Q: Recently my husband and I were on our trip-of-a-lifetime to Alaska. While on the bus to the McKinley Express Station the gentleman behind me spilled the dregs of his coffee on my brand new sweatsuit purchased specifically for the 8 hour train ride to Denali National Park. The material is 94% cotton, 6% spandex and the stain has been on the suit for over a week. My husband thinks Oxyclean is the way to go. What do you think?

A: If I had thought ahead, I would have had you wear it on our river rafting trip; that would have washed it away.

If not, here's how I would proceed:

• If there are colored stripes on the sweatsuit, you’ll want to be sure you can do the simple Bleachability Test on the colored stripes in a hidden part of the pants (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)
  
• 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 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.

  Again, sorry for the "spots" and hope the rest of your trip didn't include many other spills.

Q: I sprayed two light khaki pants with Clorox Stain Out. They faded in the area that I pretreated. It also got onto other fabrics in the wash and it looks as though I put Clorox Bleach on them. What can be done about this? These were very expensive pants. Thank you for any advice.

A: This is quite baffling. The fading you describe usually is caused by bleach contact and StainOut does NOT contain any bleach. I have also seen this when Clorox2® for Colors is left on the item and dries. This is the result of the brightening agent which helps make the item look brighter, is "set" in that spot. Again, StainOut does NOT contain a brightening agent. It has surfactants to solubilize the stains but nothing that should cause lighter colored spots.

I would try wetting and retreating the area with liquid detergent then rewashing. If it is surfactants, they would be resolubilized and removed. Also check the StainOut bottle to be sure nothing has been added and consider not using it again.

I just returned from my second trip to Canada to help promote the Ultra Javex® Bleach by Clorox introduction. I made several appearances in Ottawa and Kingston this trip and in Toronto before. I really enjoyed the friendly people North of the Border.

I found that as the laundry category has been changing there is a lot of consumer confusion regarding shrinking products and usage. Those are much smaller bottles and those measuring caps seem so small. Manufacturers have removed water and made the new formulas more concentrated. To get the same results you will be using 25-50% LESS product.

It is more important than ever to follow directions; use the measuring cap and do NOT just pour your usual amount into the washer. If you are glugger and splasher, doing your usual pour will now mean you could be adding twice as much product as before. It may seem that you are using up that new bottle much faster than before because you are. Actually if you are continuing your old habits, you may find your clothes do look cleaner but that is an expensive price to pay.

There is also some potentially good news with the new liquid detergents being more concentrated makes them even better pretreaters. So now when you find those grease/oil stains, rub a little into the stain and let it sit 3-5 minutes before washing.

Same holds true for bleaches whose usage volumes have also been decreased. Be sure to look at the recommended usage amounts and try to follow them to maintain your satisfaction with your laundry products.

Q: Help! We have a dress that we were trying to get mud stains out of... we mistakenly let the clorox 2 dry on it and now have yellow stains all over it. It is an orange and white searsucker dress...can it be saved?

A: I don't have any good news for you here. Unfortunately, once the Clorox2® for Colors has dried one of the ingredients, the brightening agent which helps make the item look brighter, is "set" in that spot. I have tried retreating the area, rewashing and have never had any luck totally removing it. It just does not want to be re-solubilized. Sorry I don't have any better news for you.

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.

Q: When I launder my whites with Clorox, they tend to smell like bleach afterwards. Is there any way to get rid of the bleach smell on my whites?

A: The bleach smell is one of those things that you either LOVE, because it means clean to many consumers... Or others, like you, may like the benefits of bleach but would like to not have the left behind bleach smell. Simple solution....Try our Clorox UltimateCare Bleach. It's thicker with lower bleach level and a TERRIFIC Soft Cotton scent. You'll notice the difference as soon as you take the garment from the washer.

Q: I have 26 - 85% polyester, 15% spandex little league football pants that are 75% white and 25% dark blue, and full of dirt, grime and grass stains. I put liquid Clorox 2 on the stains and let them sit a little too long, and the white went yellow. How do I get them back to white? Please help! I’m a coach in trouble with kids and parent organization.

A: The yellow is from allowing the Liquid Clorox 2 to dry out on the fabric. Unfortunately, once this occurs, the Clorox 2 brightening agent has become affixed to the garment and is slowly removed with repeated washing. You might try re-applying the Clorox 2 and then re-washing within 3-5 minutes in the warmest water recommended for the garment. It might re-solubilize some of the brightener, but doubtful for all of the brightener. It’s possible this will make it less obvious and usable while repeated washing will help slowly remove the problem over time.

As I mentioned in my previous posting, we have a new laundry product on the market, called Clorox 2® for Colors Free & Clear. The great thing about this product is that helps keep your colors as bright as your whites are white, without the use of perfumes or dyes. Just like Clorox2® Bleach for Colors you can pretreat stains and soils and/or add it to your wash.

Clorox2 Free & Clear is made with no fragrance or perfumes added. This product fits the theme of other perfume and color free laundry detergents such as Tide® Free, Dreft®, and all® Free Clear to name a few. Many people are ultra sensitive and are looking for products without scents or dyes. Clorox2 Free & Clear is a good laundry additive compliment to these detergents. It’s also great for use in the laundry when you don’t want the scent of your laundry additives to interfere with a detergent or fabric softener scent.

Keep an eye out for Clorox 2® for Colors Free & Clear the next time you’re in the laundry aisle!

Here at Clorox, we always have a number of new products in the pipeline! We’ve launched another new laundry product this spring, building our line of color safe bleach products.

We all know how great Clorox® Regular-Bleach is for getting your whites clean and stain free. I’m always asked, “But what do you do for colored clothes?” My recommendation is Clorox2® Bleach for Colors. I have talked about Clorox2® Bleach for Colors several times in my previous posts. Clorox 2 contains a milder, oxygen bleach which makes it color-safe. So on your colored clothes, you can pretreat stains and soils and/or add it to your wash. It cleans better than detergent alone, brightens colors and removes tough stains.

Clorox2® Bleach for Colors is a specially formulated to be safe on washable colors and fabrics. It comes in both liquid and powder forms. Typically, I recommend the liquid for its’ ease of pretreating, but the powder form is great when you have really tough problems like outdoor stains and soils.

Finally, just like regular bleach, sometimes you’re not sure if it’s ok to use the product on a specific item. We have a quick bleachability test, so you know it’s safe to add Clorox2. Simply add a drop in a hidden area; Rinse after ~ 5 minutes and air dry. No color change means that it’s OK to use Clorox2.

More details on the new product in my next posting!