I recently bought a really nice Brooks Brothers white dress shirt at a thrift store.
The shirt is in flawless condition except for one small, faint stain. The stain is actualy on the underside of the front panel and and is completely hidden when the shirt is buttoned. However, I'd like to remove the stain.
Since I don't know the origin of the stain, I have no idea of how to pretreat it. From first glance, it would appear to be a food stain (possibly pasta sauce).
Any suggestions on how I should treat this stain and clean the shirt? The directions call for washing warm in non-chlorine bleach. Should I maybe attempt to wash it in detergent w/ Clorox?
re: removing faint stain from underside of white dress shirt
Since the label says to use non-chlorine bleach, I'd try soaking it in some oxi-type bleach in water as hot as you think safe -- for a few hours, or even overnight. Then wash and dry as recommended. If you could hang it to dry in the sun, that'd help too.
I have used "Mary Ellen's Set-In-Stain Remover for Whites" and been very happy with the results. It's a bit difficult to find though! Try this first: Use cream of tartar to brighten delicate white items . Soak the spot in a solution of water, a tablespoon of cream of tartar and a little bit of laundry detergent, then run through the washer as usual.
If the stain is indeed tomato sauce, that's one of the types of stain that OxyClean is especially good at removing.
I find a few hours soak in a hot OxiClean solution as effective as washing with chlorine bleach, without rotting the material like bleach. It got all kinds of old food stains out of the kitchen dish towels that chlorine bleach never did, too.
I use more than one scoop in a large load of whites, though, 3 or 4, and detergent, and let it agitate a couple of minutes to mix before I shut it off for 4 hours (or all day if I throw them in before work). My underwear and socks nearly glow in the dark, and don't rot out in
6 months like they did with chlorine bleach. The large bucket of OxiClean from Sams cost me around $11 and lasts me about a year in a
2-person family, mainly used for washing the whites.
Thank you for posting this, Jamie. After reading so many negative comments on USENET about OxyClean (and from two friends who have used it) I was convinced that it wasn't worth the money. This is the first time I hear it needs to soak for a few hours to be effective. I would like to give it a try. I own a front loading washer, that means I will have to soak the whites in a bucket and then transfer to the washer. A bit messy but if it works better than bleach...
don't you have a pre wash? if not How about starting a wash then switching off to soak for a bit making sure the water line is below the door. Shop bought Oxyclean is quite expensive, I have yet to find it in big tubs here. A cheaper alternative is Napisan or I know Boots do their own nappy soaker at a good price.
Where's DrClean? The bleach in Oxyclean is hydrogen peroxide. I think he would say that for a spot, the most efficient approach is to wet it with a drop of ammonia, then apply a drop of peroxide.
Chlorine bleach in swimming pools has a reputation for rotting swim suits, but suits deteriorate just as fast in pools with non-chlorine disinfectants. So when chlorine bleach is used properly in a pool, it's no harsher than other bleaches.
I can think of two possible reasons for trouble with chlorine bleach. One is that perhaps there is more bleach than in the Oxyclean solution you use.
The other is that unless chlorine bleach is buffered or very dilute, the pH can be very high. A high pH alters some dyes and can rot fibers, especially silk, wool, and nylon. A high pH also inhibits the bleaching action of chlorine bleach.
The pH of your detergent would affect how well chlorine bleach works and how much damage it does. That could explain why some people have better luck than others.
Typically, a cup of chlorine bleach is recommended per load. An old trick is to use half a cup of bleach and half a cup of baking soda. The baking soda buffers the wash water to make the bleach gentler on fibers and colors and tougher on stains and germs.
If I have stuff that needs bleaching, I bleach it in a bucket after it's washed. This means I can wash stuff that should be bleached with stuff that shouldn't. Washing the bleachable stuff first removes organic material that would neutralize bleach.
I bleach in a bucket of water with a little bleach and a little baking soda. It doesn't take much, maybe a tablespoon of each, and it takes less than an hour. The solution rinses out easily.
The stain should come out in 10-20 minutes with a hot OxiClean mixture. If it fades the stain, but does not remove it, repeat with a second application of hot OxiClean. Use very hot water (1/4 full container) being careful when you add the OxiClean--it will suddenly foam up. Just adding the OxiClean to the wash does not do much good. If this does not work, I have another idea. Also, there's nothing special about OxiClean, Clorox (and other companies) make very similar granulated oxygen products that are just as good.
OxyClean is worth its weight in gold. My dog wet on white carpet and nothing would remove the stain. I made up a solution of oxyclean with 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach (boy did it foam) and saturated the spot with it leaving it overnight. The next morning I used my little green machine with a little hot water and more oxyclean and the stain was completely removed.
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