My wife has asked me to present this problem to the Doper community.
She has a bunch of t-shirts, which she wears either alone or under other things. Over the past year or so, she’s been having problem with the t-shirts that are colored blue or beige. They have developed, in the wash, white spots or streaks. These get progressively worse over time, and sometimes it almost looks like the shirt has had bleach spilled on it.
This only happens with blue and beige shirts, and according to her it has never happened to her in any other city that she’s lived in.
The t-shirts are generally either cotton or cotton blend, and she washes them according to the instructions. She purposely uses a mild detergent. It’s making her very frustrated, and she was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to the cause, and possibly a remedy?
I’ve taken a picture of a few of her shirts and posted it here. The streaking on the beige shirt is quite clear. The lighter blue shirt has a couple of small, rather obvious white spots, and the darker blue shirt has a faded area that is a bit hard to see in the picture. I’ve circled the problem areas on the blue shirts.
I have really bad luck when it comes to t-shirts, and I get spots like those all the time.
I’ve attributed it to back-spray when cleaning with bleach. Or, alternatively, my POS washing machine harboring Clorox after a load of whites and randomly ruining my clothes. I usually run a load of towels after a load of whites simply to remove the leftover bleach.
I cannot clean with bleach without staining something.
Have her try the Shout Color-Catchers. They absorb stray colors in the rinsewater and I’ve found that they’re completely colored upon removal from the washer.
She doesn’t think it’s a bleach issue, because she doesn’t use bleach. She said she’d try those Color Catchers, but still isn’t sure it will solve the problem.
mhendo, these look like they may be made by the same manufacturer, no? If yes, they could be the culprit - their dye process/manufacturing process. Has she purchased this brand in the past?
I’m not sure if those three shirts are all the same manufacturer (i’m not at home right now), although it is possible.
But i also know that this happens with shirts from a variety of different labels. It has also happened to a couple of my t-shirts (again, only blue and beige) that are definitely a different make from any of hers.
What kind of detergent is she using?? Maybe that’s the problem. From reading above (and granted, I could be totally misinterpreting this) it would seem that if her detergent has something like an “oxyclean” or “non bleach” type of thing added to it that could be the problem.
If it’s liquid I’d suggest diluting it with the water in the washer first before adding the clothes. I know a lot of people that fill the washer with clothes, dump the liquid detergent directly on the clothes, then turn the machine on.
It’s probably better to turn the washer on so it starts filling, dump in the detergent, then load the clothes.
My wife uses Oxyclean a lot, and the U. Nebraska explanation suggests that there might a residue in the machine, or that she doesn’t dissolve it well enough before using it. She’ll try being a little more careful with it, and running a couple of loads of water through the machine to clean out any residue.
Hampshire, we’ve used a bunch of different detergents over time, both powders and liquids. We’re both usually pretty careful to put the detergent in the machine first and run some water before putting our clothes in.
Many thanks to everyone, from me and the missus, for your advice and suggestions.
