Wash with Wally

By Wally Makowsky | May 08, 2009

I own a coin laundry in Iowa and was wondering how to remove the odor of human and/or animal urine.

If you have a drycleaning supplier in your area, ask if they sell an “odor neutralizer.” This is more of a commercial type of product, and it can be a little bit stronger. What’s more, some of them need to be applied directly to the affected area, while some of them can be added into the regular wash cycle.

However, be sure not to purchase an “odor masking agent” by mistake. There is a difference between the two types of products.

If you don’t have access to a drycleaning supplier near you, purchase a product called Febreze. Use eight ounces of it in a 20-pound washer, mixed in with your detergent. Run the garments through a normal wash cycle in warm water, not hot. You may need to repeat this process two or three times to get the odor out completely.

I have a commercial account with a paintball company. However, I’m having trouble removing the odor of the oil-based paint from the towels. Do you have any suggestions?

Most of the paintballs used today are not oil-based. Some manufacturers use vegetable oil, but most of the paintballs are strictly a fabric softener or a corn-based type of product.

As a result, I would ask the person who purchased the paintballs who the manufacturer is. Next, you should call the manufacturer, who can let you know which type of paintball product they use. Again, some of them use fabric softener and others use a vegetable oil type of product.

If you find that the paintballs are of a vegetable oil type of composition, I would buy a product called Laundry Wetspo from your local laundry supplier. Of course, always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when using such a product.

If you discover that the paintballs are either fabric softener or corn-based, the best way is to wash the towels is in hot water with about eight ounces of ammonia and detergent. Certainly, you might have to repeat this process two or three times, depending on how long the paintball stains have been on the items.

A wash-dry-fold customer recently brought in a number of items that have mold on them. What is the best way to remove mold from clothes, pillows and bedding?

I would suggest running the moldy garments and linens through a hot water wash process, using detergent and bleach. However, if you really want to be sure that the mold is removed, you can try soaking the items for anywhere from two to three hours to overnight in a water and chlorine bleach solution.

This soaking solution should be at a _ percent to 1 percent level. In other words, for as many gallons of water that you’re going to use in the soaking process, you should include no more than _ percent to 1 percent bleach. For example, if your solution is 10 gallons of water, it should include a half gallon to a gallon of chlorine bleach.

Of course, if the fabric is synthetic, be sure to use a color-safe type of bleach, with the same soaking timetable.

After the soaking process, run the clothes and/or linens through a regular wash cycle in warm or hot water, depending on the fabric. Use your normal detergent, and feel free to add some bleach and softener during the wash. In most cases, this process will remove the mold from the effected items.