Stain Removal

I’ve been very pleasantly surprised at the capability and effectiveness of the Tide Buzz, an ultrasonic stain removing system.

It has an ultrasonic wand with a little detergent jet next to it, controlled by separate adjacent buttons.

I don’t know what’s in the detergent mix that they use, but it really gets activated by the ultrasound. If you put fabric in an embroidery hoop so you can see the front side, while you watch as you add detergent to theĀ  back side, there’s a spray of liquid showering out the front, carrying the dirt/stain with it. They provide absorbent pads that you can use for carrying away the fluid and stain, which also work well; but so does a wad of tissue.

I’ve run into problems sometimes with the detergent pump system getting plugged, especially after I haven’t used it for a while. I took it apart and am impressed by the simplicity and elegance of the pump, which is a peristaltic pump built on very durable tubing. I found the blockage was in the nozzle in the wand, easily fixed (though I did have to grind a little gap into a screwdriver to get it to work with the special screws). Since then, I’ve learned that I can fix the problem when it recurs by filling a hypodermic syringe with water, removing the detergent bottle, and gently pressing the syringe against the inlet hole while I run the pump. Just takes seconds. I suspect the blockage problem is the reason this device hasn’t been successful in the marketplace, because the cleaning method really works well.

Water and soap can also work, but doesn’t make the ultrasonic spray the genuine fluid does, so likely is not as effective.

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