Out of 70,000+ DUers, SOMEBODY must know if

[Redstone]

there's a way to get Silly Putty out of fabric (like a kid's shirt).

Sticking it in the freezer doesn't work; it's still pliable at 0 degrees F.

It wouldn't kill us to throw the shirt away; it's just that Mrs R said "why don't you ask your pals? If there are 70,000 of them there must be ONE who knows the answer."

So who wants to prove that she's right, and that there is NO question that the collective power of DU can't answer?

Redstone

[democracyindanger]

1. i am google master

http://www.howtocleananything.com/tipdetails.asp?tid=1343

[babylonsister]

5. WD-40 might leave an oily stain, so you have another problem. nt

[SOteric]

13. The oily 'stain' however, is fairly easy to get out

with a little Fels Naptha and some distilled white vinegar. Especially if applied immediatly, - and since you'll be making the splot, immediate action is decidedly possible.

[Redstone]

16. Dang, you ARE good, but that's an awful lot of work

to go through for a $4.00 T-shirt.

I think we'll just go ahead and pitch it.

On edit: Mrs R. insists that I issue a correction and advise that it's actually a $16.00 T-shirt. As if she cold reasonably expect me to remember, or care.

Redstone

[babylonsister]

2. Google told me:

To get silly putty out of fabrics try using vinegar

[Chico Man]

3. From the internets...

Melissa H. from Altanta, GA writes; "Here is a tip for removing Silly Putty from clothes: First put the clothing in the freezer for a little while, then scrape the area with a dull knife to remove what you can from the surface. Put an old towel behind the fabric, and soak it with rubbing alcohol, then rub with a piece of old towel, removing bits of putty as they flake off. you may need to soak the fabric again (and test in an unobvious place with alcohol first to make sure it doesnt remove the color). hold it up to the light to make sure all the putty is removed (repeat if it isn't). when all the putty is removed, wash as usual." Thanks Melissa!Yet another Silly Putty tip sent in by Pam; "Rub salt into the Silly Putty and it will come off!" Thanks Pam!

[GOPisEvil]

4. WD-40.

Spray on, wait a bit, wipe off.

Never tried this myself, but I have heard it works.

[deadparrot]

6. Try vinegar, optionally followed by warm, soapy water. nt

[Shoeempress]

7. Ronsonol Lighter fluid may work. This stuff cleans off all kinds of stuff

Can't say for sure it will work.

[NV Whino]

23. I just used Ronsonal

to take some really gummy double stick tape off the back of a watch I bought for my mother that was taped to the display stand. (What were these people thinking!) I can see it now: "No, it's okay Mom, you don't need to take it off for a shower, it's waterproof."

This stuff works for bandaid goo, too.

[DS1]

8. would boiling water through it like a cloth filter work?

:shrug:

[Trillo]

9. I understand it's a silicone based polymer.

Have you tried a polymer stripper?

One google result:
http://www.genchemcorp.com/electrochemicals/gensolve.shtml


Here's the google search, maybe some of the results will give a light bulb moment.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=dissolve+silicone+polymer&btnG=Search

This removes silicone oil (which is what WD-40 is, I believe):
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem03/chem03131.htm
(dry cleaner?)

[short bus president]

10. as is my suggestion with all such problems...

microwave it.

[Spinzonner]

11. After that list

I'd go for a Funeral Pyre

[Redstone]

18. I have to agree; especially after the lighter fluid. That's what I'll

do: soak it in lighter fluid, then light it up.

Redstone

[lumberingbear]

12. Rubbing Alcohol

Simple huh? Got it from a mystery book. Looking at it right now.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. Goo Gone

is a product that supposedly gets out anything. I know it works for grease and for chewing gum.

[LaurenG]

24. I can get nearly every sticky thing off with goo gone. nt

[lavenderdiva]

15. this from salon.com

snip:

Take Silly Putty. All I remember about that pliable goo is that it came in an egg-shaped container and was the color of a dull pink eraser. You could press it onto newspaper comics and the cartoon would imprint on the putty's surface, and when you got bored with that trick, you could roll it into a ball and drive your mother crazy by bouncing it off the walls. Soon after that, it was confiscated and locked away.

The good news about Silly Putty is that it's nontoxic. The bad news is that Silly Putty -- now in Original, Glow-in-the-Dark, Glitter, Changeable and Bright colors -- has the potential to stain clothing and other fabrics, like the priceless antique velvet gracing your new sofa. Luckily, printed on the Silly Putty package is a toll-free number to call with questions such as, "Can you remove Silly Putty from dog fur?" or "My daughter just shoved Silly Putty up her nose. Should I be concerned?" (The package warns not to use the tacky substance as ear plugs, but it doesn't say anything about nose plugs.) But be forewarned: The Silly Putty 800 number, run by its corporate parent, Binney & Smith of Eaton, Pa., is only staffed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. So if you're sitting down to dinner in Idaho and your fanny lands on the gob of Silly Putty your son left on your chair, you're out of luck. If the putty happens to chemically bond with the seat of your pants during office hours, however, the cheerful representative will recommend you spray WD-40 on your butt, let it sit there for a while and then scrape it off. The resulting stain should be treated with rubbing alcohol and any other residue can be apprehended with a damp sponge and dish-washing liquid. Binney & Smith, the smart business people that they are, do not guarantee perfect results.

link:
http://archive.salon.com/mwt/wild/1998/09/30wild.html

[Maddy McCall]

17. I got it out of a pair of my son's shorts by doing this.

I scraped off as much as I could with a sharp, nonserated knife.

Then, with what little bit was left, I took some goo-gone and rubbed it in really well.

Then, I scraped with the knife again.

By then, it only looked like a stain...most of the putty was gone. So I put some spray and wash on it, held it under hot water, and rubbed the hell out of it.

Scraped it again, then tossed the shorts in the washer in hot water, and, when I pulled the shorts out, all of it was gone.

[Redstone]

19. And the winner is...VINEGAR!

That's not to say the other methods won't work, but Mrs R tried the vinegar first, and it seems to have worked fine. She seems confident that hitting the residue with stain remover tomorrow and washing the shirt will take care of the rest.

Thanks to all.

Redstone

[DS1]

20. why not hit the residue with stain remover tonight?

:shrug:

[Maddy McCall]

22. Because tomorrow is wash day in the Redstone house.

Gosh! (In my best Napoleon Dynamite voice.) :D

[Schema Thing]

21. Scissors?

[serryjw]

25. Found on the internet

1)Melissa H. from Altanta, GA writes; "Here is a tip for removing Silly Putty from clothes: First put the clothing in the freezer for a little while, then scrape the area with a dull knife to remove what you can from the surface. Put an old towel behind the fabric, and soak it with rubbing alcohol, then rub with a piece of old towel, removing bits of putty as they flake off. you may need to soak the fabric again (and test in an unobvious place with alcohol first to make sure it doesnt remove the color). hold it up to the light to make sure all the putty is removed (repeat if it isn't). when all the putty is removed, wash as usual." Thanks Melissa!Yet another Silly Putty tip sent in by Pam; "Rub salt into the Silly Putty and it will come off!"
2)Using a dull knife, gently scrape off as much of the putty as you can. Then spray a lubricating oil over the area and wait a bit. Spray again and use cotton balls to lift the stain. If anything remains, saturate a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol, blot the area and rinse with water. Still some residue? Apply a dry-cleaning solvent, then launder as you normally would.

Have you tried the manufacturers website for silly putty?