Mrs. B is away all day today.

In her absence I elected to run a load of wash, specifically all my soiled shop rags. They're not worth a lot but some of them are good heavy terry-cloth rags, and I don't want to throw them away... hence I'm washing them. Just the cloths alone in a small load, heavy-duty cycle, double detergent.

Now, these rags carry on them WD-40, Ballistol, homebrew bullet lube, machine oil, and all manner of soils and stains. I figured a hot-water wash with plenty of detergent would get the worst of that out of them and I could use them again, more effective for having been cleaned.

But one of those rags was the one I wiped my hands and the rifle with after taking the stock off my Polish Mosin-Nagant carbine. Below the wood the action was positively crusted with Soviet-era gun grease, i.e. cosmoline. A good tablespoon or so of that got rubbed into the cloth.

Fifteen minutes into the hot-water wash cycle the laundry room stinks of cosmoline. After the wash cycle's over I don't dare put them in the dryer.

I wonder if I'll be able to get that odor gone before dinner time...

-AaronB (maybe not long for this world)