http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/CommentingController/rss/SiteTree/11805 CommentingController/rss/SiteTree/11805 http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/bleach-stains-your-questions/#comment-777 I use Clorox bleach because it really works great on whites. It brightens and removes stains but the smell gags me! How do I use bleach and not have such a strong bleach odor after the clothes are washed? I tried adding Baking Soda to the wash and it didn't help. Using less bleach was less effective too. Is there any product I can add or any laundry trick anyone can suggest other than re-washing again with just soap. Then it's 2 wash cycles for one load. Too much. Fri, 24 May 2013 15:56:25 -0700 Brian Medoro http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/bleach-stains-your-questions/#comment-777 http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/bleach-stains-your-questions/#comment-778 It would help to know what type of washer you have. If you have the option to select an extra rinse cycle, it works well to eliminate bleach odor, especially on traditional deep-fill washers that don’t rinse as effectively as tumble washers. If you don’t have this option, you may be able to run an extra rinse manually by turning the dial back to repeat a rinse cycle. If you have digital controls, select and re-run a rinse cycle at the end. Something else to consider is whether or not your bleach dispenser is functioning properly. If it is not, and adds the bleach too late in the cycle, this would explain why the smell is so strong. However, if it is simply high sensitivity to the bleach fragrance, then try our fragranced sodium hypochlorite bleaches: Lemon Fresh, Clean Linen, and Fresh Meadow. These scented bleach products are great for people who don’t care for the traditional bleach smell. Fri, 24 May 2013 15:56:25 -0700 Dr. Laundry http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/bleach-stains-your-questions/#comment-778 http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/bleach-stains-your-questions/#comment-779 I am needing to repair yellowed bleach stains in white cotton aprons and towels. I am guessing they happened because of too large loads washed at a time and, therefore, incomplete rinsing and diluting of the bleach. Is there any way to remove the resulting yellow spots? Fri, 24 May 2013 15:56:25 -0700 Claudene Little http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/bleach-stains-your-questions/#comment-779 http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/bleach-stains-your-questions/#comment-780 Yellow bleach stains are usually caused when undiluted bleach gets onto fabric (which we never recommend). However, if you used your clothes washer’s bleach dispenser to add the bleach, regardless of the load size or how efficiently the load was rinsed, I’m not sure using bleach caused the stains. Another possibility is that the yellow stains are from food oil that wasn’t completely removed, which would make sense on an apron or a kitchen towel. Hopefully this is the case, and you can try pre-treating the stains directly with a little liquid dishwashing detergent to help break up the oil. Apply a little to the stain, wait for 10 minutes (don’t let it dry on the fabric!) and then wash in hot water with a good detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach. Air dry the items—hopefully the stains will be gone, but if they have lightened up a little (likely if the oil stain was heavy) than you can repeat the treatment. However, if this doesn’t take care of the stains, then they probably were caused by contact with undiluted bleach, which unfortunately can’t be reversed.” Fri, 24 May 2013 15:56:25 -0700 Dr. Laundry http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/bleach-stains-your-questions/#comment-780