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Need help removing oil from a washing machine

 
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I dropped and broke a bottle of flaxseed oil. I probably should have thrown the cleanup rags away, but instead I rinsed them out and tossed them in the washing machine. Now everything I wash has a faint odor of flaxseed oil. I ran a hot cycle with vinegar and I've washed a handful of loads since then, but the smell permeates everything. Any suggestions for getting it out of my washing machine? I'm really tired of smelling it.
 
master pollinator
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Have you done a hot wash? Tenacious oils are easier to clean with hot water.

Perhaps running a cycle with TSP would work?

You could also reach out to the manufacturer for suggestions.
 
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oil + alkali = soap.

Is it worth trying a load with a bit of washing soda or equivalent?
 
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Douglas and Nancy's recommendation would be what I would go to.

If you don't have those you might try baking soda aka bicarbonate of soda.
 
Douglas Alpenstock
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Nancy Reading wrote:oil + alkali = soap.

Is it worth trying a load with a bit of washing soda or equivalent?


Good idea! That's the correct formula, but I would add "+ heat." Offhand, I don't know the minimum temperature required. But I vaguely recall discussions of cold soap, so maybe I'm off base.
 
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Hottest tub clean and washing soda would be my starting place.
 
Nikki Roche
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Thanks everyone! I've added washing soda to my shopping list and have my fingers crossed that it'll work.
 
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How did it work?
 
Nikki Roche
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John F Dean wrote:How did it work?



I was placing an online order to ship to me, but the store wouldn't ship the washing soda and required that it be picked up at the store. So I haven't actually gotten any yet. The flax oil smell is fading in small increments with each load of laundry, and I'm hoping it'll simply be gone soon.
 
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Orange or other citrus oil degreaser is a powerful emulsifier though it may leave a citrus fragrance for a while.  
 
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Bake your bicarbonate of soda, (Baking Soda) on a cookie tray at 400 degrees F for 20 min and you will have the (Washing Soda) you're looking for.
 
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The alkali they use for making soap is lye.
It works great for dissolving oil.
Even the old vegetable oil on my  vegoil filtering setup for my vegy burning rabbit diesel.
I found this out when a restaurant lent me the stuff they use to clean oily stuff in the kitchen.
The label said sodium hydroxide,.. hmm that's just lye.
It does get hot when I mix it with water.
 
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