Cellar Disaster

[MixedBerryJam]

OMG. An almost-new 1.32 gallon (5+ litres) liquid laundry detergent that WAS on top of my washer just spilled onto the cellar floor. Not just, because I haven't done laundry today, so it's had time to spread. I don't know where to begin. I sopped up as much as I could with towels and threw them back into the washer, but I'm afraid it's going to explode bubbles a la 3 Stooges but I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want to hose them off in the back yard because I figured that much detergent would kill the lawn. Now I have kitty litter sitting on the residue, and I figure I'll vaccum that up after a couple of hours. Upside: I'll have a spring fresh shop vac. After that, I guess I'll just get anything valuable off the floor, and hose the floor off into the sump hole.

Anyone have any better ideas? Sheesh. I just mentioned to my son that my office was smelling kind of floral-y. It's coming up through the vents!

[sangria]

Turn the hose on and then charge admission for a retro foam party?

I got nothing.
I'm sorry! That sounds terrible.

[juliachild]

Oh no! Rinse the towels in a sink?

[FastHands]

Do you have a tub?

[dottyblue]

If it's HE detergent, it shouldn't foam up too badly, but I would still try to rinse any towels used to wipe it up either outside with a hose or in a sink before running them through the washing machine.

My DH had this happen in his car when our washer wasn't working and he ran to the laundromat.  Enjoy the smell now because it starts getting nasty and overpowering after a few days.  DH had to have his car professionally cleaned to get rid of most of the smell. 

[jinkies]

This happened to us-- a full container of tide fell off the dryer during a particularly rigorous cycle, an the container exploded. Our w/d is in our master bath. It sucked.

We used a squeegee and to squeegee the bulk of the liquid into a dust pan, then dumped in a trash bag.

Once the majority was up, we started wiping down with towels. Last step was mopping with water several times.

Good luck.

[pixy0stix]

DON'T put the towels into the dryer. Excess laundry detergent on fabric is a fire hazard. If you do run them through the washer do it a couple of times before trying to dry in the dryer.

[mnp555]

Whatever you do, make sure it's all cleaned up asap. We had a mini earthquake that knocked our detergent down while we were on vacation and by the time we returned the detergent had completely stripped the wood floor in our rental where it was touching. That stuff does not mess around.

[Howards Mom]

Run the towels through a few spin cycles before running them through a wash cycle with water.

You may have to adjust them between spin cycles.

[lemons]

That sounds more miserable than water overflowing from the washer. I'm sorry you have to deal with this mess.

[dale]

If detergent spills you can sprinkle salt also to make a sweepable powder.

[MixedBerryJam]

Sept 2, 2015 16:10:34 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

DON'T put the towels into the dryer. Excess laundry detergent on fabric is a fire hazard. If you do run them through the washer do it a couple of times before trying to dry in the dryer.

I was planning on running it a second time, because there was so. much. detergent. I wish I'd thought to rinse the towels in the sink that is right next to the washer, but alas, I did not. And whoever said it shouldn't get too bubbly if it's HE was right. I was pleasantly surprised that the foaming wasn't bad. But I am going to run it again at least once more. I am coated head-to-toe with a thin veneer of detergent myself. I poured kitty litter on it when I first posted, and I just pushbroomed the litter all around to try to absorb more. I think I'll be in good shape, but I really can't just get everything off the floor and hose it down. So I'll just mop and rinse, mop and rinse, mop and rinse, and so on and so on and so on. 

[MixedBerryJam]

Sept 2, 2015 16:40:44 GMT -5 dale said:

If detergent spills you can sprinkle salt also to make a sweepable powder.

I've done this with dropped eggs and it works like a charm. Guess what I ran out of a week ago and completely forgot to get at the store, and even if I had, I'd need probably 20 pounds to absorb this mess ...

[MixedBerryJam]

Sept 2, 2015 16:25:28 GMT -5 whattheheck said:

Put one towel in with a load of regular laundry instead of detergent until all the towels are clean?

This is fucking genius. Too bad I am not a genius, though. Seriously, you should write to Heloise with this idea. Absolute genius!