Dishwashing Detergent Spilled - Can't Get It Out Of Fabric

milehigh

So in the scheme of my recent troubles this is without a doubt trivial, but still....Anyways during a "spirited" drive of my new car after getting groceries, my dish detergent (Finish brand liquid detergent) spilled. It got into the carpet in my trunk in my (again new) car as well as my Rickshaw messenger bag. I really like that bag. I tried to clean it immediately, and seemed to succeed. Then it dried, and I have big white spots in my trunk and on my bag. I cleaned it again, using more water and hotter water this time, but even after 4 serious cleanings (I'm debating about running the bag through the "light wash" cycle of my dishwasher) I'm still seeing these spots.

It's soap right, this shouldn't be that hard. That said I'm not finding any solutions in my searches, do I just need to keep hitting it with hot water or is there some awesome, super simple thing I'm not thinking of?

RavynBlackheart

In my experience, dishwasher detergent bleaches fabrics, I've had two black t-shirts effectively ruined by detergent splashes. Here's the MSDS for Finish Gel, in case you're interested: http://www.rbnainfo.com/MSDS/US/FINISH-GEL-US-English.pdf

Siska

If the detergent has bleached the fabric you can't wash the stains away. If that's the case it's not soap stains you are seeing, it's the color itself that has faded in those spots. What does your bag look like? If it's mostly one solid color you can look into different ways to re-dye it. Also depends on what kind of material it is, of course.

milehigh

That would make sense if the white didn't go away when I rinsed it with water...Right? Because I can rinse it and with a bit of scrubbing it looks completely normal (black in both cases). I would think if it was a stain then rinsing it wouldn't do anything.