I forgot you need to press steam option button to get the extra hot water (heater). Sanitize takes 2.5 hours so steam option is faster. Acela wash includes spray rinse,useless in myopinion. Good luck

Mama.....you're an Angel helping a sick friend/neighbor!! Your true, beautiful colours always shine through!!!

You're a doll to do that for her. I'd also take some high proof alcohol and give the machine a quick wipe down. Might even work for the boot. You'll have her sorted in no time and she's bound to feel very pampered.

Thanks for all the advice, yep I already have my detergents and LCB ready for when she calls, she only has purex and dollar tree chlorine bleach, I refuse to use either lol. Her washer is next to the bathroom sink I did plan to bleed the hot water line..I haven't seen her machine yet but she said it has sanitize, steam, bulky bedding, she can't remember what else but thinks there's a option for more water, I do think we will need more water with as dirty and sweaty her clothes are and have been pileing up for weeks..if there isn't an add extra water what should I choose? Lol

Heavy duty, bulky and comforter have the most water built into the cycle; the steam option also works with those cycles. Depending on the machine you may also have workout wear ( permanent press I don't use this one), kids wear (a variation on sanitize) and ruggedwear ( a variation on heavy duty). You can use the acela wash option to speed things up with some of the options but at least one of the rinses will be a spray rinse. I don't believe there is an add water option unless you mean extra rinses (up to three). This is where the start/pause button is useful to add that extra water. I know some people put it through the detergent dispenser, but I've added it to the drum. Be careful because the drain water will be activated if the machine senses too much water. I go for the dash of tap hot (mine is hotter than the machine). You didn't mention the prewash option on the faceplate to the right of the selector knob. It does not have the same temperature as the main wash selection that I know of, but can be useful for a cold pretreat. I think we told you before that you can put all the powder and additives in the mainwash dispenser tray. You cannot do this if you use liquid detergent. The liquid bleach and fabric softener compartments are self explanatory. I use white vinegar if there is a residue or suds problem. You can also put the powder wash cycle additives directly in the drum. I would bet there is a lot of detergent residue built up. Think about the express wash explained above. The charge of the Pinky brigade.....

THank you all for all this advice I reallywouldn't have a clue what I'm doing without this help..were doing it tomorrow, it just ended up being to late tonight, I figure I can do stain pretreats,and a prewash, this lady is going thru chemo and has no A/C in her house, in pennsylvania with all this humidity so she sweats tons.I'm sure the clothes have been sweat infused than sat in a humid bathroom for weeks, P-U lol. But again thank you all.

Definitely do a prewash.

You're awesome Mama Pinks! This is right up your alley...LOL.

Remember don't use too much detergent in those front loaders (although you'll be very temped to, I'm sure).

Thank you George, and I will be careful with dosing, lol. I will do a wsrm prewash first just to get some of the yuck out. I'm sure this will be fun, and a laundry challange, which I always love lol

Use the Bulky Cycle with STEAM selected. It will heat to 143F, add a ton of water after the target temp is reached, temper back and complete the wash at 120F, and adds the LCB in the last 5 min. In this cycle there are two rinses regardless if Acela wash is selected or not. Total time us 2:03. Bulky/bedding, Comforter, and Delicate use the most water in these machines in both wash and rinse. There are no spray rinses in this cycle, but you can add additional rinses up to 4. Careful though that's a lot of water. If that LG has an Allergiene cycle you can use that also, there both one in the same except much more water in the Bullky w. Steam selected, although 30 min. Longer. Just love these machines, smart, very smart!

"I will do a warm prewash first just to get some of the yuck out" Or maybe even a Clean-the-Machine cycle first, in case there is detergent residue. Good luck! You are an angel.

Sin, I will try your direction first load since I think with all the funk on the clothes it is going to require water. this poor lady isn't going to beat non small cell lung cancer since its in her bones now, what a shame, and she never smoked in her life. She is obsessing on wanting all her clothes clean where she never cared before, I think its something else to occupy her mind, even if for just a few minutes. .but I'm able to help, besides I'm curious about these FL'ers so it will benefit me also. I'm going over around noon armed and dangerous with chemicals lol.

That really nice of you!

You are wonderful to do this Mama! But it sure doesn't surprise me.

If you are going at noon and clothes are that backed up, between long wash cycles and end of the day you will be doing good to do 3 loads if you do all these pre washes and 2 plus hr cycles. You may need nerve pills with that wine. LOL I am surprised she can stand to inhale the smell of Clorox in her shape. Sad. I am sure her cup is in her dispenser for liquid detergent so you will have to move that for powder but you know that. Not trying to "Boss" you but I wouldn't use any of that stinking Persil. May clean well but it might really hurt her breathing.

I didn't get to even see the washer yet..I got over there and she didn't look so good, I called her daughter to take her to ER for some fluids, she was a bit dehydrated..so we will shoot for tomorrow..no persil Sparky, I planned on taking Tide Pro with Oxi...Powdered Cheer, Wisk, powdered Tide Turbo & STPP..I will need that phosphate lol.oh and Sears ultra for prewash. Do you think this will work? And I bought a clorox regular to take over...I will also take Downy Free.

She needs an air conditioner if she doesnt have one and also sounds like Hospice is needed also. Does she not have any kind of home health where they come to the house and check her out or does your state not have that--I would think they would.

Your best bet(don't know how you feel about this) is to get up all her dirty clothes and take them to your house and do them your way, then start helping before they get behind and use her machines.(Not being bossy).

Sparky you read my mind..I have her daughter loading up all the whites now to bring over here, I can get started here..also I'm having my son install a window A/C unit tomorrow in her bedroom..when I ask her permission she started crying and said you've lived next door almost 7 years and we spoke a handful of times and you are helping me and don't even really know me..poor thing..her daughter is a recovering herion addict she's been clean from herion for 9 months but goes to the meth clinic..so she's pretty worthless in helping her mom.

Oh well, then her daughter probably don't know if they have home health or anything else, then I could be wrong. Great that you are helping. I'm a full believer in what goes around comes around.

I'm calling excela health care tomorrow, this lady has insurance so no reason she shouldn't get the help and resources she needs. The doctors gave her between 4 and 12 months. And that was 3 months ago. I think its terriable no one has stepped up to the plate to help this woman, prior to getting sick she was a dedicated worker and respected in the church, but I never see anyone at her house. I have a big mouth lol in otherwords I'm pro active when need be, so I will get some balls rolling tomorrow. But I will be quiet and tactful about it lol

She should be eligible for palliative care and possibly for hospice. They will send people to the house. Of course, the church should have volunteers and many may know her but be unaware. I hope she might also get meals on wheels. It's a blessing you are next door.

Roc, I'm making all the calls tomorrow, I now know this woman isn't being cared for so its my responsability to make sure I can do what little I can for her. I will also check into meals on wheels, and I will inform the pastor at her church. She told me earlier she had to apply for disability as she no longer has an income and her savings is about gone..I cook daily for my crew here, well almost daily, I always have leftovers, so I'm going to just send her a plate of dinner over daily, its the least I can do, I am not doing extra cooking, because I always have enough for one or two more.I will tell her though that with my daughters condition I never know when we will be in pittsburgh hospital and I may not be home, so she needs to surround herself with supportive friends and family. I have told myself for years I can not save the world, lol..but I don't listen to myself haha.

Your neighbor is so lucky to have you in her corner. God bless you Pink!

I finially put a load in my washer last night to soak, it was mostly light greys, beige, blues..I had to do 2 prewashes before I could soak, the water was nasty, how do clothes get this horrid lol. Tons of stains, and most if them looked oil based . I put some wisk mixed 1/2 & 1/2 with persil 2 in 1 in a sprayer for the stains, I know Sparky stay away from the heavy scent of persil but I needed the extra enzymes on these stains, and I figured with prewashes it would be ok. I didn't use any detergent on the 1'st prewash I sprayed enough detergent on the stains to cover that and used warmish water, 2'nd prewash got warm water, and just about 2 tabelspoons Cheer powder and Stpp, than they went in to soak on hot with 2 tide pods and stpp..this morning I did a spin drain, refilled with hot water, stpp, cheer powder, and downy sweet dreams in the dispenser, they are on rinse now. I hope they come out stain free. Another load will be brought over sometime today.lol

The downy sweet dreams was mixed 1/2 & 1/2 with downy free. Very light scent.

Bea, Thank You, last night she said, just run the clothes on quick wash that's all I do, I will not tell her what I put these clothes thru to get them clean, no need to offend her, now if she wasn't sick lol, I'd give her a few lessons. But I'm taking Sparkys advice and getting her caught up here, than I will go to her house to keep it caught up. Good thing I bought a large jug of LCB my washers gonna need disinfected lol. she does have blankets and comforters but those will have to get done at her house.

Can't wait to hear the results of that first load. Are you going to use both washers, yours and hers? I like the idea of using the machine clean cycle on your neighbors washer, before you use it. If you had both washers going you would really be making headway.

Pinky, you may have difficulty getting information directly from sick neighbor's insurance company due to privacy laws. If you know where she gets treatment, you may have a better chance of using their social services or chaplains office to notify those who can help about her condition. In many cases, those who could help don't know how or aren't willing to wade through the paperwork to get it done. Sn daughter sounds like she can't help herself let alone mom. Sick neighbor may also be having problems accepting that she can't do it herself any more. Does yor county have a tip line to report dangerous conditions? It might be through the nonemergecy line for paramedics, fire department, etc. Go pinky.

Couple things -

1. Simple Green, Lestoil and/or Greased Lightning are great pre-treatments for grease stains. (Lately I use Greased Lightning because you can't really find Lestoil anywhere anymore and Simple Green bothers my lungs.)
   
2. As Roc said, she may be eligible for hospice, which is 100% covered by Medicare, and there are lots of hospice providers in PA who would probably love to take her on as a patient.
   
3. How old is she? You might give the county department of aging a call and see if they can get involved and help out.
   
   If you were here in SE Pennsylvania, I could hook her up with a whole network of people to help. If you want to private message me (is that possible?) I might be able to drum up some contacts, or at least advice about how to get her the help she needs.

Lestoil at wal mart.

mamapinky0, what a wonderful world it would be if everyone cared about others as much as you! Thank you for helping out someone in their time of need.

Maybe the church or members take turn about, will feed her on weekends since meals on wheels only runs 5 days.. Glad to hear it all went smoothly. Maybe she will get a bath nurse and possible house keeper/errand runner. Before they start taking over maybe you could get in there and clean out that moldy washer. Mold is so bad on you that has to be against her smelling that. Thanks Pink for helping her out.

I take my Grandma (93 tomorrow!) to Meals on Wheels during the week. If there is a situation like mamapinky0's neighbor, they will give out 2 sack lunches for the weekend. Don't know if they all do that. We either cook for her on weekends or take her out to eat.

Way to go mamap! Once it gets very bad the hospice folks are amazing. If I hear one more person talking about getting rid of Medicare I think I'll go postal.

It sounds like her situation got out of hand fairly quickly, since all these services are available now and not in place all ready. You are a champion advocate!

Are you still doing the laundry? How are your techniques working? You'll be able to teach the house keeper that comes how to improve their laundry skills too : )

Wow. Pinky, they don't call you Mama for nothing, do they? You are Awesome and In Charge. You can move next door to me any day.

Aww, thank you all for your praise, I've always had that nurturing personality, lol. Last winter my PCP doctor had his gallbladder removed, I gave him advice on how to recouperate, lol..he just smiled, nodded and agreed. by the way most people in real here call me mama pinky pink, pinky, or just mama...I'm everyone's mama..lol

I gotta admit and just say it...I LOVE MAMAPINKY!! Beautiful person and soul!!

Larsi, if I could like you twice I would :)

I second what larsi wrote above! You can feel Mama's sincerity clear through the computer screen.

I do like Larsi Twice, his heart is huge, he's kind, generous, funny, smart, and beautiful inside and out. I am very lucky to have Larsi as a friend and I love him back.

Jean you are a sweety, and I love your sense of humor.

I was in her house today, the neighbors, I had been wondering why I haven't been invited inside even making the calls to get her help she brought the phones outside..well omg the house is in the most pathetic condition, she has 3 large dogs long haired, the house reeks of dog urine so bad it gags me, filth and dog hair everywhere. I gingerely walked to bathroom with her where her W/D are, I didn't get the model # but its a LG , not even 2 years old and there's rust everywhere on it, on the outside, very neglected, I didn't get close to the inside, I was glad she had rubber gloves there, I gloved up to sort the laundry, started a load of darks, I used reg/ heavy duty cycle (I think that's what it was called) steam, extra rinse, and hit the option for extra water, I can't remember what that was called.I will take a pic tomorrow of it. I took detergent with me but she just bought her 1st box of sears green box and wanted to try it..I can't go back on my word to help with her laundry, yet her home should be condemed its so bad..so I found some white pants and a white blouse to wear over there and I will wear my gardening shoes that never get worn in my house, this way I can wash and LCB my clothes when I'm done lol. I haven't seen her since she said she would put the clothes in the dryer. I'll get pics of this washer tomorrow. I can't believe the inside of her house and the outside is well maintained. So I'm in a fine pickle, but I'll still help with the laundry, but soon as I get home I'm in the shower lol.

OMG.....SO sorry Cheryl. I'm purelling my hands just reading this, why I take a few big hits and sniffing Clorox :-o What an Angel you are. HOW, HOW can anyone live like this? Even when my fav Aunt (RIP) was dying of aggressive Ovarian Cancer...her house and herself were immaculate!! With and without our help!!

It sounds as if your sick neighbor is already giving up on herself. That kind of squalor sounds like severe depression or something close to it. Do you still have the phone numbers for the social service contacts or her church contacts? Even if you just warn the church people about the conditions, it might help them to get a) a volunteer with the right mindset and b) get something started to help with the conditions. Pinky, seriously, those conditions will impact sick neighbor's health and could impact you and your family's health despite all your precautions with the hazmat conditions. Do the dogs look sick in addition to being neglected? One more call to social services might help everybody. May good things come to you and your sick neighbor. Good Luck.

I was thinking you got her lined up with a house keeper but I guess not. I would be almost sure that she has not felt like cleaning house, especially if it is in the bone and she is practically near the end so this(pain) has been happening for quite some time. Not to mention Chemo. I have friends and relatives that have been on it and it just zapped everything they had energy wise and what that didn't get the puking did. Need to get rid of those dogs, see if someone else would take care of them. When she is gone they will need homes. Dog pee is what has rusted her washer from them hiking their leg there I bet if the rust is all along the bottom. They need to go ahead and put her in a nursing home. I am surprised they don't seeing as how you got the ball rolling on help. When they come in and see she isn't physically able to do much plus the mess and her diagnosis and time frame I am surprised if they dont try to get her moved.

Before we leave here we don't know what kind of mess we are going to get in. Bless her heart, so sad.

I do feel bad for her..also this house condition is from years of negelect...some people 6 of them showed up at her house today..she let them in, 5minutes later they all came outside I couldn't hear what was being said, but she later told me the church is going to do a fund drive and hire a cleaning crew, and interior painters,they are also going to put in new flooring. Thank goodness. She will have to stay with her eldest sister for a week while this is done, it looks like it's going to be started end of this month, the cleaning crew is some company out of Johnstown Pa. And they are supposed to start the cleaning this Thursday.

No way will she get rid of her dogs. Someone could make a call and boom gone but I wonder if that's a good idea, she loves them.I think that would kill her faster than the cancer. The nurse was there Saturday, took vitals and drew doctor ordered lab work. No sign of meals on wheels yet but I've been sending her dinner over daily. She said its been the best meals she's had in a long time lol. I will continue doing that.

Poppy, ya I have to get ahold of someone tuesday, I can't risk bringing something home to my kids and my teenage daughter is extremely ill she cant be put at risk. Tomorrow I'm not going over except to send my son over with her dinner he won't go in, after he installed the window A/C he said never again, I thought he was exagerating. I will make some calls tuesday.

Glad to hear they are going to clean and paint the house. I do agree about the dogs but and her missing them but they need to go out and not pee in the house or worse and if she cant let them out and at times she probably cant fixing the house is useless. Does your area have a plan where they come out and clean house a time or two a week? Here there is a thing called Comfort Keepers. They stay for 4 hrs and clean run errands assist baths just what ever needs doing in the 4 hr time .But that was through a state developmental group. Not sure if Fed has anything or not for that.

WOW Mama...one person can make a difference.

I wish you were my neighbor.

You've done SO much to get the ball rolling for this needing soul.

I hope all goes smoothly with the sprucing up of her home.

No...she shouldn't be forced to be parted from her animals. I'm sure they bring her much needed comfort.