Eczema,petroleum jelly and washing machines.

SmallL

Hey,
Iv had my washing machine for just over two years, recently over the past few moths everything comes out with loads of spots of old petroleum jelly gunk on them. Iv tried washing hot, maintenance washes but its still there.
Will the gunk cause my washer to have a shorter life? Is there anything i can do to stop it clogging and actually wash away??

At the moment i can't wash anything black as the white/grey gunk is very visible on black items of clothing!

EDIT: Technically its white soft parrafin but thats the same as petroleum jelly?

Fire_Fox

Why is there petroleum jelly in your washing machine and what does eczema have to do with it? Have you emptied the filter lately or taken the hose apart to check the state of that? What products have you used in the service wash and how many have you done in a row?

SmallL

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Why is there petroleum jelly in your washing machine and what does eczema have to do with it? Have you emptied the filter lately or taken the hose apart to check the state of that? What products have you used in the service wash and how many have you done in a row?

Well im prescribed white soft parrafin as a moisturizer for my eczema, so its absorbed into my clothing, especially in my nightdresses and the bed sheets.
In the service wash iv used bicarb/just detergent/nothing.
Dont know where/how to empty the filter and same with the hose though il look it up.

Fire_Fox

What detergent are you using and at what temperature? Liquid or powder, containing bleach or enzymes? Some of the modern laundry products along with lower temperatures actually contribute to clogging. Definitely empty the filter, clean the hose out, scrub out the powder drawer and the cubby it goes in. Hopefully the instructions are on the manufacturers website.

Alkaline products such as washing soda along with very hot water should break down (saponify) fats and waxes but you need to do them often enough. IIRC once a month is recommended BUT you may well need to do them more often since you are using WSP. If alkalinity doesn't do anything try citric acid - you can get large sachets labelled as washing machine descaler.

WSP is an anhydrous (no water) barrier product not a moisturiser. Is it impractical to cover your eczema after applying the WSP to stop it going all over your laundry? Have you been advised to avoid all foaming products (shampoo, shower gel, hand wash) containing sulphate surfactants?

HTH.

SmallL

Fire_Fox wrote: »

What detergent are you using and at what temperature? Liquid or powder, containing bleach or enzymes? Some of the modern laundry products along with lower temperatures actually contribute to clogging. Definitely empty the filter, clean the hose out, scrub out the powder drawer and the cubby it goes in. Hopefully the instructions are on the manufacturers website.

Alkaline products such as washing soda along with very hot water should break down (saponify) fats and waxes but you need to do them often enough. IIRC once a month is recommended BUT you may well need to do them more often since you are using WSP. If alkalinity doesn't do anything try citric acid - you can get large sachets labelled as washing machine descaler.

WSP is an anhydrous (no water) barrier product not a moisturiser. Is it impractical to cover your eczema after applying the WSP to stop it going all over your laundry? Have you been advised to avoid all foaming products (shampoo, shower gel, hand wash) containing sulphate surfactants?

HTH.

Im currently using crushed washing tabs (MSE ebay 10kgs of it!) Used to use tabs before reading how rubbish they were.
previously i washed on 40, now its always atleast 60.
If i covered my eczema i would be covering practically all of me!
Yeah, i use it after a morning shower to 'lock in the moisture' and before i go to bed as it helps my skin not feel too tight. I had spent years on that white opaque stuff but that actually made my skin worse rather than better, so the doc gave me to barrier and prescribed me antihistamines, which was a good punt as im very sensitive to animal dander and cleaning products!
Il definately have a go at cleaning the washer and il just have to live with washing on a higher temp and doing more maintenance washes w/citric acid

Fire_Fox

So it's not just atopic eczema you also have contact dermatitis? Again have you been advised to avoid all sulphate surfactants including those in aqueous cream? Showering daily can cause more problems than it solves, eczematous skin is often deficient in some of the skin's Natural Moisturising Factors such as urea. These are water soluble so can be flushed out with 'overwetting'/ soaking during bathing or showering worsening the imbalance. Also tap water often contain irritant chemicals such as chlorine and fluoride.

Have you been advised to bolster your skin barrier by using lipids either internally or externally? Internally long chain omega-3s from oily fish and possibly GLA from borage oil (some atopic types have a genetic issue with converting this). Externally cholesterol, the long chain saturates stearic and palmitic acid, ceramides. Also have you been advised on an anti-inflammatory low glycaemic index diet? Unfortunately a lot of doctors seems to be behind on the research in this field.

A stronger skin barrier means your skin can more easily hold water and more easily block out the chemicals that trigger allergies or sensitivities.

jenniewb

Just wondered- and I know its a long shot because you're mentioning bed sheets and this is really best suited to smaller items like clothes.

There are some good spot-cleaners on the market, supermarkets and habadasharies tend to sell them, I have completely forgotten the brand names but they are not hard to find and come in a few different varieties depending on what you need the product for, eg for chewing gum, for biro...and the list goes on. I'd class vaseline as an oil being that petroleum jelly is deriven from petroleum oil (which comes from crude oil if I remember right).

It could be that after a few washes the stain has become a bit too engrained due to the heat used when washing 'fixing' the stain further. Wearing or using a product and so rubbing on a stain would also add to the fixing....

Basicly, if stain removers don't work, the stain probably isn't going to come out and remember to read instructions: do not use on silk, leather or delicate fabrics.

I'd personally not use vaseline for eczema either, I know it protects against things like clothing drying out your skin (by repeatedly rubbing moisture from your skin) but it wont help your skin to recover, it'll just help prevent things getting worse.

Maybe see if you can speak to a pharmacist about this as they often know a lot more about products then GPs as they sell them on a daily basis. I know for me a good brand which did help was called Salcura and another whose name I forget ! But ask a phramacist and google for sites to explain how to look after the condition because once you do understand how it works and what you need to do to help yourself because there are many things you can do.

Frogcake

I have had pretty severe eczema since childhood, and also have this same problem with my emollient cream (basically white soft paraffin) going on my clothes and gunk in my washing machine. This has annoyed me for years and its taken a bit of experimentation to come to my current routine:

I find the most affected items are pjs and bedding, so I always save them up during the week and do a pj or bedding wash on 60 with a bio powder to really clean them. Then I re wash with the non bio stuff I can use that I'm not sensitive to. Bit of a faff though!

I also do a maintenance wash every couple of weeks with either the bio powder or soda crystals and I clean out the filter fairly regularly.