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I have an Empire Builder and took a bottle of Johnson's Baby Oil wrapped in a plastic bag in the main compartment during travel today. Unfortunately due to the pressure, some of the oil leaked and has come in contact with the file divider and the bottom of the bag (there is a couple of small blots).
I think I will run some warm water over the divider, but what can I do about the insider of the bag? Should I give it a good washing as well? Do let me know, since I do not want to ruin it.
While I obviously will defer to the advice you get from the Tom Bihn crew, I might suggest that you rub a bit of Goop into the stain and then gently rinse. Goop is a very gentle cleaning product that seems to do wonders for removing oily stains. You can get it at automotive supply places--mechanics use it on the hands to remove grease--or in a lot of drugstores and even grocery stores. (Ours has it in the handsoap department.)
When traveling, I always have a tiny jar of Goop in my 3-1-1 bag. It removed an oily potsticker accident from a silk blouse once...and didn't harm the silk one whit.
By the way, one good trick for carrying little bottles on planes, which do have a tendency to leak with the changes in cabin air pressure, is to remove the cap, put a square bit of plastic cling wrap over the mouth of the bottle, and then replace the cap over the cling wrap. I've never had a leakage problem since doing that.
And for extra super-security, you could put the bottle in its own snack sized ziplock and then into the one quart baggie. Belts and braces...
Thanks for your tip, I'll wait for one from TB crew and will then try out your suggestion. I read elsewhere that I can use a bit of cornstrach as well, since it sucks the oil out.
There is only two blots of about 1-2 cm each. So if it stains, it stains. It doesn't look bad from the outside. I just don't want to ruin my bag doing something I can't handle.
How did it turn out? I have used a stain remover named Shout in the past with good results on clothing.