What is the best way to remove spaghetti sauce splatter from a natural, white cotton knit shirt?

Spaghetti sauce recipes can vary, but usually the stain is a combination of both oil and tomato solids. If you treat the oily part first, your chances of success go way up. Start by applying a little liquid laundry detergent or liquid dishwashing detergent directly to the stain. Gently rub it in and wait 5 minutes – this helps solubilize the oil. Rinse the treated area, and then pre-treat any stain remaining a second time to get rid of the colored part of the stain. How you do this depends on the color and fiber content of the item you are washing.

For items that are white (and don’t contain any wool, silk, spandex, mohair, or leather), apply a little Clorox^® Bleach Pen Gel directly to the stain. Wash immediately in the warmest water recommended on the garment care label with detergent + ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach. Air dry the item to check for success – you want to avoid heat setting the stain in a hot dryer. Repeat the above steps if you don’t quite get all the stain out.

For items that are colored (or have fibers that shouldn’t be bleached, per above), apply a little liquid Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster directly to the stain.  Rub in and wait 3-5 minutes, but don’t let it dry on the fabric, then proceed to wash in the warmest water recommended on the garment care label with detergent + more Clorox2^®. Air dry and check for success – retreat if any stain remains.

What is the best way to remedy sour smelling colored towels?

No one likes a smelly towel, but with the increased use of towels during the summer, it can really stink! I get this question a lot, especially from people with HE washers. Smelly towels usually indicate that there is soil build-up inside the inner workings of your clothes washer that harbors odor-causing bacteria. The odors transfer from the washer to your laundry, and it is particularly noticeable on towels once they get wet. Here are several ways to address the problem:

1. Clean out your washer.  Run an empty washer through a clean-out cycle with hot water and ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach (or fill dispenser to the “max fill” line).  Select the extra rinse option if your machine offers this; otherwise run an extra rinse cycle when the first cycle is complete. Depending on how bad the build-up is, it might take running several clean-out cycles with bleach to fully clean the washer. To keep the problem from coming back, run a clean out cycle with bleach once a month.  Washing at least one white load with bleach per week will also help.

2. Check your towels for bleach colorfastness. Some colored towels can be safely bleached — find out if yours can with a quick bleachability test: add 2 teaspoons Clorox^® Regular-Bleach to ¼ cup water; apply a small drop to a hidden part of the towel, such as under the care label; wait 1 minute then blot dry; no color change means you can safely bleach the towel.  If your towels pass, bleaching them regularly will eliminate odor causing bacteria on the towels. You can just add them to your white load along with your other bleachables.

3. Wash in hot water. The hotter the water, the better the cleaning.  This is especially important for towels that can’t be bleached!

4. Dry towels immediately following the wash cycle. Any item that sits around damp is providing the optimum environment for mildew growth. Be sure to select enough drying time so that towels dry completely, too.

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.

Is there a way to remove lip balm from clothing that it melted onto in the wash?

Wax can be easily removed from many fabrics by heating it slightly so it will transfer from the fabric and absorb onto a brown paper bag. If the clothing has been through the dryer, the wax has likely worked its way into the fabric so it could be more difficult to remove, but you can still give the following a try.

1.  Scrape away as much of the wax as possible with a dull knife.  Look for wax both inside and outside the pocket, too.

2.  Cut open a brown paper grocery (light weight) or lunch bag.  Be sure the bag does NOT have any wax coating on it!

3.  Place the bag over the wax spot (and inside the pocket if there is wax inside it, too), and then gently press with a dry iron on its LOWEST heat setting.  You should see dark brown splotches appear on the bag as the wax is absorbed.

4.  Reposition a fresh part of the bag over the wax spot (and replace brown paper inserted into the pocket with fresh paper) and gently press again with the iron.  Repeat until no more wax absorbs onto the bag.

5.  Pretreat any remaining stain (this is likely since the balm also contains natural oils) by applying Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster directly to the stain.  Wait 3-5 minutes, then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent + Clorox2^®.  Air dry and check for success—repeat if necessary.

Brown paper bags are nice to work with to capture wax because it is very easy to see the wax absorb onto the bag. If the fabric is synthetic, it’s also important to work with the iron on its lowest heat setting so you don’t melt the fabric. Iron temperatures vary, so you may be able to slightly raise the heat setting if necessary to melt the wax—just do this carefully so as not to damage/melt the clothing. It’s always good to avoid trading one problem for another.

What is the best was to restore a dingy, white bathing suit to its original pure white color?

It can be very difficult to keep an item white that picks up body soil and sunscreen that may also have a “hand wash in cold water” care label.  If the swimsuit contains any spandex, then using a sodium hypochlorite based bleach like Clorox^® Regular-Bleach is out of the question.

To improve the appearance of your swimsuit, you can try an overnight presoak using powdered Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster.  Dissolve 1 scoop powder in 2 gallons of very hot water, fully submerge the suit in the soaking solution, and let it soak overnight.  Use a dishwasher safe dinner plate to weigh it down if necessary so the suit is all way into the soaking solution.  Let it soak for up to 8 hours or overnight, then pour off the soaking solution and wash the swimsuit in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and more Clorox2^®.

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.

How do you remove tea stain from light blue jeans?

Since your tea stain is on denim, you can treat it by applying Liquid Clorox^® 2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster into stain and rub it in. Wait for 5-10 minutes, then wash immediately in the hottest water recommended using detergent and Clorox^® 2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster. Allow to air dry and check to make sure the stain is completely removed. It's important to keep a stained item out of a hot dryer to avoid heat setting any residual stain. That way if any stain remains, you can repeat the treatment as needed.

How do I remove mustard stain?

First, blot away any excess and rinse the stain with a little cool water, reducing the amount of stain you have to work on.  Next it’s important to pretreat the stain—what you use depends on the color and fiber content of the item.

For white bleachable items (always avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, and spandex) rub the stain gently with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel just before laundering.  After pretreating, wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Air dry the item (it’s important to keep it out of a hot dryer to avoid heat setting any residual stain) and check for success.  If any stain remains, repeat the treatment.

For colored items (and white items labeled “color safe bleach when needed”), apply Clorox 2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster. Rub it into the stain and wait 3-5 minutes.  Wash immediately in the warmest water recommended on the care label using detergent and Clorox 2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster.  Air dry the item and check for success—again, it’s good to keep the item out of a hot dryer so can repeat the treatment if the stain is stubborn.

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.

How do I get strawberry stains out?

For strawberry stains, start by blotting away any excess (if the stain is fresh) and then rinse the stain with cold water.  What you do next depends on the color and fiber content of the item with the stain on it.                                                       

For white, bleachable items (always avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather and spandex) apply Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel to the stained area right before laundering, and then wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach.  Air dry the item and check for success.  If any stain remains, repeat the treatment.  You want to avoid tumble drying in a hot dryer until you know the stain is all the way out.  This is important to avoid heat setting any residual stain so you can’t get it all the way out with a second treatment.

For colored items (or white items that include a small amount of spandex, for example), apply Liquid Clorox 2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster directly to the stain and rub in.  Wait 3-5 minutes, and then wash in warmest water recommended using detergent and more Clorox 2®.  Air dry and check for success, and if necessary repeat the treatment.