We’ve All Done It! Chapstick In The Laundry

Forgetting to check your pockets for chapstick before doing laundry never turns out well. This scenario is a bit of a double tragedy. As you pull out your melted chapstick spotted favorite jeans or t-shirt, it is hard to not to grieve over the loss of your favorite tube. You cannot get back the latter but you can order bulk lip balm to ensure you always have a replacement handy. However, there are ways to restore your clothes to their former glory. Common sense might lead you to believe that if you simply wash the clothes again you will get rid of the stains but don’t forget what you are dealing with. Chapstick is nothing more than a tube of pure oil. Even the ones made without petroleum are made with sunflower seed oil, jojoba oil, shea butter and other elements. This ain't your fried chicken grease on your blouse kind of stain! But where there’s a will there’s a way. Try these handy ways to remove the stains:

• Dry Cleaning
  • Not sure what they use but that crazy no water stuff actually works.
• Dishwashing Liquid
  • If it can get the baked oil off of my five year old baking pan, I have faith!
• Hairspray
  • Apply liberally to the stain. You may have to repeat this process a few times so put on your patient hat.
• Ice
  • If the splotches are the right consistency, you can try to remove them as you would a wax stain.

If none of the above works it is probably time to accept your loss, open a new tube and get on with life.