Q: What is the story with Lestoil? It seems suddenly most stores don't carry it and there are some concerns about it on white sinks. Are there some dangers? I used it all the time for years. Why is it not being made widely available?

A: I too, am a big Lestoil fan and yes, it is difficult to find. I usually have the best luck in hardware stores rather than grocery stores. As with most products, if you don't keep advertising them and keep people aware of their presence, then they kind of slowly get forgotten for the newer products. Then stores don't want to stock them and this is the case with Lestoil.

I am not aware of any problems or concerns with white sinks. If you have some more specifics, then I may be able to respond more directly.

Q: My husband wears cotton white T-shirts. I use Clorox in hot water each time I launder them and rinse them twice. They are fairly new (Christmas) and they have developed stiffness in the under arms. He has asked me to buy him new ones. But that is not going to resolve the problem. What can I do? Please help.

A: I hear this question a lot; how do I get rid of the dreaded "pit" stains. The stiffness is simply a build-up of the underarm deodorant/antiperspirant that has not been removed wash-after-wash-after-wash. It can get almost "crunchy" and that is uncomfortable. This can be complicated by the choice of antiperspirant, with aluminum-based ones usually reported as worse for changing colors, and there also seems to be some impact of diet in producing colored components.

Think about what has happened. You take a solid underarm product and apply it to a warm body where it melts. Now, it can more easily transfer to anything that the underarm touches (T-shirt, etc). Add to this the volume of liquid (sweat) that acts as a collection and transfer agent for anything it has collected from the armpit (deodorant, salt, bacteria, body oil, etc) and you can better understand how this generates such a problem.

So what can we do? For the current problem, you need to do something to "re-melt" the build-up. I have seen mention of a couple of approaches: One says to use boiling water poured directly over/through the stained area (be careful of spillage). Then, follow with a paste of 1:1:1 baking soda: hydrogen peroxide: water which is applied after the hot water and rubbed (probably should wear rubber gloves hereto protect your hands from the heat) aggressively into the stain. Rinse again with hot water. It may take more than one application, but this definitely should do the trick. It may also require a good pretreatment with a liquid detergent or solvent. Remember to wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label and use 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach to help kill the odor-causing bacteria. Or the easy solution is simply cut out the affected area and he has a new set of muscle shirts.

For the future, I would check the brand of antiperspirant and see if you can find one without aluminum active. Also if new t-shirts are purchased, you might try applying the liquid detergent to the pit area when they are first removed or at least before washing to keep the build-up under control. Of course, ALWAYS wash in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach.

Q: Can you tell me how to get black make-up out of new white towels?

A: A little more info would have been helpful; like name/brand, whether you have tried something to remove it, and the results. The reason is that, unfortunately, these days most make-up is made to stick/stay on the surfaces to which it is applied. This would also go for the towels. While on your skin/eyelashes, these products may stay more on the surface, in towels, the cotton fibers tend to be more open, porous and the black particulates get shoved/ground down into them and this makes total removal much more difficult/impossible.

So what we want to do is first remove any of the "carrier" and then deal with the remaining black colorant/particulates. Probably best not to wet the stain as the carrier is likely a greasy/oily type. Think how you remove these things from your body; maybe even use some of the same products here. We want to solubilize /dissolve the carrier, so pretreat the area with a good liquid detergent or stain remover (apply; rub in; wait 3- 5 minutes then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach. Check for success as you may need to repeat the process.

Q: Help! I washed my son's clothes with a towel that bled red dye all through the load. My son is 20 and he had boxer shorts and t-shirts in the load. Some of the t-shirts have some designs on them. I have left the load in soak overnight and tried peroxide and club soda but the load is still very pink. Is there any way to remove this dye? It contained some of his favorite shirts.




A: I hate when this happens and pink underwear is the result. You did the right things after the "accident" by trying to soak out the color and using a mild bleach like peroxide.


To have a better chance at removal you will need to kick it up a notch on the bleach scale to liquid bleach like Clorox® Regular- Bleach. So we need to know if the boxers and T-shirts can stand to be bleached.

• Just do the simple Bleachability Test on any colored portion in a hidden part of the shorts/shirts (2 tsp 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).


• Then follow the recommended presoak procedure (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes before laundering). Wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach.


• If the colors are not bleachable, I would presoaking/applying Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach (Apply; rub in; wait ~ 5 minutes; then wash immediately with detergent and recommended amount of Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach.


• Check for success and retreat if needed BEFORE drying
  Also remember that washing in hotter water will SLOWLY remove additional dye over time; this will usually be barely perceptible wash-to-wash.
  

Q: I am in collage to become a Massage Therapist. One of my instructors said that we could not use colored sheets and towels because color safe bleach did not disinfect them. Please let me no if this is true or not. I will pass this info on to my school so they can pass it on to future students.




A: Congrats on your career choice as anything that reduces tension in the world is a step in the right direction.


Great question, and one I hear a lot. Your instructor is correct regarding the colored sheets/towels. 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 way 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 tsp 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 100 % cotton sheet that has been water damaged leaving brownish spots in several places. I'm hoping bleach will remove stains such as this, but what concentration of bleach and should I soak for a length of time? The sheet is fairly new and I want it pure white, but don't want to ruin it.




A: You have a couple of options for bleaching the water spot.

You can do....

• The recommended presoak procedure (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes before laundering).

or

• If you have our Clorox® BleachPen™Gel, apply the product, use the scrubber end to rub the product into the stain; wait 3-5 minutes then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach
  


Give either of these a try and let me know how it turns out.

Q: How do I remove a stain on a shirt that was put in the dryer and is quite faint, but my husband noticed it and wont wear it now? Help!



A: I am not quite sure what the original stain was, what the shirt color and composition are and what if any extra treatments you had done to remove the original stain.


You are right to note that after drying this may have "set" the stain especially if it was greasy/oily which makes it much more difficult to remove.


A couple of guesses:

• If it is residual grease/oil, then pretreating with liquid detergent or stain remover (apply; rub in; wait 3-5 minutes; then wash in hottest water recommended on care label) might to the trick.


• If it is residual colored portion of a stain, just do the simple Bleachability Test on any colored portion in a hidden part of the shirt (2 tsp 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 you have our Clorox® BleachPen™Gel, apply the product, use the scrubber end to rub the product into the stain; wait 3-5 minutes then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach


• If the colors are not bleachable, then I would pretreat the spots with Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach (Apply; rub in; wait 5 minutes; then wash immediately with detergent and recommended amount of Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach
  Check for success and retreat if needed BEFORE drying again.

Q: I have a new pair of shorts for golfing. First day out I purchased a permanent marker for marking my golf ball and didn’t put the lid on tight. Now I have turquoise permanent ink all over the pocket of the shorts. Is there an easy way to remove this? They are a cotton washable material -- very light beige.

A: You didn't indicate if the new shorts were colored or white. Here's how I would proceed:

• If the shirt can be bleached, then dampen the stained area with cool water


• First, we want to find out if the shorts are bleachable. Just do the simple Bleachability Test on any colored portion in a hidden part of the shorts (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 you have our Clorox® BleachPen™Gel, apply the product, use the scrubber end to rub the product into the stain; wait 3-5 minutes then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach


• If the colors are not bleachable, then I would pretreat the dampened spots with Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach (Apply; rub in; wait ~ 5 minutes; then wash immediately with detergent and recommended amount of Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach


• Check for success and retreat if needed BEFORE drying

The bad news is you said PERMANENT marker. I'm not sure if any of these approaches will be successful. It's quite possible that anything you try will not completely remove the turquoise marks.

Q: My husband spilled red wine down the front of a pastel blue golf shirt. Unfortunately we didn’t pretreat the stain. The wine stain stayed there for a few hours. Later we tried to pretreat the stain and wash it, but it didn’t work. The stain was still noticeable. My sister said to use bleach, but I am afraid the stain part will turn white. Do you have any suggestions? This is my husband’s favorite shirt. Help!

A: Your instincts were right; pretreat the stain ASAP, especially with red wine. Next time, try some club soda poured from the back of the stain and absorbed onto a towel. This keeps the stain from being driven into the fabric and helps “bubble” it off the shirt.

A lot of colors can be safely bleached. You want to be sure do the simple Bleachability Test on the colored shirt in a hidden part of the 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 the shirt can be bleached, then dampen the stained area with cool water


• If you have our Clorox® BleachPen™Gel, apply the product, use the scrubber end to rub the product into the stain; wait 3-5 minutes then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach


• If the color is not bleachable, then I would pretreat the dampened spots with Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach (Apply; rub in; wait ~ 5 minutes; then wash immediately with detergent and recommended amount of Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach


• Check for success and retreat if needed BEFORE drying

Q: I am a massage therapist. I launder my own sheets. My sheets (some white, some colored) are normal cotton sheets and are exposed to massage oils. Not only are the oil stains a visual problem, they feel waxy and have an odor. I am already washing them in the hottest water possible and use bleach on the white sheets. As I wash 30-50 sheets a week and the oil stains cover a large portion of the sheet, pre-treating oil spots is not an option. Do you have any suggestions to remove more of the oil from my sheets? Please help! Buying new sheets every couple of months is killing me

A: Not sure what your massage oils are made of but know that the extra herbs, etc. can definitely leave a lasting odor.

You are already doing the best you can without the pretreating and that's a LOT of sheets to wash. If you are seeing residual oils and smells, then you need to be solubilizing the oils before they are exposed to wash water. If you can't pretreat them, the only other suggestion might be a professional laundry. Discuss it with them and see if they believe they can deal with you situation. Give it a test run and see. I'm thinking something like dry cleaning where you have a high solvent content that dissolves the oils might do the trick.