Not long ago my daughter brought me her skirt and under shorts because she couldn’t get silly putty out of the fabric.
She had decided to put the putty between her skin and her skirt. Of course, the silly putty was warm in the middle of summer and it stuck to her clothes.
We were able to get the silly putty out with a couple of super simple ingredients that we have at home. I bet you have them too!
Supplies for getting putty our of fabric:
- butter knife
- ice cube
- hand sanitizer
- stain remover
How to Get Silly Putty Out of Clothes
Here are the steps we used to get the silly putty out of her skirt and shorts.
1. Scrape off putty.
Using the butter knife or even your fingernail, scrape off as much of the putty as you can. A lot of our putty peeled off the fabric.
However there was still a small amount left on that needed to be removed.
2. Dissolve the putty.
For the remaining putty, you’ll need to dissolve it. There are a lot of different ideas out there:
- WD40
- rubbing alcohol
- vinegar
- hand sanitizer
- ice
However, I wanted to use something that I had on hand and would not leave a stain. I also didn’t want to have to use gloves.
So I tried a simple ice cube.
The ice caused the putty to become brittle and peel away from the fabric. It took a little time, but eventually I was able to scrape up little pieces of putty from the shorts.
The only draw back to using ice is that it is cold! My daughter tried to use ice and that didn’t last. 🙂
You could always wear winter gloves when handling the ice. Another option would be to place the ice on top of the putty for a minute and allow it to freeze the putty underneath it.
The second method I used to dissolve the putty was hand sanitizer. Since it contains alcohol, it easily breaks the putty apart. Then you’re better able to peel it away from the fabric.
Most likely you have ice or hand sanitizer around your home. Give one of these a try!
3. Treat any stains.
The cotton shorts did not have any stains once I removed the putty. However, the jean skirt’s pocket did still have a stain once the putty was removed.
So I used my favorite stain treater: Felsnaphta Bar. It’s how I treat all the stains in our clothes.
This bar is relatively inexpensive, lasts a long time and works really well. It has worked on all the stains I’ve had.
If you’d rather use a different stain treater, go ahead. It’s always better to use what you have if you can.
Here are the shorts once I had removed the putty. After washing them in the washing machine, they looked great.
So that is how I cleaned silly putty out of my daughter’s clothes. After she helped me fix her clothes, I told her to keep the putty in its plastic case and not carry it around in her skirt again.
I believe she learned her lesson! But if it happens again, I know what to do. I hope this helps you as you remove putty from whatever it has gotten on in your home too. 🙂