Q:  What should I use to clean mildew from the cushions on our porch chaise lounge. The cushions are made of heavy duty cloth.

A:  I can recommend a bleach solution, but in addition to removing the mildew it could also alter the color of the cushions depending on the fabric.  The best thing to do is a quick bleach-ability test:  add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach to 1/4 cup water and apply a drop of this solution to a less visible part of the cushion.  Wait 1 minute and then blot dry. No color change means you can safely bleach the cushion, and I would proceed as follows:

1.  For a removable cushion cover:  take off the cover and zip it closed.  If the mildew is severe, let the cover soak in a solution of 1/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water for 5 minutes, making sure it is fully submerged.  Wash in hot water using detergent plus 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Do not place the cover in your dryer. If after washing you have made some progress, then repeat the treatment.  When washing is complete, you will need to put the cover back onto the cushion before it dries, otherwise the cover may not fit! 

2.  For a non-removable cushion cover that has a water-repellant finish:  working outside, wipe the cushion down with a bleach solution of 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water. Reapply the bleach solution as necessary to keep it wet for 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly using a garden hose.  Be sure to also water any plants near the area you are working before and after you wash the cushions.  Let the cushions air dry in a warm, dry place.

3.  For a non-removable cushion that easily absorbs water:  take it to a launder-mat that has extra-large washers that can handle a bulky item.  Assuming the cushion fabric passed the bleach test, wash the cushion in hot water using detergent + 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Repeat the treatment if the mildew is severe and do not place the cushions in the dryer.

If the fabric is not bleachable, it will be more difficult to remove the mildew since the best mold and mildew removers contain sodium hypochlorite (like Clorox® Regular-Bleach).  You could try several washes in hot water using an oxygen bleach (like Clorox2®) and letting the cushions air dry in the sun. 

Anyone else have mildew on their outdoor furniture?

Q:  How do you whiten cotton/polyester blends?

A:  Cotton/polyester blend white fabrics can be safely washed with Clorox® Regular-Bleach on an on-going basis.  Always wash whites in hot water - or the hottest water recommended on a care label.  It's also important to use enough bleach:  3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach for normal size loads, and up to 1 1/4 cups for extra-large or heavily soiled loads.  In a standard washer, delay bleach addition for best results by diluting 3/4 cup bleach in 1 quart of water and adding it to the clothes washer 5 minutes after the wash cycle has begun.  If you have a HE washer, with a small-capacity bleach dispenser, consider washing two smaller loads if you have heavily soiled laundry.

For extra whitening or heavily stained items, use a bleach soaking solution of 1/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water.  Fully submerge the item for 5 minutes, then rinse.  Finish by washing the item in hot water, using detergent + 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

Readers, have you bleached anything recently?

Q:  How can I fix white bleach stains on my white NBA jersey?

A:  It’s good news that your stains and jersey are both white—it sounds like the stains are actually places on the jersey that ended up cleaner than the surrounding fabric.  This often happens when someone has a white item that is not bleached regularly, and then gets a stain that is pretreated with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel.  The problem is the “white” shirt actually has a level of soil that has built up over time that the gel removes, in addition to the stain, producing a “white” stain.  Luckily, you should be able to catch the rest of the shirt up to the cleaner spots by using a bleach soaking solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water.  Fully submerge the shirt for 5 minutes, and then wash the jersey in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent + ¾ cup bleach.

Something else to consider is if the jersey includes a team logo of some sort.  If it's a screen print, then the bleach soak and follow-up wash should still be OK, but if it's embroidered or appliqued, then you should use Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster (1 scoop or capful per 2 gallons warm water for your bleach soaking solution and let it soak overnight.  Follow up with a hot water wash using detergent + more Clorox2®).  Hopefully this is helpful!

How do you clean your favorite jersey?

Q:  I was told that if you use diluted Clorox® Regular-Bleach it will help fungal infections go away.  Is this true?

A:  Clorox® Regular-Bleach is NOT recommended for personal hygiene of any kind--consumers should always avoid direct skin and eye contact with both undiluted bleach, as well as the various bleach solutions we recommend for household cleaning and laundry.  Perhaps the person who made the recommendation is familiar with the instructions for using bleach for emergency treatment of drinking water.  That’s an entirely different situation.  For that, the bleach to water ratio is 1/8 teaspoon bleach per gallon of clear water, and the treated water has to stand for 30 minutes before drinking. During this time, the bleach kills any bacteria in the water before breaking down into salt and water.  While this solution is safe to drink, using a bleach and water solution to kill a fungal infection on a person’s skin is not approved by the EPA and should not be done.  I would check your pharmacy for a good anti-fungal product.

Q:  Is your Clorox® Scented Bleach, Clean Linen, color safe?

A:  All of the Clorox® Scented Bleaches contain sodium hypochlorite, the same active that’s in the regular bleach. Therefore, they are not considered “color safe for all washable fabrics.”  However, many colored items actually can be safely bleached with sodium hypochlorite, and you can quickly check with a simple bleachability test: add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach (or the Clean Linen scented bleach) to ¼ cup water; apply a drop to a hidden part of the garment like a hem or inside seam; wait 1 minute then blot with a towel. No color change means it is safe to bleach the item.  What passes the bleachability test is primarily dependent on what type of dye was used and how it was applied.  Also, with regular and scented bleaches, you should always avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather and spandex. 

Does anyone have a favorite scented bleach?

Q:  Does the disinfecting action of bleach deactivate in water above 77°F?

A:  This is a great question!  The bleach active in Clorox® Regular-Bleach is sodium hypochlorite, and it does not “deactivate” in water above 77°F.  However, a higher water temperature does increase the rate that the bleach degrades into salt and water.   This break down is natural, and is part of what makes bleach so environmentally friendly.  It is also why bleach solutions for disinfecting need to be mixed freshly each day.  Keeping the solution away from sunlight will also slow the decomposition, and using a water source that doesn’t contain metals or high water hardness will also help.  Using room temperature water is OK, even if the incoming ambient water temperature is greater than 77°F.  It’s also important to follow the label instructions—in general disinfecting bleach solutions for hard, non-porous surfaces should be ¾ cup bleach per gallon of water.  The bleach solution needs to be applied to the surface for 5 minutes to be disinfected, and then rinsed and allowed to air dry.

Q:  How would I go about whitening washcloths that were grayed by liquid body wash soap?  I have washed these cloths several times in my (HE) washer using normal laundry detergent and have had no success in getting the washcloths back to white.

A:  There are some factors that affect cleaning, and changing your laundering habits may yield better results.  Here are some suggestions;

Detergent choice:  Make sure you are using an HE detergent — better ones contain brighteners and enzymes in addition to surfactants and builders — that is specially formulated for your washer.  Review the ingredient list, since better detergents often list the purpose of the ingredients.  A good detergent will also help bleach perform better!

Use the correct amount of detergent:  Underusing detergent will result in poor performance, especially if you wash heavily soiled items or extra-large loads.

Choose a “hot” wash temperature:  The higher the wash temperature, the better the cleaning.

Don’t overload the washer:  Clothes need to circulate/tumble freely through the wash water for optimum cleaning.  It’s better to divide up a large, heavily soiled load into two smaller loads.

Use the correct amount of bleach:  That’s ¾ cup for a regular load, and 1 ¼ cup for an extra-large or heavily soiled load.  If your clothes washer has a bleach dispenser that limits the amount of bleach you can add, experiment with smaller loads, and fill the dispenser to the “max fill” line.

All this will help your results over time so you don’t have a buildup of incomplete soil removal.  For the washcloths you have now, pre-soaking them in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water will help whiten them.  Fully submerge the washcloths for 5 minutes, and then drain the soaking solution.  Follow up with a hot water wash using detergent and ¾ cup bleach (or fill the dispenser to the max fill line).

How many readers have HE washers versus a standard washer?