# Red shirt turned my whites pink! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086 "2008-08-15T12:37:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/1 "2008-08-15T12:37:04Z")
I’m stupid. In doing some wash the other night, I committed the sin of washing a boys red t-shirt with some white t-shirts. I know, I know… The _really_ bad thing was, unknowst to me, the red shirt was new and had not been washed. So, now I have 4 pink t-shirts. Question: What method have you found most effective in turning them white again? Gone until this evening. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/2 "2008-08-15T12:40:45Z")
Bleach might work. There’s also a product called “Dye Remover” in the laundry aisle. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/3 "2008-08-15T13:20:41Z")
You could always sell them to the Arizona penitentiary system. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/4 "2008-08-15T13:26:48Z")
I though this was a thread about **Der Trihs** and how he was making you shit blood or something. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/5 "2008-08-15T13:51:07Z")
I did this a few years ago. There is a product in the laundry aisle that worked for me (but I can’t recall the name.) It is made by the same people who make dye. (Rit?) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/6 "2008-08-15T14:25:42Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] I though this was a thread about **Der Trihs** and how he was making you shit blood or something. [/QUOTE] Another one? To the OP, perhaps the easiest (if not the cheapest) way… discard the 4 pink T-shirts, buy 4 white T-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/7 "2008-08-15T14:33:55Z")
I’ve tried bleach. It helps, but it’s never “white” white again. If it’s underwear or socks, I muddle through. But when it’s a good blouse…DAMN IT! I HATE when that happens! ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/8 "2008-08-15T14:44:50Z")
Yeah, I’ve tried that dye remover when I sent a load of whites blue, but it just sort of made them a faded grey which I ended up chucking anyway, sorry to sound hopeless. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/9 "2008-08-15T15:21:18Z")
Just buy a darker color and dye them again. For the price of a box of Rit dye and a bucket of water, you could have four dark-blue t-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/10 "2008-08-15T15:53:21Z")
If I had done something as dumb I would not have told the world. That will not get your clothes back to their original colour of course. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/11 "2008-08-15T16:26:23Z")
Whatever you do, don’t wear the pink shirts! [This is what got Homer Simpson sent to a mental institution](http://www.tv.com/the-simpsons/stark-raving-dad/episode/1321/recap.html). ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/12 "2008-08-15T17:22:24Z")
This is one of the reasons I always, always, always wash my new clothes before wearing them. I think that I’d try dying the shirts orange or red, or using them as tie-dye projects. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/13 "2008-08-15T18:18:07Z")
Just wear 'em and say you’re supporting Breast Cancer research. 😃 Or dye them other colours - they’re not getting back to white. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/14 "2008-08-15T18:19:18Z")
Kill him. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/15 "2008-08-15T19:12:23Z")
Obligatory Crystal Gayle reference. ---
**Author:** ![AngryIrishLass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bbce88/32.png) [@AngryIrishLass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngryIrishLass)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/16 "2008-08-15T19:19:12Z")
I’ll vote for bleach first, and if that doesn’t work, then either dye them or make them play/jammie shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/17 "2008-08-16T01:24:49Z")
If it’s any consolation, red-shirts never survive for long. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/18 "2008-08-16T02:47:58Z")
I swear I do this at least once a year and I don’t get how I manage this. It’s good to know that Moderators are not perfect. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/19 "2008-08-16T03:19:30Z")
[QUOTE=Lynn Bodoni] This is one of the reasons I always, always, always wash my new clothes before wearing them. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I always do. Except this time was an emergency wash and my kid was asleep and I didn’t want to wake him to ask. Thx for all the answers. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-shirt-turned-my-whites-pink/460086/20 "2008-08-16T03:20:18Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Obligatory Crystal Gayle reference. [/QUOTE] Nice.