How can you remove a red Popsicle stain out of a swimsuit?

With sweltering heat all over the country right now, it is hard to resist a popsicle! Red stains can be particularly difficult to remove, but I would try the following:

1. Apply liquid Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster directly to the stain, and rub it in.


2. Wait 3 - 5 minutes -- don't let it dry on the fabric!


3. Wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent + more Clorox2^®.

You could also try a Clorox2^® pre-soak (if there are two pieces soak them together) using a capful of Clorox2^® added to 2 gallons of warm water. Allow the item to soak for 30 minutes, then wash as directed above.

Can Clorox be used on white clothing with black embroidery?

Normally I recommend the bleachability test to determine if a colored item can be safely washed with Clorox^® Regular-Bleach: Add 2 teaspoons bleach to ¼ cup water and apply a drop of the solution to a hidden part of the item; wait 1 minute and blot dry; no color change means the item can be safely bleached. With embroidery, it’s a little more complicated since it is virtually impossible to test for bleachability on a “hidden area” without potentially discoloring the embroidery thread if it isn’t bleach-fast. It would help if you knew the fiber content of the embroidery thread—if it’s polyester, there is actually a good chance that it will be bleach-fast, but this information is generally not provided, making it difficult to know for sure without giving it a try. With cotton embroidery thread, whether or not it is bleach-fast depends on what type of dye was used. Assuming you decide bleaching the item is important enough to take the chance that the embroidery may fade slightly or discolor, I would follow our “for best results” instructions, delaying the addition of the bleach as follows: Dilute ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach in 1 quart water and add to the washer 5 minutes after the cycle has begun agitating.

If you decide against bleaching the entire item, you may want to try applying Clorox^® Bleach Pen Gel to any specific stains you are trying to remove. Just be sure to wash the item immediately after pretreating. Or, you could try an overnight pre-soak with powdered Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster. Dissolve 1 scoop or 1 pack in 2 gallons water and fully submerge the item for up to 8 hours. Drain the soaking solution then wash the item in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent + more Clorox2^®. This approach is particularly good for white items that include spandex and therefore can’t be washed with Clorox^® Regular-Bleach or Clorox^® Bleach Pen Gel.

You should be able to restore items that picked up color with a bleach soaking solution as long as an item is safely bleachable.  First, check the care labels - Don’t use the soaking solution on items that contain wool, silk, mohair, spandex, and leather - These should never be bleached.  Next, you didn’t say if the items that picked up color are white or another color (or combination of colors, so you may need to check for colorfastness to bleach with this simple bleachability test:  dilute 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water; apply a drop of this solution to a hidden part of the each item (like a hem, cuff, collar, or inside seam); wait 1 minute then blot dry; no color change means the item can be safely bleached.  Now for the bleach soak:  fully submerge the item in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach diluted in 1 gallon cool water for up to 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.  Air dry the item, and check for success (it’s important to keep the item out of the dryer so the heat doesn’t set any remaining dye).  Hopefully the fugitive color will be gone, but if it is lighter, then repeat the bleach soak again.  However, if the bleach soak leaves the dye transfer color unchanged, you may need to try RIT Color Remover, which can usually be found at drug and hardware stores.  A dilute RIT solution works best to limit the stripping-off of the original color of an item in addition to the fugitive dye, so be careful.  Good luck, and let me know how it turns out.

My puppy came down with parvo. Can I use Clorox® on pine wood floors?

Regarding your wood floor, as long as it has a finish (in good condition) on it that effectively makes it a hard non-porous surface, a singular bleach treatment should be OK.  Even so, you should still test a small, less visible section first so you will know what to expect from the treatment.  Our EPA-registered protocol to kill canine parvovirus on hard non-porous surfaces is as follows: prepare a disinfecting solution of ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach and 1 gallon water.  Pre-wash the areas, then mop or wipe with the disinfecting solution.   Let stand for 10 minutes, then rinse thoroughly and air dry.  Consider working in small sections to be sure you can manage rinsing quickly and efficiently, and be sure the room is well ventilated.  You should also wear eye protection and gloves because you will be working with the bleach solution for a prolonged period of time.

How do I remove color bleeding during laundering?

Most garments that are new bleed a little, but usually they do stop after a few cycles, so washing newer items alone or only with like colors is a pretty effective strategy for limiting dye transfer.  To restore items that have picked up fugitive color during the wash cycle, you can often do this with a bleach soaking solution as long as the items are safely bleachable.  First, check the care labels and don’t use the soaking solution if the item contains wool, silk, mohair, spandex, and leather--these should never be bleached.  Also, you didn’t say if your items are white or another color (or combination of colors), so you may need to check for colorfastness to bleach with this simple bleachability test:  dilute 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water; apply a drop of this solution to a hidden part of the each item (like a hem, cuff, collar, or inside seam); wait 1 minute then blot dry; no color change means the item can be safely bleached.

For items that are not on the “avoid bleaching” list and pass the bleachablility test, you can try a bleach soak:  fully submerge the item in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach diluted in 1 gallon cool water for up to 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.  Air dry the item, and check for success (it’s important to keep the item out of the dryer so the heat doesn’t set any remaining dye).  Hopefully the fugitive color will be gone, but if it is lighter, then repeat the bleach soak again.  However, if the bleach soak leaves the dye transfer color unchanged you may need to try RIT Color Remover, which can usually be found at drug and hardware stores.  A dilute RIT solution works best to limit stripping off the original color of an item in addition to the fugitive dye, so be careful.

How do I remove massage oil from sheets and towels?

Oily stains benefit from more concentrated cleaning solutions.  Larger items like sheets and towels that have the stains spread over them can be presoaked for more complete stain removal.  To do this, use powdered Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster. Fill the scoop to line 3 and add to 2 gallons of very hot water (or the hottest water recommended on the care label) and stir to dissolve.  Fully submerge the sheets and towels (remember to sort whites and colors, and soak them separately) 30 minutes for colored items or up to 8 hours for white items.  When the presoak time is complete, drain the soaking solution and then wash the items as follows depending on the color:

--For white sheets and towels, use detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in the hottest water recommended on the care label.

--For colored sheets and towels, use detergent and more Clorox2® in the hottest water recommended on the care label.

Air dry the items and check for success—it may be that if the care label recommended cold or warm water, you may not have achieved complete removal, but you can rewash the items in hot water and get much better results as long as residual oil has not been heat-set in a hot dryer. Or if you went with a shorter presoak time, you could try soaking for the full 8 hours. Something else to consider is your detergent choice--powdered detergents generally clean better than liquids so that can help, and you want to be sure to use the recommended amount.  Using too little detergent also can hurt cleaning performance.  I also want to mention the importance of using hot water again—sheets and towels generally can (and should) be washed with hot water for maximum cleaning.  When you consider the amount of body soil these items pick up, it’s really critical to get them as clean as possible.

Since you didn’t say how large the stained area is, I also want to address what to do if the massage oil is localized—that is you have a small spill in one area.  You can definitely pretreat the stain directly with a little liquid Clorox2® or liquid laundry detergent.  Apply a little product directly to the stain and rub in, wait 5-10 minutes (but don’t let the product dry out on the fabric), and then wash the towels as described above.

Finally, I have one last suggestion.  If your sheets and towels are colored, check to see if you can safely bleach them with Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  To do this, add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach to ¼ cup water and apply a small drop to a hidden part of the item.  Wait one minute then blot dry—no color change means the item can be safely bleached.  In that case, you would either presoak or pretreat the sheets/towels as described above, and then wash with detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

Q: How do I get mold out of outdoor patio cushions?

A: There are different treatment options depending on the type of fabric the cushions are made of (polyester, cotton, etc.) and brand. If they are made by Sunbrella®, there is great cleaning information on their website, which you can check out at http://www.sunbrella.com/cleaning/upholstery.php. Note that for general mildew removal on machine launderable textiles, we recommend a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water.  Items should be fully submerged for 5 minutes, and then rinsed before finishing up with a hot water wash using detergent + 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Sunbrella® recommends a more concentrated bleach solution for mildew removal, which actually matches our recommendation for mildew removal on exterior surfaces like vinyl siding.  Since Sunbrella® fabrics are 100% polyester (which has a high resistance to bleach) this makes sense. 

For non-Sunbrella® fabrics, as long as they are 100% polyester the same solution should still be suitable; I would just test a hidden part of the cushion first to be sure the fabric won't be damaged by a bleach solution.  To do that, apply add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach to ¼ cup water and apply a drop of the solution to a hidden part of the cushion.  Make sure the drop soaks into the fabric.  Wait 1 minute and then blot dry.  No color change means the cushions can be safely bleached.

Has anyone else discovered mold on their outdoor furniture?  The warmer spring weather is finally letting us use our backyards and patios!