This is not ring around the collar. Apparently my sweat reacts with the dye in the shirts and causes the colors to fade. These are not cheap shirts. As a matter of fact, typically the more expensive the shirt, the more likely it is to bleach/fade. My wardrobe consists of Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Polo and Structure dress shirts. I’m certain this is caused, at least to some degree, by my sweat because if I wipe my brow with my sleeve, it bleaches too.
I’ve changed detergents several times and tried all varieties of color safe detergents including Cheer, All and Tide. Is there a simple home remedy or am I doomed to visit the dry cleaners? Is a dermatologist in order?
Thanking the millions, in advance, for their help.
Yep, this happens. I discovered the effect when I threw a wet towel in my laundry basket with some light blue cotton dress shirts. The water leached the color out of the shirts.
Sorry, nothing you can do about it. You have discovered why white is the preferred color for dress shirts.
My blue shirts fade pink too. They apparently do strange things with dye. It reminds me of a chromotography experiment I used to do as a kid. A couple of drops of food coloring, some alcohol, a coffee filter and you could see what colors were in the dye.
Back to the original problem…
It really seems to have something to do with sweat since it only happens where I’ve sweated. I wonder if Scotchguard will work. I know that antiperspirant/deodorant around my neckline doesn’t.
Maybe they put too much chlorine in the water where you live - so much that you sweat it out and bleach your shirts.
Seriously, it’s a fairly common problem. I don’t know that there is a solution, and if so, I would think it would be something related to diet. Human sweat contains, among other things, ammonia and chlorides. The chlorides are what cause the bleaching. Chlorine compounds are present in bleach and salt (and IIRC, one of the by-products created as chlorine bleach breaks down is salt water).
Whenever I work outside, like mowing the lawn or whatever, I usually wear an old T-shirt. When I sweat, I’ll just grab the front of my shirt and wipe my face. On all my colored work shirts, there are bleached finger marks from my sweat.
Maybe a decrease in salt intake would help. You might want to try not adding salt to your food for a week or so, and see if it helps.
[FONT=“Book Antiqua”]I too purchase my work shirts from Eddie Bauer and they are all faded around the neckline. It is enormously frustrating for me since I can’t afford to buy new work shirts constantly for the price they sell them at. And, for me also, it depends on the color of the shirt. I have some that are just terrible and some that have endured. That is interesting what somebody said about lowering your salt intake. I salt nothing. I figure there is enough sodium in the food I eat that salt is hardly needed. I certainly don’t miss it! I drink mostly water and tea and I eat very little junk food. The fabric softener factor is also interesting… I use Tide detergent and Bounce sheets for the dryer. I’ve used this combo for as long as I can remember. My boyfriends clothes are perfect. He sweats like an animal when he’s working outside and his shirts are just fine. It’s so unfair. lol sigh :([/FONT]
The thread you have replied to dates back to 2001, and since the original participants of the thread are no longer active here (for over a decade), I am going to close this. If anyone has an interest in the topic, feel free to start a new thread.
We tend to refer to old threads that have been raised like this as zombies. While we do allow zombies here, we ask that you only raise old threads if you have something new or significant to contribute to the thread.
Also, most people on this board find the use of larger or alternative fonts to be rather annoying. There’s no rule against alternative fonts here, but until you get a feel for the culture here it is probably best to stick to the default font for posts.
