Why You Should Handwash Your Clothes

And How To Do It Right

Table of Contents

Why To Hand Wash Your Clothes

How To Hand Wash Your Clothes

What do you do when your favorite sweater says "hand wash only" in big capital letters? Or that gorgeous vest your grandfather gave you can't go through the washing machine? Well, you have to figure out how to wash it by hand and how to be careful about it. Fortunately, it's not as complicated as media makes it seem. 

Why You Should Hand Wash Your Clothes

So, let's take a look at a few situations of why you should hand wash your clothing. There's plenty of different reasons that affect all of us, even if it's once in a blue moon. 

-if they're handmade or knitted 

Even if something is very well assembled, they can be delicate. They also need to be washed carefully so that they maintain their shape, rather than getting beaten up by your machines. 

- If they're delicate

Some examples here might be lace, pieces with embroidery or pieces that are old. For example, if you have a blanket that's been passed down through your family through several generations.  

- If it's got sequins or beaded pieces 

Pieces with sequins and beads are so delicate. Not only do you need to flip them inside out in order to wash and hang them, but if you want to keep a piece for several years, you'll want to wash it by hand. This ensures that the threads fixing the sequins and beads to the clothing are kept safe and secure. 

-If it's marked "dry clean only" 

  While this isn't always the case, there are many times when you can handwash these items as well as taking them to the cleaners. The reason "dry clean only" is used is that either the fabric mill or the designers are saying "we're not taking responsibility if it gets damaged by you." 

-If you're travelling and need something fixed quickly 

- If you don't have a functioning washing machine, due to mechanical failure or blackout 

Let's face it, this is the most likely to happen to any of us. You might have a time when your washer breaks down in the middle of the week, and even your most trusted handyman is booked through to next week. Or if there's a blackout in the middle of summer and you need clothes for tomorrow. It happens. 

How To Hand Wash Your Clothes

By now you're probably demanding to know "alright then, if it's so important, how do I do this? Shouldn't it just be the same as washing my hands?" To which we say, ehhh, not quite. 

Start by making filling up your sink or a basin with cool to warm water, depending on the garment in question and whether or not it's color fast. You also don't want it to be ice cold or else your hands are going to start hurting rather quickly.  

Don't go adding your detergent or clothes just yet. You want to do a color test on some of the hidden spots of the garment in question. Some spots you might try are the seams of the garment, the armpits, or behind the knees. 

Now add your detergent of choice to the water and give it a quick stir to get the detergent to dissolve. Gently lower your garment into the mix, submerging it fully. Now using your hands, squeeze the suds through the fabric, like you're kneading the fabric gently. Lay it out on the bottom of the basin, and let it sit for five to ten minutes. Once that time is up, flip it over, knead the fabric again and flatten it out, allowing it to sit for the same amount of time.  

Once the time is up, remove the garment from the sink and drain the wash water.  Fill it again with cool water and lay your item in it and swish to rinse.  Squeeze out excess water, but not like you're wringing out a washcloth. This is supposed to be a gentle process. Roll the garment in a towel to move to the next step. Bring your garment to a table or a mesh rack and lay out a dry towel. Blocking the garment back into shape, lay it out until dry. Then flip it over and let the back dry, replacing the towel if needed. 

Is it time consuming? Yeah. Is it worth it to preserve delicate lingerie, sweaters and handmade clothes? Yep. Like we pointed out up above, if you end up without power at any point, being able to handwash your clothes is a useful skill to have. What do you think? Do you do this for any of your clothes? Tell us in the comments below or over on our Facebook page. 

If you're looking up this article because your washing machine has given up the ghost, we can help! Whether you live in McKinney or Plano, Dallas or Coppel, we can help bring it back to life. More importantly, we can get your home running smoothly again. Just give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or reach out to us on our contact page and we'll get back with you shortly to schedule an appointment that works for you. At Appliance Rescue Service, we won't stop until you're satisfied. 

Additional Reading

5 Laundry Hacks To Make Laundry Easier

How Do They Do Laundry In Space

Are You Making These 5 Common Laundry Mistakes?

8 Ways To Whiten Your Clothes When You Don’t Have Bleach

How and Why You Should Clean Your Washing Machine

No, Really, Your Washing Machine Needs This.

No, Really, Your Washing Machine Needs This.

Table of Contents:

Why You Should Clean Your Washing Machine

How To Clean Your Washing Machine

It's a common myth that your washing machine cleans itself as it cleans your clothes. Unfortunately, it is just that. A myth. As your washing machine gets everything else clean, it can build up dirt, detergent, and hard water residue. So, how do you fix that, and what happens if you don't? 

Why You Should Clean Your Washing Machine (Ie what happens if you don't.) 

Sure it makes sense. If you're constantly washing things in it, the washing machine should be kept clean. Buuut that's sadly not how it works, at least not any more than your towels always being clean because you use them to dry yourself off when you're clean. With every wash cycle, your washing machine rinses away dirt, grime, and detergent.  That dirt has to go somewhere, right? If you don't clean your washing machine regularly all of that grime can build up inside the machine, as well as mildew. Yup, mildew. 

Have you ever opened your washer after several days only to have it smell wet and rank? A smell that's somewhere between long rotted leaves and a wet dog. That's caused by leaving your front-loading machine closed in between washes. The tight seal on the door means that the drum can't dry out completely, so mildew and mold can begin to grow inside the drum.  (And no, just running a new wash won't wash away the mold, sadly. A front-loading machine doesn't fill up all the way in comparison to a top-loading machine.) 

The ick on the agitator is mildew, the top of the drum is dirt, and at the chlorine tray is just floating debris.
Photo Courtesy of Practically Functional

How To Clean Your Washing Machine 

Fortunately, there are easy ways to solve the problems in both of these cases. 

If you're looking to remove the moldy smell, all you need to do is do an empty cycle of your machine, with an extra rinse, using a half cup of bleach and no detergent. This will kill any mildew inside of the drum and sterilize the entire thing. 

If you're trying to get rid of dirt, detergent residue, and hard water, on the other hand, you're going to need to go a bit more in-depth.  

- Start by grabbing anything you can that's easily removable. Take that to your sink, grab an old toothbrush, some white vinegar, and some dishsoap. Mix up a quick solution and allow the parts to soak in it while you go back to your washer. 

- Use a cloth, the toothbrush, and the vinegar to scrub all of the crevices inside the machine. Throw on a podcast or an audiobook while you're doing this, it'll make life easier. 

- If your front-loading machine has a rubber gasket, make sure you get that cleaned too, but use a clean cloth instead of the toothbrush. You don't want to accidentally damage it, or pull it away from its seal. 

-Many machines will have a trap that's meant to catch debris, hair, pet fur and other things. Consult your manual, or the manufacturer's website to find out where it is for your model.  Once you've found it, empty it, soak it in white vinegar and then gently scrub with a toothbrush to get it clean again. 

-Once you've done all of that, rinse the small parts with clean, cool water, dry them off and replace them into the machine. Next, pour four cups of white vinegar into your washer's tub while it's empty.  Run that on the longest and hottest wash cycle, without adding anything to it. No detergent, no clothing, nada. Once the cycle is finished running, take a soft sponge (so one without a rough side to it) and clean the inside of the washer. Then run another cycle with just water to remove any of the leftover vinegar. 

Once you've gotten your washing machine clean for the first time, make sure to get yourself into the habit of doing it once a month. After the first time it's much easier, and you won't have to do as much work. Like many of the other home tips we offer, these types of preventative maintenance are best done on a regular schedule so that you don't end up having to rush to fix a major problem. 

Thank you for coming to hang out with us this week! What is the strangest thing you've ever had happen with your washing machine? Tel us in the comments below, or over on our Facebook page. As always, we'd love to hear from you. 

If your washing machine has gone past the point of "it just needs a good scrubbing" it might be time to call in a professional. Fortunately, we can help. Whether you live in Allen, Copeland, or Dallas, Appliance Rescue Service has you covered. Just head over to our contact page or give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) to set up an appointment time that works for you. 

What Can't Your Favorite Kitchen Tools Do?

 Air Fryers, Multi-Cookers and Slow Cookers, They can't actually do everything? 

Table of Contents: 

Slow Cookers

Airfryer

Multi-Cooker 

So many of us get new kitchen toys for Christmas or just after Thanksgiving. They go on sale and we go "Ooh shiny!" And honestly? That's great! Anything that gets people cooking more and spending time experimenting with food is good in our books (and not just because we're an appliance repair company.) The thing is though, what /can't/ those tools do? What do you never want to put into a slow cooker? Or your airfryer? What about the shiny new Instant Pot? They all have things that you don't want to try and make with them, but no one really says what they are. They just talk about all the wonderful things they have made. That's where this post comes in. We're taking a look at some of the things you really shouldn't ask of your kitchen tools. 

Slow Cookers

Ahh, our beloved slow cookers. They're great for summer, and busy days, and any time you need to keep a lot of food warm over a long period, without destroying it. We love them! Unfortunately, there are some food types that they just don't handle well due to the way they're designed. 

-Slow Cookers Don't Do Well With Lean Meats

While you /can/ cook them in a slow cooker, it's extraordinarily difficult to get them to come out right. You want your meat to be tender and flavorful, not dry and tough. Unfortunately, the leaner a piece of meat is, and the longer it's exposed to heat, the tougher and dryer it becomes. For a cut like a tenderloin, sirloin or round roast, the longer you keep them cooking, the more likely they are to toughen up.  Rather than having to baby them, which defeats the purpose of the slow cooker, it's better to a) choose a different cut of meat with more fat to it, or b) cook the meat a different way to ensure it remains the most flavorful. 

-Slow Cookers Can't Cook Fish

Much like lean meats, fish are finicky. They don't need to be heated for long periods. They'll either break down and become indistinguishable from the rest of the food, or become horribly overcooked.  

-Slow Cookers Are No Good for Recipes That Need to Be Seared

Slow cookers do low, moist heat over a long period of time. Searing uses a high heat and very short period of time. Your slow cooker just can't do that. 

Air Fryer

Your air fryer is designed to dry cook food quickly and at high temperatures, circulating air and oil around the food. This leads to an even cooking that is going to dry foods out, which doesn't work out well for some types of food.  

-Air Fryers Are No Good For Fibrous Vegetables

An air fryer is meant to heat foods up quickly and fry them similar to a deep fryer, but without all of the fat. Unfortunately, when it comes to fibrous vegetables, they don't do good with this method of cooking. They need longer cooking times in order for them to break down and become soft enough to eat. 

Some examples of fibrous veggies are asparagus, green beans, beetroot, bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage. 

-Air Fryers Aren't Good for Feeding Large Groups of People 

No, we're serious on this one. Unless you want to be in the kitchen making round after round of food and not actually getting to enjoy spending time with anyone, we don't advise trying to feed a large group of people this way. An air fryer just doesn't have the capacity for that much food, unless you bought an industrial one, in which case, be our guest! 

-Air Fryers Don't deal well with Battered Foods

Well, to be more specific, they don't deal well with wet battered foods. Think of things like fried chicken, corn dogs or fried oreos. All of those are a wet batter that you dip the food into and then fry. That doesn't work in an air fryer because the batter falls off through the tray or just slides off the food entirely, leaving things less than ideal. 

-Air Fryers Aren't Good with Soft or Sticky Ingredients 

If it's likely to stick to other things, or the basket, your air fryer won't like this. Air fryers are meant to have air circulating around all of the pieces, and things that are sticky are going to  make that difficult. 

Multi-Cooker

It can pressure cook, it can fry, it can act like a crock pot, it can even saute or make yogurt! What can't a multi-cooker do? Well, there are a few things. 

Multi Cookers - There's No Point If You Can Make it On The Stove

So if you've had your multi-cooker since Christmas, as many received them for gifts this year, you've probably learned this. Your multi-cooker will almost always require time to come up to pressure. That, plus the amount of time it takes to actually cook whatever you're wanting is typically going to be more than 12 minutes. So, if it's faster to cook it on the stove? Do it that way. 

Multi Cookers Don't Like "Add As You Go" Cooking

Bouncing right off the last idea of 'pressure' means that your multi-cooker doesn't really like recipes that require things to be added in stages. It's great for foods that can be done all in one go or are just a portion of the final meal. Say you're making seasoned beans as part of your burrito night. That, your multi-cooker is great for! But if you want to make a soup? Where you're constantly adding things at different times? Not so much. For each step that you have to pause the cooking mode, let the seal release and then come back up to pressure once you've added it, it's just not going to end well. 

Multi-Cookers Ruin Delicate Vegetables

Delicate vegetables like leafy greens, fine curls of carrots or your multicolored green beans shouldn't go into a multi-cooker. The vegetables don't stand up to the high heat and pressure of the multi-cooker and you end up with a gross mush of what used to be perfectly delicious vegetables. 

A few more examples of delicate vegetables: 

Zucchini 

Lettuce

Snap Peas

Snow Peas

Asparagus 

Tomatoes

Fennel

Multi-Cookers and Dairy Don't Mix 

But Blogger!, we hear you cry, you said that we could make yogurt! That's a dairy! 

And you are right dear reader.  

The thing is for the pressure cooker aspect of a multi-cooker, that's when you can't use milk or milk products. They'll boil over and scorch. They can also foam or froth depending on how you treat them, which will clog up your steam release valve, which is a guaranteed route to danger. (Check out our post on dangers in the kitchen to see more on that one. ) Last but not least, whenn putting milk into a pressure cooker you run the risk of the milk separating and giving you a seriously gross outcome. 

We know that many people have done in-depth experiments with their different kitchen tools finding ways to work around these issues. Some of them work, some of them don't.  We will say that we're talking in general about what these tools can do, and not hunting down the arcane secrets that people have discovered. If we can't test them ourselves, we don't want to recommend them to you. And trying to test all of the possibilities out there would end up being a VERY large grocery bill haha. 

Have you found a way around any of these issues?  Or do you have lists of foods that we missed?  Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page, as always we'd love to hear from you! 

What happens though if you ended up here because your larger appliances are giving you fits (sadly we don't work on any of these smaller appliances just yet.) Not to worry, you're in the right place. We work on all of your major appliances, including dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, stoves, and ice machines. Whatever it is that's making you want to tear your hair out, we've got you covered. At Appliance Rescue Service, we're not satisfied until you are. You can get hold of us by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055 ) or by going to our contact page and setting up an appointment that fits your schedule.  

Cajun Rice to Feed a Horde.

Or At Least Everyone You Know And Love

I Don’t Care! Take Me To The Recipe!

We're making Cajun Rice this week! For anyone that knows Cajun food, you know it's a highly subjective food with recipes being very subjective. We've tried to make our recipe a bit more standardized, but you can still add or take away as you see fit. This week's recipe is for feeding a crowd. So grab your largest pot and get ready to make some food that will have everyone asking "hey, when are you going to make that again?" 

Ingredients:

2 Large Green Bell Peppers

2 Large Red Bell Peppers

1 Large Yellow or Orange Bell Pepper

1 Medium Yellow Onion

2 Stalks of Celery 

4 Roma Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Salted Butter 

2 cups Long Grain Rice *

4 Cups of Chicken Broth *

2 cups of black beans ( cooked, or canned and drained) 

2 Links of Smoked Sausage 

3 Large Chicken Breasts

1 lb of De-veined shrimp 

Spices: +

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

• 1 teaspoon ground paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 

• 1 bay leaf

• *1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Tools: LARGE pot, cutting board, chef's knife, measuring bowls, large bowl for holding foods during prep, long handled spoon. 

*Since this recipe is (in theory) sized for feeding 4-5 people, if you want to buff it up, it's going to be the rice and the stock that are the easiest to add to. For every 1/2 cup of dry rice that you add, add a full cup of stock for the recipe. 

+ Spices, much like the recipe as a whole, are very subjective. So, if you want to add things in, go for it. Just remember to always go with a little bit at first before adding more. 

Recipe

Start by grabbing your cutting board, and laying your veggies out. You'll want to be careful about cleaning out the peppers as the seeds are horrible when cooked. Cut the tops of your peppers off, cut them into either quarters or thirds, depending on the number of bumps on the bottom of the pepper. Remove the pith and the seeds, and set them aside for your favorite gardener. Now cut them into strips, about a 1/4 wide, and cut each strip into chunks. Do this with all of your peppers and toss them into a bowl for the time being.  

Grab your yellow onion and dice that up into a consistent dice. Next up grab your celery and slice it up into consistent slices.  Add both of those into the bowl and give everything a quick toss. 

Chop up your tomatoes and set them aside in a separate bowl for the time being, we'll come back for those later. 

Now, grab your bowl of peppers and onions and head over to your stove. Turn on the heat to high and toss 2 tablespoons of butter in, letting that melt down. Once it's melted, add in your vegetables and grab your spoon to start turning. You want to sauté the veggies until the onion is transparent. 

Now, scoop out your veggies and set them to the side. Give your cutting board and knife a quick wash and grab your various meats.  If you haven't cooked your sausage and chicken already, grab a separate pan and do that now. Make sure to wash the pan after every round to ensure food safety. Check the bottom of the page for temperatures for both meats. 

 If you've already got your meats all cooked to the appropriate temperatures, it's time to chop them up. 

For your sausage, slice it into 1/4 slices, and then chop those in half. 

For your chicken, go ahead and slice the chicken breasts in half width wise, and then cut them into chunks about an inch in size.  (So, essentially, you'll butterfly your chicken at first.) 

Once that's taken care of, add your broth and spices to the pot and give everything a quick stir.  Turn the heat to high and wait until your pot begins to boil. At that point,  grab a spoon and give it a quick taste. Does it taste good? Do you need to adjust the spices? Do that now. 

Now, add in your rice give it another stir, and let the pot come back up to a boil. Once it's boiling again, turn the heat down to low, add in your sausage, chicken, beans, tomatoes and shrimp and put the lid on. Keep it on low for 25 minutes, giving it a stir every 5 minutes or so, or until all of the liquid has been absorbed into the rice. 

Once the time is up, push everything to the outer edges and see if you can find any additional broth on the bottom. If you can, then you need to keep cooking for 5 more minutes, making sure to keep the lid on. If not, tell everyone to come to the table, because the meal is ready. 

Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook if you decide to give this a try! We’d love to hear how it goes and anything you add to it. 

If you ended up here because you need help with your refrigerator, washer, dryer, stove, oven or any of your other major appliances, we can still help. In fact that’s kind of a real business. We just provide recipes for fun. So, if any of those major appliances have broken down recently, or are just acting funny, we can help get your them back into tip-top shape. Give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or visit our appointment page.

True or False : 18 Things You Thought Could Go in The Dishwasher

How Good Are You At Knowing The Difference For What Can Go Into Your Dishwasher?

We've all had to check the internet for whether something could go into the dishwasher or not. It's late (or really early) and you just want to get the dishes done with so that you can go on with your day. Dishwashers are supposed to make things easy right? Just load it up and let it run. Unfortunately there are many things that just don't belong for a variety of reasons.  Test your prowess with our quiz below to see just how many you know. 

Let’s Get Started

+One - Insulated glasses, tumblers, and thermoses

False!

+Two - Bathroom accessories

True! Scrubbing your toothbrush clean can be gross. You've got toothpaste which feels so gross when it's wet, and just icky when you try to scratch it off. You've got soap residue which is slimy when wet and gross and sticky when dry. Then you have mold that can build up due to how warm and wet it gets in your bathroom. (Unless you're taking cold showers every day? Some people do.) Fortunately, your dishwasher is here to save the day. You can toss in all sorts of things from your bathroom, and they'll come out clean all without having to get things built up under your nails.

+Three - Acrylic dishes

False!

+Four - Plastic Hairbrushes

True! Have you ever looked at one of your hairbrushes after taking off the hair and noticed that it still had buildup on it? That's a mix of styling proucts and the natural oils from your scalp. Thankfully, you can get rid of that by putting it through the dishwasher. Ideally, you'd do this once a month. Just make sure not to do this with wooden hair brushes or ones with natural boar bristles. Both can be damaged by the soap and the hot water from the dishwasher.

+Five - Ashtrays

False! Ash trays are covered in, well, ash. Because of how fine that is, it can become clogged in your dishwasher's filter and lead to a dishwasher that just won't drain. We suggest using soap and an old toothbrush if you want to get your ashtrays looking good as new.

+ Six - Baseball caps

True! Oh no! Some jerk at your kid's football game got mustard on your baseball cap. It's cool, your dishwasher can clean it right up. Don't put soap on it, just rinse with cold water and put it on the top rack. We will say that you need to double check what the brim is made of first though. If it's a newer cap, you should be fine. But many older caps had cardboard brims and that can't go into the dishwasher.

+Seven - Wineglasses

False! While there are many glass makers that claim their wares can go through the dishwasher, this is only true on a technicality. While the glass can stand up to hundreds of cycles with harsh detergents without being damaged, they can't stand up to the dishwasher itself, or human error. Yup. Whether it's the glass being taller than the dishwasher itself or glasses being rattled around and shoved against the tiens and each other, it's very likley that your wine glasses will end up broken by putting them through the dishwasher.

+Eight - Ceramic knives

False! Not only will your ceramic knives likely catch on the coating of your rack, but they can also chip from being jostled around druing the wash cycle.

+Nine - Vacuum Cleaner Attachments

True! Since they're made of a heavy duty plastic, most are dishwasher safe. Make sure to double check your owners manual first, but if they give the all clear, you can run a load of just the different attachments and brushes and get them nice and clean.

+Ten - Lead Crystal

False! Crystal is heat sensitive, so it's very prone to cracking, and detergent can cause them to chip. Most importantly, lead can be leached out of your crystal, leaving them cloudy, and if it's not all washed away, potentially hazardous to your health.

+Eleven - Kitchen Tools - Metal and plastic only

True! Many of the things you use around your kitchen can be put through the dishwasher to be cleaned and sterilized themselves. Sponges, scrub brushes, drain plugs, sturdy plastic cutting boards or drainage trays, even plastic or metal shelving you have around the kitchen can go through the dishwasher provided you make room for it.

+Twelve - Flip-flops

True! Just getting back from the beach and you want to get your flops clean again? No worries. Your dishwasher has you covered. Rinse off any remaining dirt, mud, or sand either in your kitchen sink or and then loop the tongs around one of the tines on the top rack. Turn the dishwasher on like you normally would and you're good to go! Your flops will be looking lovely in a short run cycle.

+Thirteen - Wood -

Includes wooden spoons, bowls, chopping boards and wooden-handled knives. False! Wooden tools will absorb water and crack over time. It won't show at first, but the water will seep in and force the fibers of the wood apart slowly, until eventually the pieces split apart. So unless you're keen on splinters, we advse washing these lovely tools by hand.

+Fourteen - Refrigerator Components

True! Do you have any removeable bits in your refrigerator? The fruit and veggie drawers, that removeable butter tray, the shelves that you can move around for maximum storage capability? all of those can go into the dishwasher. Every three months or so is a great way to keep your dishwasher clean and sparkly. Now, if there are any metal shelves, you'll want to make sure that they're coated in rubber so that they don't chip the inside of your dishwasher. Make sure to dry them completely before with a microfiber cloth to keep them from growing mold.

+Fifteen - Gardening Tools

True! While you might usually give them a quick rinse outside in between uses, a more thorough cleaning is good before you put them away for winter. To that end, rinse off any leftover dirt, and make sure they're not aluminum before popping them in. Make sure to dry them by hand with a clean towel once they're out, and thoroughly to prevent rust.

+Sixteen - Pewter

False! Pewter is a very soft metal, with a melting point of just 400* Farenheit. It's all too easy for it to be warped by the heat of the dishwasher. On top of that the soaps you use or the foods you eat can cause pewter to become discolored.

+Seventeen - Graters and Sieves

False! The blades on the bottom of your grates have sharp edges that can either corrode or break off in the dishwasher. Seives on the other hand are more likely to rust.

+Eighteen - Metal Vent Covers

True! If your top rack is removeable you can send these through the dishwasher every six months, not only will they look nicer, but they'll also do better at keeping your house free from dust. Be sure to dry them completely before reinstalling them.

Points Total

1-6 - Dishwasher Beginner

7-12 - Kitchen Adept

13-18 - Ruler of the Dishes

So? How did you do? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page!
If on the other hand you ended up here because you ran one of these things through your dishwasher and now your dishwasher is spitting suds at you, we can help. Just give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or go to our contact page to set up an appointment. At Appliance Rescue Service, we’re here to help. 

Additional Reading: 

Help I melted Plastic in my Dishwasher