- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
- Messages
- 613
We used our domestic washing machines for the cleaning of my real cotton overalls and my polyester cotton overalls as follows :-
Make the water wetter so it penetrates down the fibres under the grease /oils by using a hand full of common washing soda & a half handful of borax powder and a high temp detergent to soak them in a bucket of just over hand hot water , push them down into the mixture with a stick , put a brick onto to keep them submerged .
Let them soak for a couple of hours, agitate them with the stick several times during the soak to help loosen the crud , . let the water cool enough so you can pour the dirty water off and pick up the clothing with your bare hands . Now wash them on a high temp ( at least 160 oF ) with a real detergent wash powder . Not one of these low temp eco friendly things as they don't work . Once washed get them dried ASAP , outside if you can rather than a dryer as the cooler fresher oxygen helps remove any lasting taints .
I say this from bitter experience gained from when I was an electro mechanical engineer ( for almost 50 years ... gosh how time flies )
On some of the more " exciting " jobs it was not unusual for me to have to have four sets of clean zip up coverall's /boiler suits a day , when the heavy engineering greases & treacle thick oils were inches thick & had to be scraped off with a small " onion hand hoe " , before we could even think of using a high pressure steam generator & a hot water pressure cleaner with a washing soda add mix /feed to blast the engines , casings & chassis clean enough to inspect & repair them..
Make the water wetter so it penetrates down the fibres under the grease /oils by using a hand full of common washing soda & a half handful of borax powder and a high temp detergent to soak them in a bucket of just over hand hot water , push them down into the mixture with a stick , put a brick onto to keep them submerged .
Let them soak for a couple of hours, agitate them with the stick several times during the soak to help loosen the crud , . let the water cool enough so you can pour the dirty water off and pick up the clothing with your bare hands . Now wash them on a high temp ( at least 160 oF ) with a real detergent wash powder . Not one of these low temp eco friendly things as they don't work . Once washed get them dried ASAP , outside if you can rather than a dryer as the cooler fresher oxygen helps remove any lasting taints .
I say this from bitter experience gained from when I was an electro mechanical engineer ( for almost 50 years ... gosh how time flies )
On some of the more " exciting " jobs it was not unusual for me to have to have four sets of clean zip up coverall's /boiler suits a day , when the heavy engineering greases & treacle thick oils were inches thick & had to be scraped off with a small " onion hand hoe " , before we could even think of using a high pressure steam generator & a hot water pressure cleaner with a washing soda add mix /feed to blast the engines , casings & chassis clean enough to inspect & repair them..