Q:  How can I fix white bleach stains on my white NBA jersey?

A:  It’s good news that your stains and jersey are both white—it sounds like the stains are actually places on the jersey that ended up cleaner than the surrounding fabric.  This often happens when someone has a white item that is not bleached regularly, and then gets a stain that is pretreated with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel.  The problem is the “white” shirt actually has a level of soil that has built up over time that the gel removes, in addition to the stain, producing a “white” stain.  Luckily, you should be able to catch the rest of the shirt up to the cleaner spots by using a bleach soaking solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water.  Fully submerge the shirt for 5 minutes, and then wash the jersey in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent + ¾ cup bleach.

Something else to consider is if the jersey includes a team logo of some sort.  If it's a screen print, then the bleach soak and follow-up wash should still be OK, but if it's embroidered or appliqued, then you should use Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster (1 scoop or capful per 2 gallons warm water for your bleach soaking solution and let it soak overnight.  Follow up with a hot water wash using detergent + more Clorox2®).  Hopefully this is helpful!

How do you clean your favorite jersey?

Q:  Is your Clorox® Scented Bleach, Clean Linen, color safe?

A:  All of the Clorox® Scented Bleaches contain sodium hypochlorite, the same active that’s in the regular bleach. Therefore, they are not considered “color safe for all washable fabrics.”  However, many colored items actually can be safely bleached with sodium hypochlorite, and you can quickly check with a simple bleachability test: add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach (or the Clean Linen scented bleach) to ¼ cup water; apply a drop to a hidden part of the garment like a hem or inside seam; wait 1 minute then blot with a towel. No color change means it is safe to bleach the item.  What passes the bleachability test is primarily dependent on what type of dye was used and how it was applied.  Also, with regular and scented bleaches, you should always avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather and spandex. 

Does anyone have a favorite scented bleach?

Q:  How would I go about whitening washcloths that were grayed by liquid body wash soap?  I have washed these cloths several times in my (HE) washer using normal laundry detergent and have had no success in getting the washcloths back to white.

A:  There are some factors that affect cleaning, and changing your laundering habits may yield better results.  Here are some suggestions;

Detergent choice:  Make sure you are using an HE detergent — better ones contain brighteners and enzymes in addition to surfactants and builders — that is specially formulated for your washer.  Review the ingredient list, since better detergents often list the purpose of the ingredients.  A good detergent will also help bleach perform better!

Use the correct amount of detergent:  Underusing detergent will result in poor performance, especially if you wash heavily soiled items or extra-large loads.

Choose a “hot” wash temperature:  The higher the wash temperature, the better the cleaning.

Don’t overload the washer:  Clothes need to circulate/tumble freely through the wash water for optimum cleaning.  It’s better to divide up a large, heavily soiled load into two smaller loads.

Use the correct amount of bleach:  That’s ¾ cup for a regular load, and 1 ¼ cup for an extra-large or heavily soiled load.  If your clothes washer has a bleach dispenser that limits the amount of bleach you can add, experiment with smaller loads, and fill the dispenser to the “max fill” line.

All this will help your results over time so you don’t have a buildup of incomplete soil removal.  For the washcloths you have now, pre-soaking them in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water will help whiten them.  Fully submerge the washcloths for 5 minutes, and then drain the soaking solution.  Follow up with a hot water wash using detergent and ¾ cup bleach (or fill the dispenser to the max fill line).

How many readers have HE washers versus a standard washer?

Q:  Will Clorox® Regular-Bleach damage the elastic in my cotton briefs?  After several washes the white cotton starts turning yellow.  How much Clorox should be used in an average white wash?

A:  We’ve looked into the effects of bleach usage on fabric over time and found that even after 50 wash/dry cycles, Clorox® Regular-Bleach does not wear down fabric any more than using detergent alone, when used as directed.  As for the amount of bleach to use, we recommend three addition methods for normally soiled loads in standard washers:

1)       Add ¾ cup bleach (or fill the dispenser to the max fill line if you have a HE washer) using the washer’s bleach dispenser.

2)       Add ¾ cup bleach along with the detergent to the wash water as the machine is filling, before the clothes are added.

3)       Dilute ¾ cup bleach in 1 quart water and add to the wash 5 minutes after the wash cycle has begun.

If the fabric is yellowing, then you are probably using too much bleach.  If it’s just the elastic, then it might have a chlorine retentive component that is yellowing (most elastics can be safely bleached).   Underwear, especially white underwear, should be bleachable to ensure good cleaning and disinfecting.  As long as the yellowing on your briefs is not a permanent shift in the color of the cotton (typical with undiluted or too concentrated bleach contact) you might be able to reverse it with RIT Color Remover, which you can find at drug stores.

Q:  I have an in-ground pool and was told that putting Clorox® Regular-Bleach in the water would help prevent algae during the winter. Is this true, and if so, how much would I need if my pool holds 33,000 gallons of water?

A: There’s a protocol when using Clorox® Regular-Bleach for swimming pool disinfection.  On an ongoing basis, if you super-chlorinate the pool with 100-200 oz. bleach per 10,000 gallons of water, in addition to regular chlorination, algae growth can be prevented. However, it depends on several factors including how much the pool is used, sun exposure, and water quality.  It sounds like from your question you are getting ready to close your pool for the season, and the pool will not be used.  In that case, I would add 5 gallons + 2 ½ cups Clorox® Regular-Bleach to your 33,000 gallon pool.

(Here’s the math, if you are curious:  33,000/10,000 x 200oz. = 660oz/8oz per cup = 82 ½ cups.  80 cups is 5 gallons, so total to add would be 5 gallons + 2 ½ cups)

This treatment can be repeated as needed to keep algae growth under control—I would observe the pool and look for any signs of growth before repeating the treatment.  Also, if you decide to use the pool after super-chlorinating, you should use a pool test kit to confirm that the ppm available chlorine in the pool is 3ppm or less.

Is anyone else getting ready to close their pools for the winter?

Q:  Does Clorox® Regular-Bleach have an expiration date and if yes, where is it found?

A:  It’s great you are paying attention to how old your bleach is because yes, bleach doesn’t last forever!  When Clorox® Regular-Bleach is stored between 50°F and 70F° and away from sunlight, it will maintain label strength of the sodium hypochlorite active for up to 6 months (at this point hospitals should replace it).  After 6 months it starts breaking down into salt and water, but it will still work well for the home consumer up to a year.  Since it’s always diluted before use, you can just use a little more.  Beyond a year, it should be replaced because the rate of decomposition into salt and water speeds up, which is a big part of why it’s environmentally friendly.

The best way to identify the age of a bottle is to use the production code stamped on the neck of the bottle, which typically looks like this:

A8116010

5813-CA3

The top line provides the information on when it was produced, which would be A8-1-160-10 (if you added dashes).  You only need the first 6 digits and you read it from left to right as follows:

Plant Number—Last digit of year made—Day of the year made

         A8                              1                                   160

The bleach in this example was made in 2011 on June 9th, the 160th day of the year.  If any readers have other questions, or a specific production code you are wondering about, please let me know!

Q: How would I kill Staphylococci bacteria, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, and MRSA on scrubs?

A:  To disinfect laundry in a standard clothes washer (deep fill, top loading) add ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach for a regular load (and up to 1 ¼ cup for an extra-large load) along with your regular detergent.   If you have a clothes washer that requires you to use a bleach dispenser, and the dispenser’s capacity is less than ¾ cup, then soak the items of concern for 5 minutes in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water before washing in your clothes washer for guaranteed disinfecting of Staph, Pseudomonas, and MRSA.