Lipstick On Your Collar

In order to get ready for the big move off the docks and out to a mooring ball, I did all the laundry yesterday. I'm usually pretty good about checking everybody's pockets because you never know what you're going to find in Jeff's but this time it was my pocket that was the culprit. I left a lipstick in a pocket...brand new, clinique, baby kiss, my favorite. It made it through the wash undetected and into the dryer which resulted in catastrophe. Little spots of lipstick on everything. All of my new Eddy Bauer shorts, eek. And 2 of Jeff's work shirts, double eek. So, I rushed to the grocery for a spot remover that promised to take out lipstick & came back to the boat and started spotting. It didn't seem to be working, but I was optimistic. The directions said for stubborn stains to let it soak for 4 hours or longer so I treated and let the load sit overnight.

Today I headed off for the washing machines with degreaser, detergent, spray n' wash, a tide stain lifter packet, and high hopes. How could any stain survive all that?

The lipstick barely budged. My wardrobe still looked as if it had had a run in with the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. I was forlorn. I checked eddiebauer.com. No more shorts available. My mood accelerated to truly depressed. So I asked Jeeves what he would do to get out lipstick.

The results were many home remedies that had never occurred to me to try: denatured alcohol, toothpaste, hairspray, ammonia, & dish soap. First, I tried toothpaste and all it did was make the shorts smell minty. Not the result I was looking for. Dish soap was the next handiest thing. Eureka! The stain moved! After a little work with a toothbrush and it was almost gone. Yeah! I proceeded to retreat every spot of baked in baby kiss and then headed to the laundry room for one more load. The clothing came mostly clean with just a few remaining faded remnants. I'll retreat everything the next go around and I'll be adding dish detergent to my laundry kit. Jeff remained a good sport through the whole process...he's not very fond of those particular work shirts to begin with and this is not the first time his laundry has been affected by my lip-wear. Poor guy. But all's well that ends well, thanks to dish soap!

Who knew?