# cat clothes | sed 's//latex\_paint/g' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744 "2005-06-17T19:42:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/1 "2005-06-17T19:42:21Z")
So I got some latex paint on my sole pair of shorts. Like an idiot, I just threw them in the wash. Mrs. Maidenname-455 then stuck them in the dryer. Now it looks like Michael Jackson got all excited on my leg. I’ve tried color-safe bleach and this painter’s hand goop stuff we had sitting around, but no dice. I’m probably going to grab a couple of bottles of 97% isopropyl to see if it’ll dissolve it, but I’m open to other suggestions. Hmmm… what’d they tell me in health class about Vaseline being bad for condoms…? Any ideas? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/2 "2005-06-17T19:44:38Z")
That _should_ be s/latex\_paint//g, but I don’t think that’s why it’s not working. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/3 "2005-06-17T19:53:39Z")
Heheh. I have absolutely no advice for you, I just came in to point out the error in your sed invocation. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/4 "2005-06-17T20:40:44Z")
cat clothes /dev/null 😃 ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/5 "2005-06-17T20:41:40Z")
Damn, beat me to it. But, I might have a solution to the actual problem. I can’t guarantee that it’s not going to totally mess up the clothes, but I’ve discovered that “Simple Green” can be used to strip some kinds of paint as a somewhat less-toxic alternative to other, much more caustic paint removers. However, I’ve been using it on plastic and wood, not cloth. Oven cleaner (Easy-Off, etc) also strips paint, which is what I was using before finding out about Simple Green. That’s some foul, nasty stuff, though. Again, don’t know what it would do to clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/6 "2005-06-17T20:43:29Z")
Insert a \> in there somewhere :smack: ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/7 "2005-06-17T21:05:00Z")
Been doing some more googling, and it looks like there’s this stuff called “Goof Off” that works. Apparently, it smells suspiciously like naptha. So I’m gonna stop at the drug store on the way home from work, and grab some lighter fluid, oven cleaner, rubbing alcohol, and a six pack. If the clerk looks at me funny, I’ll say “We’re going to a party.” Thanks folks. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/8 "2005-06-18T02:02:33Z")
Goof Off is what you want. I use it to remove dried acrylic paint from brushes. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/9 "2005-06-18T02:22:44Z")
It should be “sed ‘s/latex\_paint/ /g’ clothes”, and apparently someone has taken the trouble to make a [website to this effect](http://sial.org/howto/shell/useless-cat/). But I’m really just impressed that there’s a critical mass of \*nix geeks on this board such that nobody was confused by the erroneous title. Maybe you should get a mod to fix it, but then it’ll probably end up written in Perl. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/10 "2005-06-18T02:46:08Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > It should be “sed ‘s/latex\_paint/ /g’ clothes”, and apparently someone has taken the trouble to make a [website to this effect](http://sial.org/howto/shell/useless-cat/). Pish posh. _I_ say better to waste the machine process than to waste the brain process thinking about it back-asswards. Anyway, in case anybody cares, soaking the bigger splotches with the alcohol, scrubbing them with a rubber brush, and running the shorts through the rinse cycle took care of 99% of it. You wouldn’t notice unless you got three inches away from my crotch and stared really hard, in which case we’d have other things to talk about. If I get really OCD, I’ll try the Simple Green and/or Goof Off on the pinpoint splatters. As it stands now, I look slightly linty instead of like an innocent bystander at a bukkake duel. Since these are cutoff army pants, I think I can live with it. Thanks y’all. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-clothes-sed-s-latex_paint-g/308744/11 "2005-06-18T04:24:19Z")
never mind cat or sed - the more likely option is rm -rf /export/home/black455/clothes Ah, nevermind. I see you had success with the isopropyl.