Q: We have well water that has high amounts of silica.  This can etch most surfaces.  Is there any special care I should use when using Clorox® Regular-Bleach in my HE machine?

A: Regarding the silica in your well water, I think you mean silicate that is dissolved – silica is basically insoluble, so although it may be analyzed as silica, it is actually silicate.  Silica/silicate should not harm your clothes while cleaning, and in fact, may help--that’s why sodium silicate is a common detergent ingredient.  It binds to many other elements like – calcium, magnesium, iron, etc.  However, silicate is insoluble in the presence of calcium, becoming a precipitating builder, which can be problematic if the precipitate attaches itself to fabric, causing encrustation (most obvious on towels).  Silica/silicate really shouldn’t etch stainless steel or enamel, with or without bleach added to the wash load so I do wonder about the etching you are seeing—is it mainly noticed on glassware?  This would likely be caused by poorly tempered glass having its cations leached out non-uniformly.  It sounds like you may have had your water tested but didn’t mention having high iron or manganese. These metals are problematic for bleach because they can cause white fabrics to yellow over time.  In that case, it’s a good idea to install a filtration system.

Have any readers experienced similar issues with different water properties?

Q: What type of chemical reaction does the bleach perform in tandem with the detergent?

A:  There are many different reactions that happen during a wash cycle.  Detergents at a minimum provide:

• Builders that tie up water hardness ions (calcium, magnesium, etc) so they can be rinsed away without inhibiting detergency or depositing onto the clothes.


• Surfactants that remove soils/fats and disperse them into the wash water so they can be easily rinsed away.

Better detergents also include enzymes and FWA’s, mentioned above.  The active ingredient in Clorox® Regular-Bleach, sodium hypochlorite, is a strong oxidant that breaks double bonds in body soil, dirt, and various color compounds (think red wine).  This makes it easier for the surfactants and builders to do their jobs over the course of the whole wash cycle, and why we say detergent alone is not enough.

I’m wondering, are there any fun success stories out there after using bleach?

Q: Is it better to put the bleach in the water with the detergent prior to loading the clothes, or is it better to put the bleach in the designated dispenser? 

A:  Generally, if your machine has a bleach dispenser, it is a good idea to use it.  On some models, the dispenser automatically delays the addition of bleach, which is our “for best results” addition method.  Dispensers that do not delay addition, conveniently add the bleach in a method that avoids direct contact with the laundry load before water is added.  If your dispenser delays addition, I would recommend using it, and the user’s guide for your washer should indicate how the dispenser works.  The delay is beneficial at helping a good detergent work better for two main reasons:

1. It allows time for enzymes in the detergent to get to work breaking up enzyme-sensitive stains.


2. It allows time for fluorescent whitening agents (FWA’s) in the detergent to deposit onto the fabric.  These are colorless dyes that absorb non-visible light and reflect it in the visible (usually blue) spectrum.

 That said, there is a potential problem with bleach dispensers:  some designs limit the amount of bleach that can be added.  This prevents consumers from adjusting the amount of bleach they use to accommodate an extra large or heavily soiled load.  In that case, it is better to skip the dispenser and add the appropriate amount of bleach directly with the detergent as the washer is filling, before the laundry load is added.   You can also wash two smaller loads if you have an HE washer that “locks” during the cycle, making it difficult to safely add bleach without using the dispenser.

Readers:  how do you add your bleach?

Q:  My son washed his new work uniform in warm water, which consists of black pants (80% poly / 20% cotton) and a white shirt (85% poly / 15% cotton) with a blue embroidery logo. Now the shirt has dye stains all over it from the pants and is less than white. Are there any options for getting the stains out and whitening? The embroidery is colorfast. The label does say "Do Not Bleach."

A:  It is good the shirt is a polyester/cotton blend, because this fabric is generally safe for bleaching.  To restore the shirt, I would try a bleach pre-soak:  dilute ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in 1 gallon of water.  Fully submerge the shirt for up to 5 minutes.  You may notice the color coming off immediately, or it may take the full amount of time.  Next, drain and thoroughly rinse the shirt, allowing the shirt to air dry.  Hopefully this will work, but if it does not, try RIT color remover, which you can find at most drug stores.  Just be sure to follow the package instructions carefully.

I would expect that the logo is embroidered with polyester thread, and should not be altered by either of these treatments.  That said, there is still the possibility that there could be a color change.  However, I think it is worth taking the chance to restore the shirt given that the alternative is to throw the shirt away - and I am sure your son has other plans for the money he is earning!  Of course, the silver lining is that he now has firsthand experience with the importance of sorting laundry into like-color groups for washing.

Have your kids had any laundry mishaps?

Q: I used Clorox Bleach on some new white men's briefs. They turned yellow. I have never had this to happen before. Do you know what may have caused this?

A: It would have been helpful if you indicated how the bleach was used to narrow down the possibilities for you, and whether the yellowing was spotted or more uniform Here's my best guesses.

First, I NEVER recommend using Clorox® Regular-Bleach full-strength on any item or surface. Hopefully you did not do this treating a specific area/stain. It should always be diluted because it is so strong. If unrinsed, it can actually cause little holes in the garment. That can happen if there is accidental liquid bleach spillage and someone brushes against the washer.

If you touched up a stained area, you could have destroyed the fabric whiteners in that area, which would be seen as a yellow spot. Not much you can do for this problem, but repeated washing may lessen the yellow appearance.

The most likely culprit is poor water quality with metals (iron or manganese) in the water or pipes. Summer is notorious for sudden changes in water quality and is more pronounced in rural or well water areas. These react with the sodium hypochlorite active in Clorox bleach, forming more colored materials that deposit on the clothes. After drying, the clothes are essentially dyed with the colored material. If all the items have a uniform discoloration, then this is the most likely cause.

Also, I assume this product did NOT have polyacrylate to help complex the metals. You may need to start using separate products to treat the wash water supply – here, we use IronOut – as sometimes the hot water heater can also have build-up. For the clothes, a separate product can be used to strip the discoloration away.

Q: My husband likes to use a white washcloth in the shower on a daily basis. After a few launderings, the washcloth soon turns gray. I periodically bleach the cloths in hot water and Clorox Bleach, but, after a time, this no longer works. What is the best way to keep these washcloths looking clean and bright longer?

A: First off, make sure you’re using a good detergent. If you have hard water, you might consider moving to a powdered detergent. This type of detergent contains ingredients called builders that make the water softer when faced with complex water. Interestingly, better cleaning happens in soft water. Also, you might want to add a little extra detergent to make sure you're in a good cleaning environment. This helps if you have a heavy soil load. It also helps prevent re-deposition of removed soil back onto the "cleaned" cloth.

Here are a few additional suggestions to consider:

• Don't over-pack the washer – too much laundry means the detergent can't get to all the stains/soils to remove them.


• ALWAYS wash whites in HOT water. The hotter the water the better the removal.
  
• I am a strong believer in adding bleach to EVERY white load − Wash EVERY white load in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach to help finish the job.

Q: I made the mistake of washing a new red shirt with my other shirts with light colors. The red colored shirt bled and the light colored shirts have red stains all over. Could you help me get the stains off?

A: I probably don't have much good news for you. New dark colors are notorious for bleeding for a few washes and should always be washed with similar dark colors. That's why I always recommend sorting at least whites, lights and darks to avoid the problem in the future.

Depending on how extensive the red spots are and the type of fibers (cotton, poly/cotton, etc) of the remaining shirts, I would try the following:

To have a better chance at red dye removal you will need to kick it up a notch on the bleach scale hopefully to liquid bleach like Clorox® Regular-Bleach. So we need to know if the lighter colored items can stand to be bleached.

• Just do the simple Bleachability Test on any colored portion in a hidden part of the shirts (2 tsp liquid Clorox® Regular-Bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden color section area like inside seam, hemline or cuff; wait 1 minute and then blot with towel;; no color change means it is safe to use bleach on the item).


• Then follow the recommended presoak procedure (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes before laundering). Wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach


• If the colors are not bleachable, then I would presoaking/applying Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach (Apply; rub in; wait ~ 5 minutes; then wash immediately with detergent and recommended amount of Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach


• Check for success and retreat if needed BEFORE drying
  Also remember that washing in hotter water will SLOWLY remove additional dye over time; this will usually be barely perceptible wash-to-wash.

Q: I had a stain on a 100% cotton golf shirt. It had been washed a few times when I finally saw the stain. I took a Q-tip and dipped it into Clorox Bleach and rubbed it on the stain. I have done this before on white clothing and the stain came right out. This time, everywhere I used the bleach on the shirt, it turned yellow. Unless I can get these stains out, it's ruined. Please help!

A: First, I NEVER recommend using Clorox® Regular-Bleach full-strength on any item or surface. It should always be diluted because it is so strong and if unrinsed, can actually cause little holes in the garment. That's what happens when there is accidental liquid bleach spillage while pouring into the machine and someone brushes against the washer. Next time they pick up the garment it either has "bleached out" the colors and/or small holes are present.
I suspect that you have bleached some of the dye out of the shirt and the yellow spots are the result. Unfortunately, this is irreversible.

In the future, if you notice a stain after drying, I would first try pretreating it with liquid detergent (apply; rub in; let set 3-5 minutes before washing) and then immediately wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and either 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach, if white or Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach, if colored. Always check for success after washing and retreat the item if needed before drying.

Q: When washing cloth diapers, I use a very small amount of bleach to sanitize along with hot water (I own a diaper service). As long as people do what I ask them to do with the diapers, I have no problem removing stains with my organic detergent and this tiny amount of bleach. Now, when people do not follow my instructions and do the worst thing possible, dunk the diapers in their toilet before putting them in a pail, I get a bag full of brown diapers to wash. I don't know why people ignore what I say and do this, but they do, and then I have to soak them in bleach water using the recommended amount, and then wash and rinse them an extra three times on top of what I already do to make sure there is no bleach left in the fabric.

Some people who use cloth diapers believe that if you use bleach at all, you are doing very harmful things to the environment and hurting your baby's skin. Some actually warn against using a diaper service because they use bleach. I always thought that the chlorine in the bleach would wash out in the rinse. I've never had a customer complain of rashes. People that do complain of rashes with cloth use detergents like Dreft that leave a residue. Also, I wouldn't feel comfortable giving people diapers that haven't been sanitized. Bleach and hot water together kill germs.

So, does the chlorine wash out? Am I putting people's children at risk? Am I killing the environment? How many times should I wash and rinse after soaking in bleach water?

A: I battle these bleach myths quite often and I get very agitated about the misinformation floating around out there. Answers to your questions:

• “Does the chlorine wash out?” Yes, sodium hypochlorite active is very reactive and with the "soil" load you are dealing with it will be virtually all reacted and gone in the initial laundering/soak. The extra rinses are good "insurance" and definitely give you peace-of-mind that it has been removed.


• “Am I putting people's children at risk?” No, you are definitely not putting any children at risk. Actually, by doing the thorough cleaning and sanitizing of the diaper, you are helping prevent diaper rash and spreading unremoved germs.


• “Am I killing the environment?” No you are NOT killing the environment. Sodium hypochlorite is made from salt and water and after it reacts with the satins and soils in the laundry, 93-97% of it returns to salt and water again. The remaining 3-7% is easily removed in waste treatment and is biodegradable.


• “How many times should I wash and rinse after soaking in bleach water?” I think 1-2 rinses should be plenty.
  

Q: My wife has a shirt that is red with white trim. I did not see the shirt and I started a load of reds. I filled the tub with warm water and Clorox color safe powder. I put the clothes in to soak. Big mistake on my part.

When I went to wash and pulled the clothes out of the washer, the shirt was red with pink trim.
How do I get the shirt back to the original way, red and white trim?

A: I hate when a good intentioned deed goes bad. Unfortunately, I probably don't have much good news for you. New dark colors are notorious for bleeding for a few washes and should always be washed/soaked with similar dark colors. That's why I always recommend sorting at least whites, lights and darks to avoid the problem in the future. Plus, the extra time soaking just allows more of that unstable dye to bleed off and be available to deposit on other items.

I would try the following:
To have a better chance at red dye removal you will need to kick it up a notch on the bleach scale to liquid bleach like Clorox® Regular- Bleach. So we need to know if the lighter colored items can stand to be bleached.

Just do the simple Bleachability Test on any colored portion in a hidden part of the shirts (2 tsp liquid Clorox® Regular- Bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden color section area like inside seam, hemline or cuff; wait 1 minute and then blot with towel;; no color change means it is safe to use bleach on the item).

Then follow the recommended presoak procedure (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes before laundering). Wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach

If the colors are not bleachable, then I would presoaking/applying Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach (Apply; rub in; wait ~ 5 minutes; then wash immediately with detergent and recommended amount of Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach in the warmest wash water recommended on the care label.

Check for success and retreat if needed BEFORE drying

Also remember that washing in hotter water will SLOWLY remove additional dye over time; this will usually be barely perceptible wash-to-wash.