Not sure about the average doper’s domesticity but maybe somebody can help me with something that’s been annoying me for a couple of years.
I’m fortunate enough to have a job where I can where my own clothes all the time, most often jeans and a t-shirt, so my t-shirts get a fair bit of wear. After I’ve had one for a few months my deodorant will leave white marks under the arms (I believe it’s deposited aluminium chlorohydrate). The built up crusty stuff (sorry to those eating) is really uncomfortable and makes me sweat more… meaning more deodorant meaning more aluminium chlorohydrate etc. etc. This is wrecking my t-shirts and while my job’s pretty cool it’s not sufficiently well paid that I can get new t-shirts the whole time.
My question: How can I get rid of the white crusty marks? They don’t come off just by washing.
I had the same problem. Switched to Arm&Hammer “untramax” antiperspirant, which uses aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly. One of the sales points on the container is that it leaves no white residue.
The crusty stuff eventually wore off after repeated washings, once I stopped putting more back on every time.
You should try something that I recently discovered for myself. After searching for well over a decade for a deodorant that could keep up with me, and having no success, Mrs. Chandeleur bought this spray mist stuff. I think its actually just called “Spray Mist”. It’s just water and mineral salts. It’s the type of product I would always have been skeptical about, and would never have bought, but so far, it’s the best thing I’ve used to date. And all you’re putting on yourself is basically water. So far I have been most impressed with this product.
Are you sure you’re using deodorant and not anti-perspirant? I used to have the same problem when I used anti-perspirant, and someone recommended I switch to plain old deodorant. I did, and the problem went away. Btw, my deodorant doesn’t have any aluminium chlorohydrate in it… maybe you could simply find something without it?
Sorry flyboy88, you’re right it’s anti-perspirant. I’m using Mitchum because it’s the only thing I can find that stops me sweating. Cheers though NardoPolo and Chandeleur, I’ll look for something similar to those in the UK. I just hoped that someone would have a wonderproduct that would fix all my t-shirts immediately.
Having experienced similar problems, my best advice is to use less anti-perspirant/deodorant. A little dab’ll do ya. Whether it’s roll-on, stick, or aerosol, try putting on just a little bit and then moving your arms around to get it to spread out evenly in your pits.
When it comes to anti-perspirants that contain some form of aluminum (virtually all of them) it would probably be a good idea to avoid overuse not only to avoid the white mess, but there are also possible medical consequences that could probably be minimized from conservative use.
Excessive use can cause cysts (which are probably not serious) and there have been links made to aluminum and Alzheimers, although the jury is still out on that.
I still use aluminum-based anti-perspirants daily, but as with most things, I believe moderation is the key. Besides, if you use less, you save money, your t-shirts, and possibly your good health.
Basicly the shirts are ruined; I don’t think there’s a detergent that gets that stuff out of your clothes.
If you’re a real heavy sweater you may want to consult your doctor about a great (prescription only) product called Drysol.
It may take some getting used to, but in the six months I’ve been using it my underarm persperation has been reduced to practically nothing, and no sweat means no smell as well, so there’s no need to use deodorant.
I have to add a bit to my advice above: (sort of TMI, but not really if you’ve already read the rest of this thread…)
If you have armpit hair, as I do, after moving your arms around to spread out the product you may also want to take a tissue or two and just sort of wipe off your armpit hairs. My own experience leads me to believe that the anti-perspirant covered hair is what causes a great deal of the white-stuff transfer to your clothing. I really only do this when I’m wearing a delicate/expensive shirt that I really really don’t want to ruin. I live in S. Florida, so more than one layer of clothing is usually rare.
Let your pits dry completely BEFORE applying anything under your arms. Once you’ve applied the anti-perspirant/deodorant of your choice, allow your pits to dry once again BEFORE putting on a shirt. I believe neglecting to do this causes most white-stuff to clothing transfer.
They actually work. The author of Killbo discovered that the strong underarm stench is caused by bacteria which contaminate both us AND our shirts. Shower all you want, your underarms get reinfected as soon as you put on one of your shirts. Laundry and boiling hot clothes dryers don’t kill the bacteria.
If you sterilize your shirts in weak bleach solution, you’ll only have to use deodorant infrequently. The Killbo guy claims to have gone for months without reeking (he managed to kill his bacteria colonies entirely.) My best time so far is two weeks.
After killing the bacteria, for days and days I smell like I did when I was ten years old, (while only showering but without using deodorant.) Then one day, BAM, full stench returns as those bacteria recolonize. Or, if I accidentally wear an old shirt that wasn’t given the bleach treatment, same thing: I reek horribly by the end of the day.
The Killbo author experiments with various bacteriacidal ointments. Me, I just use “Mitchum” about once a week. Before starting on a campaign to sterilize all my shirts I used deodorant every day, yet by the end of the day my underarms reeked. (If you’re working till 4AM on a big software deadline, this is a Not Good Thing!)
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Pure speculation:
If boiling hot clothes dryers don’t kill off the underarm bacteria in your shirts, perhaps they are hyperthermophillic Archeo-nanobacteria, the types which colonize Yellowstone hot springs and deep undersea vents. They thrive at well over 100C temperatures. Hey! They also build calcium shells, and some researchers think they’re responsible for all the calcite deposits in caves. Maybe the white deposits on black t-shirts is calcium, not aluminum. See: