How to get silly putty out of clothes?
It’s all fun and games with silly putty until it stains your or your children’s clothes!
You may have faced many different kinds of stains, but silly putty might just have put you at a standstill.
Well, no need to fret! There is a way to get it out of clothes. Allow us to show you how. You might be surprised at how easy it could be!
Before You Start
Here are some things you might want to keep in mind before removing any stain.
The Test
When removing stains, various products and cleaning agents are employed. It would be a good idea to test each one in an inconspicuous area before proceeding.
The Cleaning Agents
Again, different cleaning agents are employed when getting rid of stains. It’s sometimes good to try several cleaning agents and methods when dealing with a tough stain. However, you would have to be careful. For example, you should never mix vinegar and bleach as it produces a toxic gas. If you’re not sure how two chemicals would react together, it would be best not to mix them without a little research.
The Block
When dealing with stains, you want to keep the problem contained to an area as much as possible.
You could use your palm as a way to block the stain from getting on the other side of the garment. However, it would be best to use some old rags or some cardboard. This way, you’ll have more flexibility and won’t run the risk of forgetting you were blocking the stain from getting on the other side.
How to Get Silly Putty Out of Clothes?
When it comes to laundry problems, no one solution will work for everybody. That’s why we’ve listed seven methods from which you can take your pick!
Method 1: Freezing
If you don’t like the feel of the texture of silly putty, then our first method might do the trick.
What you want to do with this method is to freeze the silly putty. You can freeze the silly putty by putting the clothes in question in the freezer or placing some ice over it. Of course, you can also put some ice in a cooler along with the silly-putty-stained garment.
Let the garment and the silly putty freeze for a few hours or even overnight.
After some time, take the garment out and start peeling the silly putty off. You can use a blunt knife or anything similar for this process, but we recommend using your fingernails instead. You’ll have more control, and there would be less risk of damaging the apparel.
Repeat until all the silly putty is out, then wash.
If this method doesn’t work, you might want to try one of the following methods instead.
Even if this method does not completely get rid of all the silly putty, it is a great first step. Try combining it with the other methods below.
Method 2: Sanitizer
Many claim that using sanitizer is the easiest and fastest way to get silly putty out.
First, you’d want to get as much silly putty off as you could. Again, you could use a blunt knife for this method. Use some force, but not too much! You might ruin the garment.
After that, you’d want to squirt a few drops of sanitizer and massage it in the area. Alternate between massaging and scraping. You might want to use your fingernails for scraping. According to the patrons of this method, the silly putty should be off after a few repetitions.
Once you don’t see any silly putty left, you can wash the clothes as usual.
Method 3: Rubbing Alcohol
If the first two methods didn’t work, try out this one.
With this method, you’d want to scrape as much silly putty as you can as well. Again, be careful not to damage the apparel!
After getting rid of a big chunk of silly putty, you’d want to douse the affected area with the rubbing alcohol. Using a toothbrush, gently scrub the remaining silly putty off. You might have to repeat this process a few times.
If you think the silly putty is gone, you can now wash the garment in question.
You can also use hydrogen peroxide for this method. However, you might want to be a little cautious as it is a little stronger than rubbing alcohol.
Method 4: Vinegar
For this method, you’d want to use white vinegar. Other types might leave another kind of problem to solve.
You can use vinegar as you would use rubbing alcohol. The only difference might be you have to dilute vinegar. So, mix 1 part vinegar with 2 to 3 parts of water in a bowl or an empty spray bottle.
Once you think you’ve taken all the silly putty out of the garment, you can wash it as usual. You might want to add some vinegar in the wash to be sure, especially if you’re dealing with white clothes!
Method 5: Vodka
You can use vodka as you would use alcohol and vinegar.
Vodka is a great partner when it comes to laundry problems. Not only could it help you with odor problems, but it could also help you with some stains! Consider keeping a bottle in your laundry room!
You don’t have to go for the expensive ones. The cheap ones would work. However, you might want to skip the flavored ones! Flavored vodkas might have dyes and unnecessary sugar that won’t help with your laundry concerns.
Method 6: WD-40
WD-40 is one of the most employed agents for laundry problems. You might be surprised, but it could also be used for getting rid of oil stains! Some people love it, but some avoid it. That’s because it could leave a stain of its own. Use with caution.
For this method, you’d want to spray the affected area with this stuff. After that, start scraping.
You might want to use a face mask and some gloves for this one, as the smell and feel of WD-40 could be unpleasant for some.
Method 7: Dish Soap
You can partner dish soap with one of the above if some silly putty still refuses to leave your clothes after one too many repetitions.
Apply a generous amount to the affected area and rub using an old rag or toothbrush.
Dish soap might best be partnered with WD-40 since it could leave some grease behind, and dish soap is good for oil and grease!
One of the favorite dish soaps to use when it comes to laundry problems is Dawn. If you don’t have it, try to look for something as mild.
Things to Keep in Mind
Drying
Finally, after treating and washing your silly-putty-stained clothes, you’d want to air dry them.
Whenever one of your clothes has been stained, you don’t want to use your dryer for them immediately after treating the stain. That is because there might still be some stain left, and putting the garment in question in the dryer might set the stain permanently. If it doesn’t become permanent, you’ll have a hard time getting it out.
Paper Towels
We may not need paper towels to blot silly putty, unlike with other stains, but you still need tons of it.
If you didn’t use the freezing method, the silly putty is most probably still sticky. Before you start scraping, make sure you have an abundance of paper towels at your disposal. You don’t want to run the risk of it getting on other areas, giving you more problems. You don’t want to throw it down the drain too, as it might introduce bigger problems later on that way.
Paper towels are one of your best mates when it comes to dealing with silly putty.
Washing
If you’ve already repeated the different methods many times and there are still tons of silly putty on the garment, don’t think of throw them in the washer! Only start washing the clothes once you barely see any silly putty left.
If you put the stained garment on the washer with lots of silly putties still on, then it might cling to the washer. In turn, your unaffected clothes might also get some silly putty on them when you load them in the washer next time!
With that, it might also be a good time to note to check your washer (and dryer) any time you put any stained garment in them. Also, you might want to give them a good wash before loading your next batch.
Summary
How to get silly putty out of clothes?
Despite being a complicated kind of stain, the way to remove silly putty is doable. Maybe you’ll need to use a little bit of elbow grease, but it’s easy!
Do you have other stained clothes? Don’t throw them out just yet! We might be able to help you with that stain too! Check out our past discussions to see.
Jessica Oliver is a fashion enthusiast with more than ten years of experience in the industry. She previously managed her own clothing store in New York before becoming a mother of three. With a passion for sustainability and a desire to share clothing care and recycling tips.