how can i get tan stains out of towels and sheets? the ecolab soap don't work and we're losing half our linen

Question

how can i get tanish yellow stains out of towels and sheets, the ecolab destainer doesn't work and we are losing half our linen supple every month to what appears to be coffee stains. we are using large industial washing machines that have auto soap loading supplied by ecolab. but their soap is not working.

this is standard white hotel linen. the ecolab dispenser adds detergent, bleach and fabric softener to each load. however, almost half the linen comes out stained with round drop spots and splotchy larger irregular stains of a tanish yellow color. we have tried ecolab's "stain blaster power pak" and the reclaim setting on the washing machines but nothing has worked.

i am talking about seventy to eighty sheets stained per day and even more towels, hand towels, wash clothes and bathmats.

we tried filling four Rubbermaid plastic laundry baskets (14 cubic feet capacity) half way with water and added bleach and the linen.
the ones we let set for four hours came out little better than it went in.
the ones we left over night had "patches of bare fabric on the towels and still had about 40% still stained

Answer 1

I had a problem like this before and my washers needed to be cleaned out. You have to wash down the insides of your washing machines with bleach water then run a hot cycle with bleach. Mold builds up in places we can't see and gets on whatever is being washed. Also I'd wash the linens with bleach. It's the only way to keep them white.

Answer 2

It sounds like you have a rust problem in your washer or your dryers are too hot and they are getting burned (this happened to me once at a laundrymat...my whole white load had light brown stains on it)...try calling the service guy.

If they are coming from the guests this way then I would try Greased Lightning. You can spray it directly on the stains and then wash. Or you can go to your local grocery and get something called Rit. They have a couple that will work. There is one called "color out" That will remove dyes from fabric that is not supposed to be there. Or you can try the one that removes all color.

Answer 3

I read somewhere that chlorine bleach will stain polyester containing fabrics yellow. I've some old sheets that were 70% cotton and 30% polyester.They eventually became 90% polyester after many years of washing-(very thin and see thru).They yellowed with higher bleach levels so i believe that bleach made them yellow.This yellowing had a mottled appereance.

Answer 4

Try putting bleach in the water, put the linens and towels in, if they're white, turn the washer off and let them sit in the water for a couple of hours before washing.

Answer 5

Combine 1 teaspoon laundry soap or pretreatment (or dish soap, like Dawn) and 1 cup hydrogen peroxide in a small bowl.And wash your linen with this mixture.
Hope this helps.

Good Luck :)

Answer 6

Try taking a few and seeing if Vinegar will help. 1part vinegar to 4 parts water. Another one is Lemon juice, mix it in the water and then put your clothes in, and see if that helps. Wish I had more. But thats all I could come up with.

Answer 7

use bleach in your washing if the linen is white

Answer 8

stop bloody shi tting on it then!