Wash with Wally

By Wally Makowsky | May 12, 2009

A few of my drop-off customers are complaining about small bleach spots on their clothes. However, we don’t even use bleach on their clothes, nor do we place the garments where bleach could be splashed on them.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the bleach is not being rinsed out of the tub from a previous load? My machines are 10 years old. Is there something I need to clean or replace on them? Any help would be appreciated.

I don’t think the problem is with your equipment. Most machines have a pre-wash, a wash and three rinses. If you use bleach in your wash cycle, I’m positive that, by the third rinse, all of that bleach is gone.

If you don’t use bleach, which you say you don’t, the only way bleach can end up in your tub is if someone were to throw it in there after the wash cycle is complete.

Therefore, I suspect a more likely scenario. At times, when your customers use bleach in your washers, they’ll occasionally spill some of it on the tops of the machines, and anyone laying their garments on top of those machines before they put the clothes into the washers will pick up the fugitive bleach on their items – and it can end up in spots and other blemishes.

When is comes to spots, there are “smudges,” and then there are honest-to-goodness “spots.” A smudge is when you have a garment on a bleach-splattered surface and it’s being moved – then you’ll get a bleach smudge.

On the other hand, a spot is typically due to spillage. Again, I’m reemphasizing the fact that you’re not putting the bleach on. If it’s a spot, it would have to be dropped on the garment, and that’s almost impossible, unless someone intentionally leaves bleach inside your washer.

There’s another possibility, too. There are some very cheaply made garments, towels, bedspreads, etc. These items where not dyed properly to being with. In such cases, the dye will actually come right off after one or two washes, because it was never properly set in the first place. In such instances, this could appear to be a bleach spot, but it’s actually just the dye escaping the fabric of the item.

In your situation, I would check your washers before you use them, but also closely monitor the tops of your machines to be sure that your attendants aren’t placing the drop-off garments there before loading them into the washers. Typically, it’s a better idea to take clothes right out of the basket and into the washer.