Deodorant seems to start to yellow the armpits of my white shirts after a few wearings/washings. Not too serious when it’s a t-shirt but when it’s a $60 dress shirt - it’s not good. My cleaner says there is absolutely nothing they can do. In fact he says bleach can make it worse. I wrote to the deodorant company (one of the major ones that say they don’t stain) and they replied that “everyone’s body chemistry is different.” Gee thanks. I would like to wear white dress shirt a few days a week. I would also like to smell good on those days. This question has come up occasionally in magazines and the usually have no real concrete answer. Can this be helped or not?
Switch brands. I had one brand of deodorant create green pit stains; switching was the cure.
The stains are probably caused by your sweat, not your deodorant, because such stains were a common bane of housewives before deodorants/antiperspirants came into use. According to my grandma’s 1932 bood, “2002 Household Helps”, you should wash the shirts with blueing. If that’s not available (where the hell would you get it?) add a few slices of lemon to the boiler in which you boil your clothes. Ha ha! I love this stuff!
I would suggest treating the stains with diluted lemon juice and baking soda, then wash in cold water until you’re sure the stain is gone. Once you wash in hot water, the stain will be set and difficult or impossible to remove. Also, try different brands of deodorants; another kind might work better with your body chemistry.
That’s 1932 book, not bood. :rolleyes:
Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing is still available in many grocery stores. It does a wonderful job of making whites look “whiter”, but isn’t recommended as a stain remover.
Depending on whether the stains are caused by perspiration or deoderant, Mrs. Stewart’s handy dandy washing guide recommends:
Deodorants
Rub detergent into dampened stain. Launder using bleach safe for fabric in hottest water safe for fabric. Antiperspirants that contain such substances as aluminum chloride are acidic and may change the color of some dyes. Color may or may not be restored by sponging with ammonia (for colorfast fabric). If ammonia treatment is required, dilute with an equal amount of water for use on wool, mohair, or silk. Rinse thoroughly, then launder.
Perspiration
Sponge with equal parts of ammonia and water and then equal parts of vinegar and water. Rub with detergent, then launder using bleach safe for fabric in hottest water safe for fabric. If color is affected by perspiration, sponge fresh stain with ammonia, old stain with vinegar. Wash in hot suds. Soak in diluted chlorine bleach (if safe for fabric) or rub with oxygen bleach paste (if safe for fabric). Or, dip in a sodium hydrosulphite solution (1 tsp. crystals to 1 C. water). Rinse thoroughly, then launder.
Lemon juice or baking soda might work, but don’t use both together. If you do, they’ll neutralize each other, and you’ll get a lot of fizz and no cleaning power. Also, don’t mix bleach with any sort of base (such as ammonia or baking soda). Not only will it not work on the stains, but you might end up killing yourself.
Boy, this must be a hot summer in some spots, this is about the 3rd or 4th thread in the last 2 months on this topic. But around here in Iowa, it got down to 38 degrees last week, and it’s still rather chilly.
Anyway, try bluing. It’s an old laundry product, some places still carry it. It doesn’t bleach, it “blues” your shirts. Use only on white shirts. Should take care of the stains. if bluing doesn’t work, the shirt is ruined.
To prevent the stains from setting, always wash white shirts promptly. Don’t let dirty sweaty shirts sit around for a week in the laundry basket. And remember that white shirts are supposed to be expendable, a good white cotton dress shirt is only intended to last about 25 or 30 washings before it gets messed up.
Blueing is still available?!? I must get me some.
I’d take with a grain of salt anything I quote from that old book; it also recommends this:
“Home dry cleaning may be accomplished in the home laundry by means of utilizing the family washing machine, a pair of rubber gloves, a few gallons of gasoline and benzine soap. Brush the garments to be cleaned thoroughly with a stiff brush; go over the soiled places with a brush dipped in a solution of gasoline and benzine soap; plunge the garments in the washing machine filled with enough gasoline and soap solution to cover them, using one pound of soap to four gallons of gasoline; wash thoroughly in the solution; rinse in pure gasoline and then in clear water. Fold the garments in clean towels and wring out. Place them on hangers in the open air to dry. This dry cleaning process, in the case of ties, scarfs[sic], lace or delicate frocks, may be used without danger of tearing the materials when they are placed in the machine in a pillow slip.”
As a side note, I was reading an old reprint of the local (Texas panhandle) paper recently that described the horrible burning death in 1905 of a young woman who was using this method to wash her clothes.
My favorite “household help”: “If you wish to know if your telephone has rung during your absence, put a piece of paper and a piece of carbon paper between the clapper and the bell. A mark will be made on the paper if the bell has rung.”
I apologize for the hijack; I just had to share that.
Napisan works for us - it’s a soaker especially formulated for nappies, and it never fails to shift both the stains and the smell. Safe to use on colours too (though not on all types of fabric).
Oh man!! You shouldn’t repeat instructions like that even in jest!! The thought of someone putting a couple of gallons of gasoline in their washer, that is just begging for trouble. Gasoline plus soap plus an electric indoor appliance equals disaster. You should NEVER use gasoline as a cleaning agent, it is a really REALLY BAD idea. And there are plenty of people dumb enough to actually try it.
Anyway, blueing is still available. I’ve seen it on the grocery store shelves, it can’t be that hard to find. I still remember my mother using blueing on my dad’s dress shirts. I don’t use it myself, but then, I don’t have any problems with stains. My way to avoid sweat stains: don’t sweat.
Wouldn’t wearing an undershirt, well, under your dress shirt solve this? Neither your sweat or your deodorant (whichever is the staining culprit) is likely to soak through an undershirt. Seems easier than dicking around with 22 different types of cleaning products.
I don’t mean to hijack this thread, but it seems there are several posters well-versed in laundry and my previous post on this subject had less than satisfactory results.
My shirts bleach around the collar from my sweat or oil. If I wipe my forehead with my sleeve it bleaches. Blue collared shirts typically turn pink and other colored shirts bleach to yellow or pink. Yellow or pink shirts turn white. Something in my chemistry bleaches my dress shirts around the collar. Imaginably it’s expensive. I’ve tried putting deodorant on my neck to no avail. Any suggestions?
DMC - What does Mrs. Stewarts’ Handy Dandy Washing Guide say for this, if anything?
Umm, Mrs. Stewarts says that you should see a doctor. Sweating chlorine can’t be good for you, although if you have a neighbor with a pool, you could save them a bit of money on chemicals. 
Seriously, I understand I’m not really supposed to be linking to products (even though I am in no way affiliated with the Mrs.), but you should be able to find the web site quite easily. Has lots of neat little links, including how to make the ultra-hip crystal garden, and a ton of other uses for the stuff.
Soap and gasoline…; isn’t that how you make napalm?
Are you by any chance using an acne medicine or any other sort of cream or whatnot on your face? Back in my teen years I used to have trouble with my T-shirts getting ruined because the collars turned different colors when I would sweat. I soon discovered that it seemed to be related to my use of Noxzema cream, and when I stopped using it, the problem went away.
I wash engine parts in gasoline sometimes if they’ve got ALOT of grease on them. Then I dump it in the (gravel) driveway and light it on fire.
It’s fun.
–Tim
I would have second Jess’s suggestion. It’s a lot easier to buy a $2 undershirt than trying all of the above suggestions.
They actually make cleaning solvents for this task, stuff that can be recycled and reused. You’re destroying the environment. But I won’t worry too much, I expect to be nominating you for a Darwin Award soon.
Chas.E:
That’s why I included the true story about the chick who killed herself with this laundry method. Anyone dumb enough to put gasoline in their washer is probably not destined to live long.
Well, I saw that but I still put in a warning, in case people think that technology today is better than 1905 and somehow it is now safe to do this stupid thing.