How much bleach should be used to whiten handkerchiefs and how long should I soak them?

A great bleach soaking solution for white bleachable laundry is ¼ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water (or if you are using new Concentrated Clorox^® Regular-Bleach, use 3 tablespoons bleach per gallon of water). Fully submerge the items (in your case, handkerchiefs) in the bleach solution for up to 5 minutes, and then rinse. You can then follow up with a hot water machine wash using detergent and Clorox Regular-Bleach. Also, you didn't specify the fiber content of your handkerchiefs--I'm assuming they are cotton or poly/cotton and that you can bleach them, but I also wanted to clarify that you should avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, and spandex. I would hate to find out you were asking about silk handkerchiefs, which per the above list you can't bleach!

My son’s sheets were the unfortunate victim of the stomach flu. How can I remove the vomit?

Sorry to hear about your son! I hope he gets better quickly. As for the sheets, you will want to get vomit stains out as soon as possible! Immediately scrape off the excess, and thoroughly rinse the affected area with cold water

FROM HERE, IF YOUR STAINED ITEM IS WHITE:

1. Wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox^® Regular- Bleach.


2. Air dry the item and check to make sure the stain is completely removed. If stain remains, repeat steps above.

1. Wash immediately in the warmest water recommended on the care label using detergent and Clorox 2^® Stain Fighter & Color Booster.


2. Air dry the item and check to make sure the stain is completely removed. If stain remains, repeat steps above.

My children got some chocolate candy from their Halloween loot all over some colored clothing. How should I treat this?

Chocolate stains are difficult to remove because they contain so many different components. There can be fats and dairy, as well as fine cocoa particles. Treating these combination stains with several treatment steps is a good way to successfully get rid of the stain.

1. Begin by scraping off any hardened chocolate if possible.


2. Pre-treat the stain with the new Clorox2^® Stain Fighter Gel Pen (you could also use a good liquid laundry detergent that contains enzymes), apply a little of the gel directly to the stain and gently work it in. Wait 10 minutes, so the enzymes and surfactants can begin breaking up the protein part of the stain and solubilize any fats, then rinse the stain with a little cool water.


3. Next apply Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster directly to the stain. Rub it in and wait 5 minutes, then wash with detergent + Clorox2^® in the hottest water recommended on the care label.


4. Air dry the items! This is important so you don't heat-set a stubborn stain, so you can re-treat if necessary.

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, the East Coast is really taking a beating from the weather, making this an important time to review how to use Clorox^® Regular-Bleach (and New Concentrated Clorox^® Regular-Bleach) for emergency disinfection of drinking water.  It’s not always practical in an emergency situation to boil water for 1 minute to make it safe to drink (especially if you are one of the 5 million people without any power right now, or the 1.5 million people who have been evacuated).  Here are some things to remember when treating water with Clorox^® Regular-Bleach:

• Prior to addition of the bleach, it’s important to remove all suspended material from collected water by letting it settle to the bottom or by filtration.  This means that after you collect some water that hasn’t been treated, you need to let it sit long enough to let any debris settle to the bottom of the container.


• Next, decant the clarified contaminated water into a clean container, then add the bleach.  Use the table below to determine how much bleach to add—it depends on how much water you are treating.


• Allow the treated water to stand for 30 minutes.  Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor.


• If there’s no chlorine odor, then you need to repeat the treatment.  Just add the same amount of bleach, and wait for another 15 minutes.  Check again for the chlorine odor before drinking the water.

• ONLY use Clorox^® Regular-Bleach or new Concentrated^® Clorox Regular-Bleach.  DO NOT use the Scented bleaches, High Efficiency bleach Splash-Less bleach, Ultimate Care bleach, or the Bleach Pen.


• Use bleach that was purchased in the last 4 months.


• If the water you want to treat is cloudy and you can’t decant or filter it, add twice the amount of bleach recommended above.


• Check with your water service provider to confirm that your tap water is safe to drink.


• If you stocked up on bottled water, save the empty bottles!!  You can use some of them to collect untreated water, and others to store the water you treat.

How do you get sticky candy out of clothes?

Happy Halloween! This is the one downside to trick-or-treating – plenty of sticky candy laundry. You didn’t say what type of sticky candy, but I’m guessing it is chewing gum. For that, you can use ice cubes to freeze the gum and then gently scrape away the hardened chunks. Just put the ice directly onto the gum—the ice will melt as you hold it on the gum so plan on using multiple ice cubes—enough to harden the gum. If you can’t scrape all of it away, then pretreat what is left with a little DeSolvIt or Goo Gone, which you can find at hardware stores. You should first test these solvents for colorfastness (apply a drop to a hidden part of the garment, rinse, and blot dry) to be sure the products are safe for the fabric. If there is no color change, spray or rub a little onto the gum and then wash with detergent in the hottest water allowed (check the care label). Allow to air dry and then check for success.  You can also use ice to jumpstart removal of other sticky candies such as tootsie rolls, lollipops, and salt water taffy.  Any remaining stain can be pretreated with liquid Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster before washing in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and more Clorox2^®.  Hopefully this is helpful—please let me know if you have any other questions, and thank you for writing!

How do I remove a pumpkin pie stain from my clothing?

Pumpkin pie is a holiday favorite, but this stain has lots of dairy products and sugars, which complicate the removal process. The first step is to quickly scrape away any excess stain and rinse in cool water.

FROM HERE, IF YOUR STAINED ITEM IS WHITE:

1. Rub stain gently with Clorox^® Bleach Pen^® Gel immediately before laundering.


2. Wash immediately in warm or hot water using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach.


3. Air dry the item and check to make sure the stain is completely removed. If stain remains, repeat steps above.

1. Again, quickly scrape away any excess stain and rinse in cool water


2. Then apply Liquid Clorox^® 2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster directly to the stain and rub in. Wait 3-5 minutes, then wash in the hottest water recommended using a good enzyme detergent and Clorox^® 2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster


3. Air dry the item and check to make sure the stain is completely removed. If stain remains, repeat steps above.

Can using Clorox^® Washing Machine Cleaner affect my septic system?

I have good news for you: Clorox^® Washing Machine Cleaner can be safely used to clean clothes washers that drain into septic systems--septic tank operation is not affected by regular home use of the product. Additionally, when used as directed, Clorox^® Regular-Bleach is safe for use in septic systems. The bleach breaks down rapidly to mostly salt and water.  Please let me know if you have any other questions, and thanks again for writing!

My white knit shirt had stains on it AFTER washing that were not there before going through my machine. What could cause this?

There are several possible causes of stains that appear after washing—I can’t say for sure without knowing more about your situation, but here are some things for you to consider as you try to pinpoint the problem.

1.  Dye Transfer. If you had a dark or colored item in the same load as your white shirt, some of the color could have transferred onto the shirt. This is more likely if the dark item is newer, or if the laundry stayed in the washer for an extended time following the spin cycle—a damp dark item squeezed against a damp white item can transfer its color more easily, especially if given enough time. White bleachable items can usually be restored with a bleach soak:  add ¼ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach to 1 gallon of water and fully submerge the item for up to 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly and allow to air dry.

2.  Rust. This can happen in older washers when the enamel coating on metal machine parts has deteriorated. If rust spots develop on the machine in areas that collect moisture, then any water dripping onto the clothes can carry a little rust with it, and you’ll see brownish red stains after washing. These stains can often be removed with a little rust remover (usually available at the hardware store), just be sure to follow the package instructions, including wearing gloves. And it’s probably time to get a new washer!

3.  Undiluted bleach contact. You didn’t say if you used bleach or not, but applying bleach full strength to fabric (which we never recommend) can cause yellowing that is unfortunately irreversible.

4.  Worn out dryer seal. It sounded like you were asking about stains you found on an item before it had gone into the dryer, but if you noticed the stains on the shirt after being tumble dried (and they were fine coming out of the washer), it could be that the rubber seal inside the dryer is wearing out. As that happens, grayish brown stains get rubbed onto your laundry. The good news is that these stains usually come out by pretreating the stains with a little liquid laundry detergent and then rewashing. If this is the case, it’s likely time to replace the dryer.

Hopefully this information will help you figure out what’s causing the stains.

My son bought two new white shirts and assumed he could use bleach. They are now yellow. What can he do?

Let me guess--the shirts are cotton, but also contain a small amount of spandex. Or maybe they are polyester sport shirts that also include spandex. Unfortunately spandex will yellow when laundered with any product that includes sodium hypochlorite (the bleach active in Clorox^® Regular-Bleach), and now your son has first-hand experience with why spandex is on the "avoid bleaching" list, along with wool, silk, leather, and mohair.  I wish I had better news for you, but the color shift is permanent. I think it's terrific that your son is doing his own laundry, and that he uses bleach for his whites--now he has a very good reason to incorporate checking care labels to into his laundry routine. Thanks for writing, and I'm sorry I couldn't have been more helpful.

How do I treat stains from popcorn oil?

For popcorn oil stains, you can pre-treat with Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster or a small amount of liquid dish washing detergent (like Dawn). Apply it directly to the stain, rub it in and then wait 3-5 minutes. Then, if the stained item is white, wash in the hottest water recommended on the item’s care label with detergent + ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach. If the item is colored, wash with detergent and more Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster. Air-dry so you can check for success, and repeat if any oil remains.