Getting playa dust out of clothes

[SweetBrie]

Hi guys!

So this is my first year so obviously I had to do a bit of shopping to get myself some worthy outfits!

I ended up with this lovely jacket, however, its dry clean only. Now i know you can get playa dust out of regular clothes using vinegar, but how do you de-playafy clothes that you cant wash?

Does anyone have any experience using dry cleaners on their gear after Burning Man? Does it work well?

Thanks,
SweetBrie

[BBadger]

You should probably just dry-clean that jacket like the instructions say. I think Eric mentioned he dry-cleans his suits after the Burn.

I just wash my normal clothes in the washing machine. Works just fine and they're no worse for wear.

[BurnerBunny]

I usually take dry clean only clothes to the dry cleaners. Problem solved.

[Toe]

I noticed that my shade structure had some light coloured stains or bleached areas on it after I washed it. The cloth is cheapo stretchy cotton(?) spandex and it had sat dusty for a year before I washed it. Maybe the playa dust reacted with the fabric dye.

Has anyone else encountered playa dust discolouration on their fabric?

[Ratty]

Some of the cottons have faded a lot. I have polyester decorations that get washed every year and look like new.

[Skuzzy61]

I had a few of my white cotton T-shirts and most of my socks get stains. The socks were probably stained from the moisturizer, on my feet, mixing with the dust. Soaked them in a weak bleach solution for a couple of hours and washed them. Came out just fine.

Washed the rest of the clothes, like normal, and they all came out fine.

[Papa Bear]

I realize the original post was about clothes that can't go in the wash, but since it's started to wander to washables, I'll add my two cents.

I've tried a few different approaches to washing playa out in the past (including adding vinegar), but haven't been terribly impressed with the results. Some clothes (such as my kilt) still required two or sometimes even three washes to get clean.

This year, I followed a tip that's been making the rounds and added a water softener (in my case, liquid Calgon) to the load. It worked like a charm: one wash, completely clean, no problems at all. No vinegar or other acid required, either. Might be worth a try for anyone else having trouble.

Ancient eplayan secret, hmm...?

[Captain Goddammit]

One if the best ways to clear playa dust from clothes and all sorts of other things is compressed air.
If you haven’t got an air compressor then find a friend who does, then use a blow gun to blast the dust away.
It’ll take tons of playa dust out.
I actually bring a compressor to the playa for this.
Super wonder tool.

[unjonharley]

Use a leaf blower.. then detail with compressed air