Q:  My husband has oily hair and has left the pillowcases yellowed. How do I make them white again and do I soak them (how much and how long) before washing? I'm afraid this has built up over time.

A:  This is quite a problem, not just because of the oil build up, but also from the likelihood that these pillowcases have been going into a hot dryer following each wash cycle.  Heat from the dryer can “set” stains, making them very difficult to get out.  However, with a series of soaks you should be able to whiten the pillowcases substantially.  I would pre-soak several times with a couple of different products so you can solubilize the oil, as well as break up and remove residual body soil.  It’s best to work on the oily residue first:

• In a plastic dishpan, dissolve 1 scoop of powdered Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster in 2 gallons of very hot water—getting it up to around 160°F (using water from a tea kettle with hot tap water works well). Completely submerge the pillowcases (weigh them down if necessary—glass pie dishes work well) for 8 hours or overnight.  Rinse the pillowcases and dish pan before the next step.


• Pre-soak with a Clorox® Regular-Bleach soaking solution.  Add ¼ cup bleach to 1 gallon of water and fully submerge the pillowcases for 5 minutes.  Drain the soaking solution and then wash the pillowcases in hot water using detergent + ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.


• Air dry the pillowcases and check to see if any yellowing remains.  If it looks like you are making progress, then repeat the steps if necessary.

In the future, make sure you always wash your sheets and pillowcases using hot water, a good detergent that contains enzymes, and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Pretreating the area of the pillowcase that gets oily with a little liquid laundry detergent before washing will also help keep the oil build-up under control.  Good luck!

Q:  My baby started eating food and his clothes have some food stains, how do I remove them?

A:  Congratulations on your new baby!  Baby food stains really benefit from pre-treating, but first be sure to scrape away excess stain (think pureed vegetable globs like sweet potatoes), and then rinse the stain with a little cool water.  Be careful not to rub the stain further into the fabric. I am sure you have both white and colored items to clean, so here are some good techniques for both:

If the item is white:

• Rub stain gently with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel immediately before laundering.


• Wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

If the item is colored (or made from a fiber on the do not bleach list):

• Apply Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster directly to the stain, and rub in.


• Wait 3-5 minutes, but don’t let it dry on the fabric.


• Wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and Clorox2®.

After washing, air dry the items and check for success.  This is a general technique that I always advise. Stubborn stains that are partially removed can often be treated again, and you increase your chance of eventual success if you don’t heat-set any residual stain in a hot dryer.

Does anyone else have some new baby stains for which they need help removing?

Q:  I workout often, and it seems some shirts have a permanent odor of sweat or mold. Will Clorox 2® help on my colored laundry?

A:  The bleach active in Clorox2®, hydrogen peroxide, is a gentle bleach, making it safe for almost all washable colored items.  However, it doesn’t meet EPA disinfecting requirements, and so it won’t kill the germs on your workout clothes like Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  You may actually be able to use Clorox® Regular-Bleach to safely wash some of your workout clothes provided they are colorfast to bleach and don’t contain any spandex.  You’ll need to check the items with a quick bleachability test as follows:

• Mix a test solution by diluting 2 tsp Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water


• Apply a drop to a hidden part of the item such as an inside hem, cuff, or seam.  Wait one minute and then blot dry


• No color change means the item can be safely bleached

For items that don’t pass the bleachability test, you can try the following techniques to at least reduce the germ count.

• Always wash in the hottest water recommended on the item’s care label.


• Pre-soak with Clorox2® before washing.  Dissolve 1 scoop of the powder in 2 gallons hot water; fully submerge the items for up to 8 hours or overnight.  Drain the soaking solution before washing.


• Wash any items of particular concern separately from other items to avoid germ transfer


• Use the hottest dryer setting recommended on the care label, and dry items separately - or at least with some white towels so the items tumble properly in the dryer.

Periodically run a washer clean-out cycle with an empty washer and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach to be sure the clothes washer is disinfected and germs don’t transfer to other loads. 

Do any readers have suggestions on eliminating gym clothes odor?

Q:  We used Clorox 2® to get pizza sauce out of our daughter’s school uniform.  While it took out the stain, it left a blue stain. How do I get it out?

A: It sounds like liquid Clorox2® was applied directly to the stain (which is good for improved stain removal), but stayed on the fabric too long before being washed.  We typically recommend 3-5 minutes (depends on the type of stain and its severity) for pre-treating before washing an item.  This allows enough time for the surfactants and hydrogen peroxide to work in concentrated form, but not so much time that the colorant and brighteners permanently dye the area where the stain was treated. Additionally, the product should never be allowed to dry on the fabric, since the stain left behind (a combination of blue colorant and brighteners) is nearly impossible to remove.  There’s a chance you might be able to remove the blue colorant by soaking the uniform (if it’s white) in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water, for up to 5 minutes before thoroughly rinsing.  Any residual blue color left after this process, is concentrated brightener that reflects light off the fabric in the blue spectrum.  How successful you will be depends on how long the liquid Clorox2® was originally on the fabric.

If the uniform is colored, you still might be able to safely bleach it.  To check, add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach to ¼ cup water and apply a drop of this solution to a hidden part of the garment; wait 1 minute then blot dry. No color change means the item can be safely bleached.  If it passes, then you can try soaking the uniform as described above.

Q:  How do I get a stubborn sticker off my shirt?

A: This question reminds me of the time I wore a nice rain jacket to a skating birthday party and the host slapped a sticker on it.  When I pulled the sticker off, the finish on the jacket went with it!  I would try soaking the shirt with liquid Clorox 2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster : add a capful to 2 gallons of water, and fully submerge the shirt for up to an hour if it is colored, or overnight if it is white.  This should dissolve the adhesive that is holding the sticker.  If it is only partially removed, then you may need to try Goo Gone® or De-Solve-it®, which you can find at hardware stores.  Just be sure to test the shirt for colorfastness.

Readers, do your kids like playing with stickers?

Q:  I need some help with clothes flooded in Hurricane Irene, in particular items that cannot go in hot water (delicate fabrics).  How do I handle them?  There is not a lot of mud, but water came reached them and wicked into the fabric.

A:  Watching the images on TV of the storm damage from Irene is really sobering, and I have been thinking about the people who have the daunting task of cleaning up.  Hopefully the flood waters you encountered were not contaminated, and your household water supply is safe for human consumption and skin contact.  Note that if your incoming water is not yet safe for drinking, you should not use it for any laundry unless you are hand-washing and using bleach.  Bleach needs to be added to both the wash and rinse water.  Thankfully it sounds like you have passed this hurdle.  Unfortunately, there is currently not a product for disinfecting any and all colored laundry items or fabrics made from wool, silk, mohair, spandex and leather.   Clorox2® has a different bleach active, hydrogen peroxide, which is a much weaker bleach and therefore safe for colors.  However, it doesn’t meet EPA disinfecting requirements.

To guarantee disinfection, you will need to wash as many items as possible with detergent + ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in the hottest water recommended on the care label, so figuring out which of your items can be safely bleached is an important first step.  There actually are many colored fabrics than can be safely bleached, and it depends on which type of dye was used to color the fabric.  Also, “delicate” fabrics can often be bleached as long as they are not made from the fibers listed above.  Cotton and nylon underwear, for example, are delicate and perfectly bleachable from a fiber standpoint.  For colored items that you are unsure about, you can easily test bleachability as follows:

• Mix a test solution by diluting 2 tsp Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water


• Apply a drop to a hidden part of the item such as an inside hem, cuff, or seam and then blot dry


• No color change means the item can be safely bleached.  A color change shows what to expect following approximately five cycles with bleach.

I have had success safely bleaching light colored linens and towels, and 100% polyester fleece, to name a few.  Also, you only need to bleach your flood damaged items once.  Some of them could probably handle one wash cycle with bleach, but would fade after 5 cycles (blue jeans often can handle occasional bleach washing).  Because of the severity of the situation (and the possibility that your clothing could have been exposed to contaminated water), it would be worth it to try to bleach as many items as you can.  However, there are items that you simply can’t bleach, and for those you can try the following techniques to reduce the germ count as much as possible:

• Wash in hot water even if it is not what’s recommended on the care label.  This is especially important if your hot water heater is set at a lower temperature.


• Wash any items of particular concern separately from other items to avoid germ transfer, and consider washing them twice


• Use the hottest dryer setting recommended on the care label.


• Air dry items made from wool outdoors in the sun.

Follow up with a washer clean-out cycle (running one cycle with the washer empty) with ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach to be sure the clothes washer is disinfected and germs don’t transfer to other loads.  Hopefully you can restore as many of your flood damaged non-bleachable items as possible. 

I also have some additional disaster preparedness bleach tips that might be helpful:

• If water supplies are compromised and you are unable to boil water for one minute (3 minutes at high elevation) you can create potable water by using regular liquid bleach. Add 1/8 teaspoon (8 drops) of bleach to one gallon of water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If not, repeat dosage and let sit another 15 minutes. Use ¼ teaspoon of bleach (16 drops) for cloudy water.


• Disinfect surfaces, like counter tops, by first washing away all visible dirt. Apply a disinfecting solution of ¾ bleach per gallon of water. Let the solution stand for 5 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and let air dry.


• Make a family preparedness plan for communication in the event of an emergency. Put together an emergency preparedness kit that includes food, water (at least 1 gallon per person per day) a first aid kit, flashlight, radio, personal documents and sanitation supplies such like regular liquid bleach.


• In the wake of disaster, there is much to do as you assess the health and safety of your household as well as next steps to rebuild your life.  The first thing you’ll want to do is check communication channels to ensure that local officials have declared it safe to return home. When home, cleaning up after a natural disaster can be a daunting task so it’s important keep your health top of mind using these steps:
  
  
  
  • Before entering the home, look outside for loose power lines, damaged gas lines, foundation cracks or other damage
  
  
  • During cleanup, wear protective clothing, including rubber gloves and rubber boots
  
  
  • Look for flooding or large pools of standing water surrounding your home. These waters can be contaminated with high levels of bacteria that can make you sick, so disinfecting with a solution of bleach and water may help prevent the spread of infections and illness
  
  
  
  

Q:  How do I get the smell of bait out of my boyfriends’ clothes?

A:  Wow—I could really get into this question given that I go fishing every summer.  I would need some more information, though.  What type of fishing does he do—salt or fresh water?  What type of bait does he like—PowerBait, salmon eggs, worms, etc…  Also, what type of clothing does he wear for fishing?  Personally, I swear by a Gold 502 Super Duper lure for high alpine lakes in the Eastern Sierra.  I wash my fishing related clothing in hot water with detergent and  powdered Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster, but I only have to deal with stains and odors related to cleaning fish—lures don’t leave behind an odor.

Readers – how do you remove that fishy smell from your clothing?