Q:  Will bleach remove sunscreen stains from polyester?

A: I would like to break this question into two:  can you use bleach on polyester, and what's the best way to remove a sunscreen stain.  Polyester fibers can be safely bleached, and usually colored polyester has the colorant applied before the fibers are spun so both colored and white polyester is bleachable. One thing to note:  check the care label to make sure your polyester item does not contain spandex, since this fiber shouldn't be bleached.  In that case, you will need to use Clorox2® plus detergent. 

Regarding the stain, sunscreen has an oily component, and polyester fibers are hydrophobic (meaning water repellant), so they will naturally hold onto the oil.  Breaking up the oily component is the most effective way to remove the stain, and liquid dishwashing detergent is actually one of the best tools to get this process started.  Use it as a pre-treater: apply a little directly to the stain, wait 5 minutes, and then wash in the hottest water recommended on the item's care label using detergent + 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach (to help remove the now less-hydrophobic stain).  Be sure to air dry the item and check for success--a wet or damp garment often hides incomplete removal of an oil based stain, so keeping it out of the dryer is important to avoid heat setting any residual stain.

Q: I have a knitted shirt that has some stains, how long should I let it soak with out damage?

A:  Here’s a quick guide to help:

A pre-soak with Clorox® Regular Bleach:  Use 1/4 cup bleach per gallon of water; fully submerge for 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.  (Note: never use Clorox Regular-Bleach full strength—it should always be diluted first).

Pre-Treat with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel: apply the gel directly to stains on white bleachable items, and then wash immediately with detergent + ¾ cup bleach.

Pre-Treat with Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster (for non-bleachable items): apply a little of the liquid directly to the stain and wait 3-5 minutes before washing.

Pre-Soak with Clorox2®: use either 1 scoop or 1 cap added per 2 gallons of warm water.  Submerge colored items for up to 1 hour, and white items for up to 8 hours.

As a general rule, the sooner you wash something, the easier it will be to get the stain out!

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?

Q:  Will Clorox® Regular-Bleach damage the elastic in my cotton briefs?  After several washes the white cotton starts turning yellow.  How much Clorox should be used in an average white wash?

A:  We’ve looked into the effects of bleach usage on fabric over time and found that even after 50 wash/dry cycles, Clorox® Regular-Bleach does not wear down fabric any more than using detergent alone, when used as directed.  As for the amount of bleach to use, we recommend three addition methods for normally soiled loads in standard washers:

1)       Add ¾ cup bleach (or fill the dispenser to the max fill line if you have a HE washer) using the washer’s bleach dispenser.

2)       Add ¾ cup bleach along with the detergent to the wash water as the machine is filling, before the clothes are added.

3)       Dilute ¾ cup bleach in 1 quart water and add to the wash 5 minutes after the wash cycle has begun.

If the fabric is yellowing, then you are probably using too much bleach.  If it’s just the elastic, then it might have a chlorine retentive component that is yellowing (most elastics can be safely bleached).   Underwear, especially white underwear, should be bleachable to ensure good cleaning and disinfecting.  As long as the yellowing on your briefs is not a permanent shift in the color of the cotton (typical with undiluted or too concentrated bleach contact) you might be able to reverse it with RIT Color Remover, which you can find at drug stores.

Q:  I have an in-ground pool and was told that putting Clorox® Regular-Bleach in the water would help prevent algae during the winter. Is this true, and if so, how much would I need if my pool holds 33,000 gallons of water?

A: There’s a protocol when using Clorox® Regular-Bleach for swimming pool disinfection.  On an ongoing basis, if you super-chlorinate the pool with 100-200 oz. bleach per 10,000 gallons of water, in addition to regular chlorination, algae growth can be prevented. However, it depends on several factors including how much the pool is used, sun exposure, and water quality.  It sounds like from your question you are getting ready to close your pool for the season, and the pool will not be used.  In that case, I would add 5 gallons + 2 ½ cups Clorox® Regular-Bleach to your 33,000 gallon pool.

(Here’s the math, if you are curious:  33,000/10,000 x 200oz. = 660oz/8oz per cup = 82 ½ cups.  80 cups is 5 gallons, so total to add would be 5 gallons + 2 ½ cups)

This treatment can be repeated as needed to keep algae growth under control—I would observe the pool and look for any signs of growth before repeating the treatment.  Also, if you decide to use the pool after super-chlorinating, you should use a pool test kit to confirm that the ppm available chlorine in the pool is 3ppm or less.

Is anyone else getting ready to close their pools for the winter?

Q:  How do I make a neutralizing rinse?

A: This is an interesting question – what do you want to rinse?  In general, the rinse cycle that follows the wash cycle, will effectively neutralize a laundry load with bleach.  However, there are times when people are working on fabric projects where they use bleach for decorative effects!  Under these circumstances, you want to quickly stop the bleaching action from sodium hypochlorite (the active in Clorox® Regular-Bleach).  In that case, a hydrogen peroxide solution that’s 1 part hydrogen peroxide + 10 parts water will work. 

Readers, do any of you use bleach for decorative fabric effects?