# Laundry disaster; solution requested! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2001, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442 "2001-03-10T14:34:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carina42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Carina42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carina42)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/1 "2001-03-10T14:34:57Z")
Yikes. I just washed an ENTIRE roll of toilet paper in with a load of laundry.:eek: Several fleece items are completely covered with fuzz. I’ve put it through a couple of extra rinse/spin cycles, but I still have a giant wad of fuzzy clothing. Any good ideas, besides spending the weekend shaving my wardrobe? TIA. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/2 "2001-03-10T15:07:14Z")
Lay the clothes out on the driveway and rinse them with a garden hose ? Climb into a shower with them and do a gravity assisted rinse ? How did this happen ? Did you forget to check for foreign objects in your pockets ? ---
**Author:** ![lesa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/34f0e0/32.png) [@lesa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesa)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/3 "2001-03-10T15:07:56Z")
Oh no! I’ve washed a kleenex or two, but never a whole roll of tissue! I’m afraid you’re in for a messy day. I suggest drying your clothes in the dryer. I find the dry tissue bits are easier to remove. Once they’re dry, you can take them outside and shake them out. But this will mean little bits of tissue all over the yard. You can shake them inside, then vacuum. You can also vacuum the clothes with the hose attachment. Remove the bits that won’t come off with masking tape. Maybe someone else will know a less messy solution. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Carina42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Carina42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carina42)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/4 "2001-03-10T15:21:56Z")
Well, Despite an hour in the dryer my laundry is still fuzzy, though a little less so. I have no idea how a tp roll got in there. 😕 So…still looking for more ideas…The masking tape is a good one; I was going to try that, though time consuming. It was a large load, so it could take me a while to do a gravity assisted rinse (though I would get VERY clean!) I like dark coloured clothing, unfortunately. Why don’t _they_ make black or brown TP? Why is it always white? Is it because people like to see what they’ve just wiped? But I digress… ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/5 "2001-03-10T15:38:51Z")
You could try a lint remover. I don’t know the brand name of this item, but it looks like a wide roll of masking tape, sticky-side out, attached to a handle. You roll the remover over your clothes a couple of swipes, and when the remover is full of lint, you simply tear off the outer layer and get a fresh layer of stickyness underneath. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/6 "2001-03-10T16:03:22Z")
Would that be the Helmac[sup]tm[/sup] lint remover, the [savior of Flint, Michigan](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098213)? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/7 "2001-03-10T16:20:17Z")
Eh, need to know what kind of fabric this is. 100% cotton? 100% polyester? Cotton/polyester blend? Rayon (god please let it not be rayon)? It’s fleecewear? So it’s probably polyester? Whew. [sigh of relief] Do another short wash/rinse cycle, no need to add soap, then do another full-term dryer cycle. Make sure the dryer’s lint filter is empty when you start. I have great faith in a dryer’s ability to remove fuzzy stuff (speaking as one who frequently finds that Other People have left Kleenex in their jeans pockets AGAIN. Other Very Immature People. Other Juvenile People Who Won’t Always Have Mom Around To Do Their Laundry For Them…) Sorry for the mini-rant. Carry on. If it’s polyester fleecewear we’re talking about, you can keep doing this until all the TP is gone. Rayon isn’t happy being tumble dried in the first place, is why I’m hoping it wasn’t rayon. And cotton gets worn down a little bit every time you run it through the machines. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/8 "2001-03-10T16:27:58Z")
Buy a couple yards of nylon net at a fabric store. Wash the items again and run them through the dryer with the nylon net. It should pick up most of the toilet paper. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/9 "2001-03-10T22:14:18Z")
I can sympathize, I did the same thing some time back. After trying to re-wash everything without appreciable success, took everything down to the local Laundromat and put it through their machines…TaaDaa! Must be the more powerful machines. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disaster-solution-requested/57442/10 "2001-03-11T04:22:47Z")
Those huge laundromat dryers are GREAT at demolishing lint. Make sure you’re using the big commercial kind, with the drum that’s full of holes (almost like mesh) - not the little ones that look just like home dryers, only fewer cycles…