# How to remove deodorant's waxy buildup from shirts? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738 "2006-08-14T23:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/1 "2006-08-14T23:16:04Z")
The subject line pretty much says it all. That, and I’m again switching deodorants. What techniques and/or products do you use to remove the waxy buildup from a shirt? It’s been through the wash a few times, so it’s not like a quick shot of Shout will do the trick (I tried.) Or should I just buy all-new shirts as more than website has suggested? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/2 "2006-08-14T23:18:46Z")
Man, I have ruined dozens of T-shirt armpits with hardened deodorant stains over the years. I have no idea how to clean or remove them, but at least it’s not just you. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/3 "2006-08-14T23:22:40Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Man, I have ruined dozens of T-shirt armpits with hardened deodorant stains over the years. I have no idea how to clean or remove them, but at least it’s not just you. [/QUOTE] Congratulations Lou! You now have what we call a “redneck lawn-mowin’ shirt.” Just cut the sleeves off with a pair of Fiskars scissors, eliminating all portions of stiff fabric. These are particularly great shirts if they have some sort of logo on them: a brand of beer, Lynyrd Skynyrd, an automotive logo, you get the idea. I switched to a gel deo and the underarm shirt plaque has diminished considerably. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/4 "2006-08-14T23:31:06Z")
I have to say, one of the hottest commercials out there is the one encouraging all these quite attractive ladies to wear their shirts inside out to demonstrate the no-residue deodorant. No, you never “see” anything (just the before/after), but it’s still an incredibly sexy ad. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/5 "2006-08-14T23:48:58Z")
Sadly, the anti-perspirant in question is not all it’s cracked up to be. **Subway Prophet** , I wish I had good news for you, but I’m pretty sure your shirts are headed for the rag bin. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/6 "2006-08-15T00:27:28Z")
Don’t use deodorant with wax. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/7 "2006-08-15T00:39:54Z")
Hey, I thought of something. I once saw my mother-in-law soak a rag in ammonia and put it on burnt-on grease in the oven. She said after it soaked for a while, it would come off easily. (Don’t ask me-- I’ve got a self-cleaning oven.) What about doing the same thing with these shirts? Soak the 'pit area and let it sit for a while, then wash as normal. Maybe it’d work. If not, ammonia’s cheap and it won’t hurt your washing machine or anything like that. Might be worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/8 "2006-08-15T03:56:18Z")
Lick it. Not only can it get rid of the buildup, it tastes so good! …and so salty! ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/9 "2006-08-15T04:50:59Z")
I’d think that dry cleaning would remove a wax buildup. Sure, it would cost a bit, but it would probably only need to be done once or twice in the life of the shift. ---
**Author:** ![MaceMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@MaceMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaceMan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/10 "2006-08-15T04:52:01Z")
If you try **Lissa**'s ammonia method, just make sure you don’t have any bleach around! ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/11 "2006-08-15T11:22:51Z")
[QUOTE=cornflakes] I’d think that dry cleaning would remove a wax buildup. Sure, it would cost a bit, but it would probably only need to be done once or twice in the life of the shift. [/QUOTE] But a new tee shirt costs less than dry cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/12 "2006-08-15T11:45:47Z")
Thanks to everyone who’s posted so far. I think I’ll try the ammonia trick on a couple of shirts. Some of the others may go to the dry cleaner’s too, since I really don’t want to replace them. (My typical T-shirt costs about $8-12 - not exactly cheaper to buy a new shirt rather than take them to a $1.25 dry cleaner’s.) I’d be using a gel deodorant, but I haven’t been able to find any non-antipersperant gel deodorants since I moved to Fort Worth. There’s plenty of non-antipersperant deodorants available here, just not in gel. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/13 "2006-08-15T13:05:59Z")
I must be living wrong…I have never ever had any deodorant build-up on any piece of clothing I have owned, or my children, or the ex-husband…and we use deodorant every day. What are you people doing differently? I use a solid stick…Dove, to be precise, and the boy uses Old Spice Active…we’ve always used sticks, no problems ever. ---
**Author:** ![Mame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@Mame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mame)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/14 "2006-08-15T13:21:29Z")
We used to have this problem with my husband’s shirts. It wasn’t just the deodorant, 'cos we used the same one. And in an Australian summer I sweat, sorry, “glow” like anything. But my shirts were OK - his had (sorry about this) encrusted stains. Solution: 1 - soak affected shirts with Nappy-San every 5th wash or so. Nappy-San is an oxygen, rather than a chlorine, bleach. It was developed for sanitising nappies hence the name (trans to American - soaking and disinfecting diapers, but Diaper-SAD doesn’t have that marketing ring to it 🙂 ). It shouldn’t affect the colour, but as ever you should spot check first. 2 - switch from poly-cotton to cotton shirts - less build-up. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/15 "2006-08-15T13:26:58Z")
Try boiling the shirts in plain water, I have had success with this method. **kittenblue** : Some people get build up and some people don’t. I have no idea why. My husband gets no build up my son and I do. The one difference in our situation is that my husband hardly sweats ever. I actually get a waxy coating on my skin that won’t wash off. I had to not wear antiperspirant for 10 days and it was 4 days until I sweated in that area. I switched to spray and don’t have a problem any more. ---
**Author:** ![jainsafel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@jainsafel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jainsafel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/16 "2006-08-15T13:27:48Z")
I just ran into this problem, as it happens. Now, in my case it was white residue on black T-shirts, so YMMV and all that, but the following worked like a charm for me: Basically, just soak them in white vinegar overnight, then wash as normal. Easy-peasy! …It’s a good thing it worked too, 'cause most of my wardrobe is black t-shirts, and the residue was on practically all of them. Ah, the joys of being a quasi-sorta-gothy-type-person! ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/17 "2006-08-15T13:38:39Z")
Oooh, I got plenty of white vinegar and a couple of shirts I can experiment with. Thanks, **jainsafel**! ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/18 "2006-08-15T16:12:06Z")
Deodorant? What’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-remove-deodorants-waxy-buildup-from-shirts/368738/19 "2006-08-15T22:21:34Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] Deodorant? What’s that? [/QUOTE] It’s why you can’t get a date. (I kid, I kid!)