I am a clothes hound college student that is just now learning I need to take better care of these clothes! I ALWAYS separate my colors; whites, mediums, & darks, but I was wondering should I be dividing my mediums? My medium colors consist of anything and everything that isn't navy blue, black, and dark gray. So all of my brights and bold colors with my soft peachy light grays and baby blues are washed together. Is this a bad habit? I want to keep my clothes from fading and looking like the day I bought them.

It sounds like you are the best-dressed student on campus!  Good for you for paying attention to your laundry habits—you are definitely on the right track since you are already sorting into the three main color groupings. For many people, this is enough of a challenge, but for those willing to take the time to further sort what I call the “mixed light colors” load that’s terrific! This load covers a wide range of items, including white items that can’t be bleached (like white camisoles that are a cotton/spandex blend). When these will be part of your mixed colors load, it’s a good idea to limit the other items in the load to pastels and light beige items, and wash the brighter colors in another load if you can. Red items should go into the dark load, although whenever I have enough red items on hand to wash an “only red and pink” load I’ll do just that. The hardest items to sort are the split personality shirts that have a colored body and white sleeves. For these items, initially I’ll wash them by themselves or with a dark load if they are blue or green, and once I’m confident there’s no chance of bleeding I’ll include them in a mixed colors load.

It sounds like your college experience includes housing with easy access to a clothes washer—many students need to spend as little time and money on laundry as they can, so you are lucky!

I spilled red wine all over my favorite shirt! What can I do to get it out?

Unfortunately for red wine lovers, although the tannins help make great red wines, they also really add difficulty to the removal of wine stains. The first step for you is to quickly blot up excess red wine with a paper towel or cloth, or use Club Soda to help bubble the wine off the fabric; blot away excess

From here, if your stained item is white:

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


2. Wash immediately in warm water with detergent and ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular- Bleach


3. Air dry the item and check to make sure the stain is completely removed. If stain remains, repeat steps above.

If your stained item has color or contains spandex:

1. Again, quickly blot up excess red wine with a paper towel or cloth, or use Club Soda to help bubble the wine off the fabric; blot away excess


2. Then apply Liquid Clorox^® 2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster directly to the stain and rub in.  Wait 3-5 minutes, then wash immediately in hottest water recommended using detergent and Clorox^® 2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster


3. Air dry the item and check to make sure the stain is completely removed. If stain remains, repeat steps above.

As promised, today marks part two of our DIY Fall Fashion series! Below are some instructions on how you can create your dip-dyed t-shirt. Be sure to let us know how your pair turns out in the comments section and feel free to link to a picture of your results!

Materials:

• Clorox^® Regular Bleach


• 3% hydrogen peroxide (2 quarts)


• 3 plastic dishpans (12 quart size)


• Plastic hanger


• Measuring cups


• Plastic gloves


• Old, white, full-size towels

1. Set up two dishpans on the side of a sink; put a third dishpan in the sink.

2. In the first dishpan, add 1 1/2 cups Clorox^® Regular-Bleach to 1 gallon of water; stir with a plastic spoon.

3. In the second dishpan, pour in 2 quarts hydrogen peroxide.

4. Rinse the entire tee-shirt in plain water and squeeze excess moisture out so the shirt is slightly damp.

5. Put on your gloves and put the tee-shirt on the hanger.

6. Immerse the bottom portion of the tee-shirt (the part you want to lighten) into the bleach solution (first dishpan).

7. Keeping the tee on the hanger, lift the shirt out of the bleach solution.

8. Watch the shirt carefully—when the bottom looks lighter than the top half (and you are satisfied with the difference in color) drop the entire shirt into the peroxide to stop the bleaching action. (Note that depending on the color of the shirt, results may vary.)

9. Rinse the shirt very thoroughly in cool water in the third dishpan in the sink.

10. Squeeze excess moisture out into the towels, and air dry.

The hot trend in denim this fall is polka dots! But why spend hundreds of dollars on designer jeans when it is so simple to make your own with a pair you already own? Below are some instructions on how you can create your own pair of designer-inspired jeans for a fraction of the price and just a bit of effort. Be sure to let us know how your pair turns out in the comments section and feel free to link to a picture of your results!

Materials:

• Clorox^® Bleach Pen^® Gel (1 to 2)


• 3% hydrogen peroxide (1 quart)


• Paper towels


• Plastic Spoons


• Timer


• Old, white, full-size towels

DIY Polka Dot Jeans Directions:

1. Line the inside of the jeans with plastic (such as a cut open plastic shopping bag) to protect the gel from bleeding through from one side to the other.


2. Shake the Clorox^® Bleach Pen^® Gel with the cap on.


3. Begin applying the gel: using the fine point tip, gently squeeze out a 1/4 inch dot.


4. Continue applying gel dots in a polka dot pattern, working in one direction (such as waist to hem) with the dots you have already applied always away from you.


5. Allow the dots to sit for 2 hours.


6. Keeping the jeans flat on the counter/work surface, gently remove the plastic liners from inside the pant legs.


7. Pour 3% hydrogen peroxide directly onto each of the dots, allowing it to soak into the fabric. This stops the bleaching action, and prevents any gel from lightening other parts of the blue jeans during rinsing.


8. When all the dots have hydrogen peroxide on them, slide them into the sink a little at a time, scraping and rinsing away the gel dots as you go with warm water.


9. Squeeze the pants dry using old towels.


10. Air dry the jeans completely before repeating the treatment on the other side of the jeans.


11. After rinsing the second round of gel polka dots, run the jeans through a gentle cycle using cool water and a little detergent.

Be sure to stick around for next week’s second part of our DIY Fall Fashion series…

I got pen ink on my shirt. What can I do to treat it? Should I try Clorox bleach on it? Or is there some other method I can try?

I have a two-step process for dealing with ink stains that I hope will help you, but first you need to determine the colorfastness of the shirt. Many colored dress shirts can be safely bleached; do a quick bleachability test to be sure. Mix 2 tsp. Clorox^® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water, apply a drop to a hidden area (hem, inside cuff) and blot dry. No color change means the shirt can be safely bleached, and you would treat the stain as follows:

Apply alcohol-based hand sanitizer to the stain and let it soak in for a few minutes.

1. Wash in the hottest water allowed (check the care label) with detergent and ¾ cup Clorox Regular-Bleach. Allow the shirt to air dry and check for success.

If the shirt doesn’t pass the bleachability test, then you can use Clorox2^® Stain Fighter & Color Booster:

1. Apply alcohol-based hand sanitizer to the stain and let it soak in for a few minutes.


2. Apply Clorox2^® Stain Fighter & Color Booster directly to the stain, wait five minutes, then wash in the hottest water allowed with detergent + Clorox2^® Stain Fighter & Color Booster. Allow the shirt to air dry and check for success.

The biggest problem with a stain like this is that the ink is super concentrated and may require multiple treatments to get the stain out. Just be sure to continue to air dry the shirt in between treatments until you achieve success.

It doesn’t matter whether a crayon melted in the pocket of a sweatshirt left in the hot car or accidentally went through a hot dryer—you have quite a problem to deal with. Crayons have a waxy component that doesn't break up in a detergent and water solution--that's why these stains are such a pain. Below are some tips for getting out wax stains which should hopefully help you:

1.  Scrape away as much of the wax as possible with a dull knife.

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 then gently press with a dry iron on its lowest 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 gently press again with the iron. Repeat until no more wax absorbs onto the bag.

5.  Finally, pretreat any remaining stain before washing.  For white items, apply Clorox^® Bleach Pen Gel directly to the stain and rub in, and then wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent + ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach. For colored items (or white items that contain spandex) apply Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster directly to the stain. Wait 5 minutes, and then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and more Clorox2^®.  Air dry and check for success—repeat if necessary.

A few more thoughts on wax removal:  brown paper bags are nice to work with here because it is very easy to see the wax absorb onto the bag. It’s also important to work with the iron on its lowest heat setting so you don’t melt the wax too quickly and cause it to absorb into the fabric, or melt the fabric if it is synthetic. You can check your progress and possibly increase the temperature depending on how hot your iron is--they do vary.

I just bought new white towels that are a Micro Cotton style. The care label says do not bleach. Can they be bleached anyway?

You can absolutely bleach your white Micro Cotton towels with Clorox^® Regular Bleach. If a brand of 100% cotton towels say “Do Not Bleach” for every color, it is likely a way for the towel manufacturer to save money by using the same conservative care label on all of the towels in the product line, regardless of the towel’s colorfastness to either chlorine or oxygen bleach. It’s too bad; this "low-labeling" practice doesn't provide consumers with readily accessible accurate information to help them care for their textiles, the whole purpose of care labels! Anytime you have an item you aren’t sure can be safely bleached, you should do a quick bleachability test: add 2 tsp liquid Clorox^® Regular- Bleach to ¼ cup water; apply a drop on a hidden section area like inside seam, hemline or cuff; wait 1 minute and then blot dry. No color change means it is safe to use bleach on the item.

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

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.

Many people don't know, but you may actually be able to use Clorox® Regular-Bleach to safely wash some colored clothes provided they are colorfast to bleach and don’t contain any spandex. To check if clothes can be bleached, we have our "bleachability" test. Test clothes 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.

Q:  How do I remove color bleeding during laundering?

A: Most garments that are new bleed a little, but usually they stop after a few cycles, so washing newer items alone or only with like colors is an effective strategy for limiting dye transfer.  To restore items that have picked up fugitive color during the wash cycle, you can often do this with a bleach soaking solution as long as the items are safely bleachable.  First, check the care labels and don’t use the soaking solution if the item contains wool, silk, mohair, spandex, and leather--these should never be bleached.  Also, depending on whether your items are white, another color or a combination of colors, you may need to check for colorfastness to bleach with a simple bleachability test:  dilute 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water; apply a drop of this solution to a hidden part of the each item (like a hem, cuff, collar, or inside seam); wait 1 minute then blot dry; no color change means the item can be safely bleached.

For items that are not on the “avoid bleaching” list and pass the bleachablility test, try a bleach soak:  fully submerge the item in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach diluted in 1 gallon cool water for up to 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.  Air dry the item, and check for success (it’s important to keep the item out of the dryer so the heat doesn’t set any remaining dye).  Hopefully the fugitive color will be gone, but if it is lighter, then repeat the bleach soak again.  However, if the bleach soak leaves the dye transfer color unchanged, then you may need to try RIT® Color Remover, which can usually be found at drug and hardware stores.  A dilute RIT® solution works best to limit stripping off the original color of an item in addition to the fugitive dye, so be careful.