I made the mistake of putting my son’s wet sweatshirt into a plastic bag and forgetting about it until today (a week later). :eek: Much to my chagrin, there was actual mold growing on the sweatshirt. There was white, slightly fuzzy stuff, as well as some black spots, before I washed it in cold water. Now only the black spots remain.
I can’t use bleach because it’s a blue top to a matching pair of pants. (All fabric bleach didn’t do it.) I know if I knew enough chemistry, or if I was Martha Stewart, I could figure it out, but I’m not.
Well, the black spots are actually mildew. If you are so lucky as to have a dry, bright sunny day, you can leave it out in full sun to kill it. But, you still need to deal with the mark. Have you tried Shout or similar emzymatic pre-treaters/stain removers? Also, assuming this garment has already been through the wash a number of times, wash it it warm water.
Living on a boat is a constant battle with mildew. In my experience, once you get the black marks of mildew on something, not even bleach will take it out. Most of my sails and sail bags are all marked with mildew…
Well, there is a now a bleach substitute you could try. But being in one of those mold climates myself, I would agree, you can’t do a thing about it. Maybe some black dye?
While in college, I did something similar to an entire laundry basket. While I didn’t find any mold per se, the basket reeked something awful.
I went out and bought Pinesol (generic brand, actually), and according to the label, it was supposed to kill mildew and mold, as well get rid of the stench.
I tried it, and it worked well. Then I washed it again to get rid of the piney scent.