What to Do If You’ve Left a Tissue in the Washing Machine

If you’ve left a tissue in your pocket by accident, and you’ve pressed ‘start’ on the washer, your laundry is going to be covered in small tissuey bits when the cycle ends!

It’ll sort of look like a mini snowstorm has hit the inside of your washing machine.

But what should you do about the offending tissue and the aftermath it’s left?

Keep on reading to find out how to get rid of it.

 

Left a Tissue in the Washing Machine? Here’s What to Do:

Follow the steps below to get rid of the tissue that’s tormenting your appliance and laundry!

Step 1: Remove the laundry from the washing machine

The first thing you need to do is remove the laundry from the washing machine. It’ll be a tad messy but this is an essential step.

You need to do this so you can remove the tissue debris from the washing machine, and the tissue flakes from your laundry.

 

Step 2: Clean the washing machine

After you’ve removed the laundry, you need to check the inside of the washing machine and remove any tissuey bits you see.

You can just pop your hand inside the washing machine drum and pull out clumps of wet tissue! Remember to clean around the door and under the seal too.

Then you can proceed with cleaning the washing machine’s filter. There’s a very good chance that some tissue has gotten stuck there.

If you don’t clean the filter on a regular basis, it’ll become blocked up, and this can impact how the appliance works.

You should also check the drain, just in case some tissue is caught up there!

As an extra precaution you can run the ‘self-clean’ cycle on your washing machine, if your appliance has one. But this isn’t usually necessary!

 

Step 3: Clean the laundry that’s covered in tissue

Once the washing machine is free from tissue, you can move on to removing the tissue flakes from your laundry. Read on to find out more.

 

How Do You Get Tissue Out of Clothes After Washing?

Got a load of tissue flakes on your laundry? Don’t panic. It’ll look like you’ve got your work cut out, but it’s really easy to remove tissue from washing. Try the methods below.

Method 1: Shake, brush, and Sellotape tissue off clothes

Steps to follow:

1. Remove the clothes from the washing machine.
2. Hold one item of clothing at a time over some newspaper/outside.
3. Shake the clothes well.
4. Bits of tissue will fall onto the floor. Remember to sweep the mess up and pop it in the bin.
5. Use a clothes brush to brush off more tissue debris.
6. Lay one item of clothing at a time on a flat surface.
7. Then pop some Sellotape (or another brand of sticky tape), sticky side down, on the item of clothing, press down and pull the tape off the material quickly. This will pull off more troubling bits of tissue.
8. Repeat Step 7 several times using a new strip of Sellotape each time.
9. Dry all the items of clothing. If you use a tumble dryer to dry the clothing, don’t forget to clean the lint filter every ten minutes during the cycle!
10. Brush the clothes again to make sure all the tissue has been removed.

 

Method 2: Aspirin the tissue away

Steps to follow:

1. Remove all the items of clothing from your washing machine.
2. Go outside/stand over newspaper and shake your clothes. Some tissue bits will drop off by themselves. Sweep up and bin the debris when you’re done.
3. Fill a small bowl with warm water.
4. Drop a single aspirin tablet into the water.
5. Take one piece of clothing and perform a small patch test with the aspirin-water mixture. If there are no adverse effects, you can use this method to clean your item.
6. Repeat Step 5 for all items.
7. Fill a bathtub or large bucket up with warm water.
8. Drop four aspirin tablets into the water.
9. Wait for the tablets to dissolve.
10. Pop your items of clothing in the water. Make sure they’re submerged and that you’ve kept similar colours together.
11. Wait about two hours.
12. Drain the water from the bathtub/bucket.
13. Pop clothes back into the freshly cleaned washing machine, and start a rinse cycle to remove any remaining debris from the clothes.
14. If you’ve still got a few flakes of tissue on your clothes, you can brush them off, or use a lint roller to remove them.
15. Dry the clothes on the line outside, if possible. Or use a tumble dryer, if the material permits.
16. Remember to empty the lint filter in your dryer because the tissue flakes will end up here. Also, quickly scan your washing machine once again to make sure there are no clumps of tissue in the machine.

Note: Adjust measurements to suit your pile of your laundry.

 

Method 3: Tumble dryer and brush laundry clean

Steps to follow:

1. Shake clothes before placing them in the tumble dryer.
2. Pop clothes inside the dryer, if the care label says it’s okay to do so.
3. Run a low heat cycle.
4. Stop the cycle every five to ten minutes, so you can remove and clean out the lint filter – this is where the tissue will go.
5. Re-start the cycle.
6. When the cycle officially ends, you need to remove the lint filter and clean it again.
7. Run another low temperature cycle if the laundry is still damp and repeat Step 4.
8. Remove the clothes when they’re dry and use a lint brush to clean up any remaining tissue.
9. Remove the lint filter and clean it.

 

Can Tissues Damage a Washing Machine?

Yes, tissues can damage a washing machine because they can clog the appliance’s filter and drain.

If you’ve had a tissue catastrophe, it’s worth taking your time to clean all of the tissue out of your machine before using it again.

Failing to maintain your washing machine may lead to it malfunctioning and not performing as it should. It may be costly to repair your washing machine if it’s not cared for properly.

So, always check your pockets for tissues, keys, change, or anything that could cause havoc in your appliance, and remove them before cleaning your dirty laundry.

You should also make a habit of maintaining and cleaning your washing machine on a regular basis. This should keep your washing machine in working order for longer!