Q: My physician just recommended to me that I use regular bleach in my wash to disinfect my whites to kill any bacteria or yeast that may be present. He said that normal detergent doesn't always kill them. My question for you is concerning color safe bleach. Does Clorox 2 color safe bleach have the same disinfection and sanitization capabilities as Regular Clorox bleach?

A: Your doctor is correct that regular detergent washing is not sufficient to control yeast. 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular - Bleach added with your detergent and washed in warm/hot water should provide the result you are looking for.

Unfortunately Clorox2® for Colors has hydrogen peroxide as its active ingredient and this is NOT sufficient to provide any sanitizing or disinfecting benefit.

I also find a lot of garments including colored ones that can be safely bleached. You might want to try the Bleachability Test on a hidden part of these garments (2 tspn 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. If the item is bleach fast, you can use the instructions for hot water wash in detergent and Clorox® Regular - Bleach mentioned above.

Q: Do you make or know of a laundry additive (Clorox 2) which is safe for colors but also kills germs like regular Clorox does?

A: This is a great question and one I hear a lot. Unfortunately, there currently is NOT a product for disinfecting colored clothes. Our Clorox2® for Colors contains hydrogen peroxide as its active ingredient. It is a much weaker bleach than the sodium hypochlorite found in Clorox® Regular- Bleach and is not capable of meeting EPA disinfecting requirements.

As I have written previously, the best ways to reduce germ counts in (colored) laundry are:

• Use the hottest wash water recommended on the care label; might also do more than one wash on these items to further reduce the bacteria count.


• Consider washing the items of concern separately so that the germs are NOT spread to more items; transfer can occur in the washer and when transferring/handling from the washer to dryer.


• Use the hottest dryer setting recommended on the care label and dry the items separately to maximize germ reduction. While the dryer isn't capable of completely killing, it will help lower the germ count.


• Check the items for Bleachability. It's surprising how many things labeled as Do Not Bleach are actually OK to use liquid bleach. Do the quick Bleachability/colorfast test on a hidden part of the colored item (2 tspn 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. If bleachfast, consider a quick bleach soak (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular - Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes) before washing in the hottest water recommended on the care label.


• Finally, to prevent further germ spread, I would do a white load using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular - Bleach after these items had been washed. Kind of like a mouthwash for your washer.

Q: I have a white shirt that is 100% cotton with a spaghetti/tomato sauce stain that did not come out after two times in the washing machine. Unfortunately, the shirt sat in the hamper from Wednesday until Saturday before it was washed. When I discovered the stain, before washing it the first time, I sprayed "Zout" stain remover soaking the outside & inside of the shirt at the stain area. On the same day as the first wash, for the second wash I repeated this & also added a bleach "Vivid" a color safe bleach product. Maybe the stain faded, but it is still there. Should I try it again - I do not have Clorox Oxi Magic yet as described on the Clorox page. Any ideas?

A: Sounds like you have partially dealt with the spaghetti sauce stain. Depending on what was in the sauce, the remainder is probably combination of color bodies and oils. The Zout is usually pretty good on oily parts, but lacks the kick to "bleach" out the colored part. The Vivid is an oxygen bleach which is much weaker than Clorox Regular-Bleach so it didn't have the power to get the colored portion bleached.

What I would suggest is at least wash it in the hottest wash recommended for the item. Might consider a quick bleach soak if appropriate for the item/color. (1/4 cup Clorox Regular-Bleach in gallon of cool water for 5-10 minutes) prior to that hot water wash with detergent and Clorox Regular-Bleach. Do the quick Bleachability Test if uncertain (2 tspn liquid bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden 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.

Here are a couple of other bleach options:

• Try the Clorox BleachPen Gel on the stain. Apply using the scrubber tip; then wash in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox Bleach


• Try the Clorox UltimateCare Bleach which is safe enough to pour directly onto the stain; rub in and then wash in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox Bleach

Don't forget to check for success after washing and before drying. You might need to retreat the item.

Q: I have some used baby clothes that looked clean when I packed them away, but when I got them out to prepare them for the birth of my second child, they had yellow stains around the neck from spit-up and/or formula. Can anything get these stains out?

A: This happens a lot as we think things are clean but storage seems to find those not so clean areas. Not uncommon to see this in stored underwear, sheets, and towels. The yellowing results from oxidation (slow reaction with oxygen in air to change color) of unremoved stains usually has a protein component that needs to be removed. These are big, complex structures that are best broken down using enzymes. Unfortunately, these materials are not found in every laundry product and they are rather slow to work.

What I would suggest is find a good powdered detergent like Tide, not Tide with Bleach. The trick is to make sure the detergent is dissolved before adding the clothes. Make a COOL water presoak solution either in a bucket or use your washer set for lowest water setting. (Trick #1 - add detergent with hot water first, swirl to dissolve, then switch to cool/cold water) Add the recommended dosage for best results. Let the old baby items sit in the presoak for a long time (minimum 8 hours or even overnight). Trick #2 - occasionally swirl or agitate the presoak solution to help encourage better penetration of the soils and removal of the top layers. Finally, wash in the hottest water recommended on the care labels. The warmer the water, the better the removal. If items are bleachable, consider using 1/2 to 3/4 cup Clorox Regular-Bleach. Do the quick Bleachability Test if uncertain (2 tspn liquid bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden 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.

Don't forget to check for success after washing and before drying. You might need to retreat the item.

Q: I have a number of old tablecloths that have yellowed and also have coffee stains. What’s your best suggestion?

A: I assume the tablecloth is white and bleachable. I suggest you at least wash it in the hottest wash recommended for the item. Prior to the hot water wash with detergent and liquid Clorox bleach, do the quick Bleachability Test (2 tspn liquid bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden 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. You may also consider a quick bleach soak if appropriate for the item/color. (1/4 cup Clorox Regular-Bleach in gallon of cool water for 5-10 minutes). A couple of other bleach options:

• Try the Clorox BleachPen Gel on the yellow or coffee spots. Apply using the scrubber tip; then wash in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox Bleach


• Try the Clorox UltimateCare bleach which is safe enough to pour directly onto the yellowed or coffee stain; rub in and then wash in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox Bleach

Always check for success before drying as you may need to retreat the item.

Q: Dear Dr. Landry, I found your website very informative, and seek your help. I carefully washed the laundry with pastel colors and my husband’s brand new and favorite t-shirt came out with light blue stains caused by bleeding. I soaked it in Oxy Clean, Clorox for Colors, Borax and Lestoil to no avail. What do dry cleaners do? I appreciate any suggestions.

A: Dye transfer can be difficult to remove as noted by the variety of products you have used. The issue is you basically dyed the spot blue and then probably dried it which set the color. You don't say what color the t-shirt area was before it became blue. If it was white, I would recommend a couple of thoughts:

• Consider Clorox Bleach Pen Gel on the blue area. If unsure, do the Bleachability Test before proceeding (see the label or the link on my blog on the left). Simply apply the product; rub with the scrubber; wait a couple of minutes then wash in hottest water recommended for item using detergent + 3/4 cup Clorox Regular-Bleach. Check for success before drying as you may have to repeat the treatment.


• Consider a short soak using 1/4 cup Clorox Regular-Bleach in a gallon of cool water for 5-10 minutes then wash in hottest water recommended for item using detergent + 3/4 cup Clorox Regular-Bleach. Check for success before drying as you may have to repeat the treatment.


• Another great product is our Clorox UltimateCare Bleach. It's thick creamy texture is gentle enough to pour directly on white clothes; so you could pour on, rub into the blue area then wash as above. Check for success before drying as you may have to repeat the treatment.

Dry cleaners use solvents for their cleaning; this may not be appropriate for a cotton t-shirt. Usually, if it is cotton, the dye will slowly be removed with each subsequent washing. You can accelerate this by washing in hotter water.

Q: I have a christening gown with a yellowish stain around the collar. It has been in a box for years. I need to clean it for the next generation to wear in June. Please help!

A: You didn’t give me much detailed information (e.g., the color of the item, what you might have tried, etc). I’m assuming it is white.

I suggest you at least wash it in the hottest wash recommended for the item. You may want to consider a quick bleach soak if appropriate for the item/color. (1/4 cup bleach in gallon of cool water for 5-10 minutes) prior to that hot water wash with detergent and liquid Clorox bleach. Do the quick Bleachability Test (2 tspn liquid bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden 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.) A few other bleach options:

• Try the Clorox BleachPen Gel on the yellow spots. Apply using the scrubber tip; then wash in hot water with detergent and Clorox bleach


• Try the Clorox UltimateCare bleach which is safe enough to pour directly onto the yellowed stain; rub in and then wash in hot water with detergent and Clorox bleach

Q: I have a 56-year-old hand crocheted ruffled doily I made. I washed it, and then stretched it to shape it on a piece of foam broad that I had drawn circles and straight lines on as a guide for stretching. I covered the board with waxed paper before pinning down the doily to shape. While shaping and pinning, I sprayed it with heavy starch that comes in an aerosol can. After getting the doily all shaped and pinned in place, I then took a Liquid Starch that come in a bottle, using it full strength and with a brush I brushed it all over the doily. Then let it to dry. Now here is my problem. When it dried it, I noticed in some areas on the ruffle section that it now has a yellowish stain color where the line drawing on the board some how bled through. My question is: can I safely use Clorox bleach on it to see if the stains will come out? If so, what solution amount would you suggest? By the way the doily is made with crochet cotton thread. Will be anxiously waiting for your reply.

A: That's a very OLD doily! The yellow transfer is a part of the ink outline and may be removed using a soak with Clorox Regular-Bleach (1/4 cup/gallon for 5 minutes) and then a hot water wash with detergent and Clorox Regular Bleach. Another option might be trying the Clorox Ultimate Care Bleach which is thicker and lower in bleach content. It can be poured directly on bleachable items, kind of like a pre-treat. Let it set ~5 minutes then a hot water wash with detergent and Clorox Ultimate Care. After either approach, check to be sure it is removed BEFORE you dry the doily. If not, repeat the treatment again.

Wow, it’s been another very busy couple of weeks! This time I was helping to shoot some new Clorox® Anywhere Hard Surface ™ daily sanitizing spray commercials.  It is another innovative product that’s great for busy consumers. I told you earlier that I have been shooting some commercials for a new Clorox laundry care product coming out this month. It will be on stores any day now (if not already), and I’ll be blogging about it very soon. I’m extremely excited about what we call the Unexpected Bleach; our team has been working on it for the past several years and we are anxious to see how you’ll like it.

I have received several reader questions recently. Thought I’d take the time to address one of them today.

Pascal asked me to how to remove stains caused by one color of the item that has bled onto a lighter colored part of the item. This problem happens a lot more frequently than you think and can show up in several different ways. The root cause is what we call dye bleeding or transfer.  This problem is most common with dark colored cotton items and is due to the type of dye used to color the item.  The dyes are not “set” in the fibers and want to migrate when they become wet. This is why those brilliant, new towels appear to ”fade” after repeated washing or if you don’t wash all the items in a set together some look a little more brighter than those that are washed more frequently   You’re actually washing away a small amount of dye with each wash.

So how else might you see this problem besides from pre-treating a stain?

Sometimes simply spilling a drink on the surface is enough to activate the process

Washing mixed darks and lights in the same load can create the problem

Leaving dark colors sitting in the washer after the wash cycle has been completed

How to fix it?

Well, this is a bit of a tough one since dye stains can be difficult or impossible to remove. As always it is best to launder immediately or re-launder as soon as you recognize the problem.  If it has dried it probably is too late to salvage. Sorry. If you want to give a go then try these approaches: If possible, use a bleach to help remove the dye.  Make sure it is bleachable (use the bleachability test). If white or colorfast then either try quickly soaking in a dilute bleach solution (1/4 cup in gallon cool water for 10-15 minutes) or wash in cool water detergent + ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  You might also try the Clorox® Bleach Pen Gel on the affected spots and then re-wash.  If it is not bleachable, try Liquid Clorox2® for Colors rubbed on affected area and then re-wash.  A word of warning - I haven’t been very successful at totally removing in a single application.  

How to prevent it:

Some manufacturers simply don’t make their colors colorfast, which creates a problem if you accidentally get the item wet. That’s why it’s important to read the fabric care labels when you are considering the original purchase.

Always carefully sort and wash dark colors separately.  Remember they are going to bleed and it’s best if they do that with similar colors.

Always wash in cool water to minimize the bleeding

Quickly remove from the washer and get the drying process started

 Let me know how that works out…

On a side note, you may or may not have seen the Today Show on NBC Tuesday morning – but it covered a topic close to my heart: summer stubborn stain removal. While the expert featured, Elizabeth Mayhew, always provides great information, on Tuesday she did perpetuate one of the biggest bleach myths – bleach wears down fabrics. It’s just not true, not true not true!.

I know I’ve touched on this before and wished she had read my July 7^th post on this subject. When bleach is used properly (diluted before it goes in the washer), it does not wear down fabrics. In our exhaustive lab testing throughout the years, we’ve found that there’s no difference between items washed 50 times with detergent alone or detergent plus Clorox® Regular-Bleach. We’ve got the study results to prove it…so I’ll keep harping on this until the myth is busted.  Sorry Elizabeth…but for me the quickest and best way to clean those stained summer whites is with Clorox® Regular-Bleach..

Keep your questions coming in!

Throughout my years, I’ve answered many questions about bleach and the safety of using it. Despite what you may be thinking, properly bleaching fabrics will not destroy them. There, I said it! And it’s not just because I work for Clorox. We’ve done what seems like a ton of fabric safety research at Clorox and outside labs.  When used as directed, we found it does NOT eat your clothing or ruin your washing machine. We’ll take a look at some of the common tall tales I’ve heard over the years about using bleach.  Let’s start with the most common one and save a couple for later.

Key Bleach Usage Hints:
The most important thing is to always read and follow label directions

• 
  
  Always use the proper amount
  
  


• 
  
  Never pour full-strength bleach directly on fabric. 
  
  


• 
  
  Dilute it using one of the three following methods
  
  




• 
  
  Adding to your bleach dispenser
  
  


• 
  
  Adding with the detergent as the washer water is filling, but BEFORE adding clothes
  
  


• 
  
  Diluting in a quart of water and adding 5 minutes into the wash cycle
  
  

MYTH: Bleach wears down fabric and shortens its lifespan. 
TRUTH: Fabrics will naturally deteriorate from wearing, washing and drying. Abrasion from normal wearing and contact with other items during washing and drying are the major contributors to fiber degradation.  So when your socks get holes at the toes or when your t-shirt stretches out, most of the wearing out occurs just by being worn. 

We evaluated a wide range of normally bleached items- socks, underwear, towels, bed sheets, t-shirts, dress shirts and baseball pants.  Our lab tests have shown no significant difference in fabric damage after 50 wash cycles between detergent alone and detergent and liquid bleach.  So what we have shown in our testing is liquid bleach does not significantly reduce the life of fabric when used as directed. 

MYTH: If a garment label says don’t use bleach, do not bleach it. 
TRUTH: It’s a shame but a lot of manufacturers will actually under-label items to minimize any legal liability.  We know almost all cotton whites and most synthetic whites are safe to wash in liquid bleach.  If a label on your whites says not to use bleach, use my bleachability test and test it in a hidden area.

Not everything is bleachable.  Remember to check the label. I don’t recommend bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, spandex and non-colorfast colors.