am suspiciously waiting that "surprise" load that gets icked on though. I'm jaded... I know.
                      I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Gizmo View Post
                        I don't think I can get Dawn in the UK anyway.
                        Amazon do it; prices are a bit eyewatering though.
                        Engaged to the sweet Mytical He is my Black Dragon (and yes, a good one) strong, protective, the guardian. I am his Silver Dragon, always by his side, shining for him, cherishing him.

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