Q. How can I remove body soils from 100% egyptian cotton sheets? Will Clorox bleach harm the sheets by aging them faster?

A. Thanks for the great question; it’s a common myth that bleach is hard on fabrics, and I’m happy to debunk it by answering your second question first. No, laundering with Clorox® Regular-Bleach will not cause Egyptian cotton textiles to age faster or wear out sooner. Egyptian cotton is special because its fibers are longer than most other cotton fibers, producing stronger yarns and fabrics. In general, cotton fabrics naturally deteriorate just from wearing, washing, and drying; using bleach doesn’t accelerate this effect, regardless of the length of the cotton fiber. We have examined this extensively, evaluating a wide variety of white items commonly bleached: socks, underwear, t-shirts, towels, bed sheets, dress shirts and even baseball pants. Items were washed and dried 50 times, and we found no significant difference in fabric strength between items washed with detergent and those washed in detergent and liquid bleach. I don’t know if you had a chance to review any of the videos on the blog, but there is one that specifically addresses this, “Debunking the Myths about Bleach” at http://www.drlaundryblog.com/?page_id=274. It also demonstrates how to use bleach safely as directed on the label, which relates to your first question: what’s the best way to remove body soils from your sheets? Assuming they are white, I recommend using the hottest water possible, and adding ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach along with your detergent. However, if they are colored, then I would do a quick bleachability test to confirm the color is bleach fast: add 2 tsp liquid bleach to ¼ cup water, apply a drop to a hidden area (for bed sheets I like to test the hem that gets tucked in at the foot of the bed) and blot dry—no color change means the sheets can be safely bleached. If the sheets don’t pass the bleachability test, then I would add Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster along with your detergent, and wash them in the hottest water possible. Thanks for writing, and please let me know if you have any further questions.

Q. I have a small bottle of chlorine bleach which hasn’t been used for a while – don’t know how long. I opened it today and it no longer has that nice, clean, bleach-y smell. It really has no smell at all. Will it still be functional as bleach? If not, how long does it take for this to happen? What happened to the smell? How do I dispose of it, if it is now useless?

A. Thanks for the question; here’s a little background on the shelf-life of Clorox® Regular-Bleach:

The active ingredient, sodium hypochlorite, naturally breaks down into salt and water. The hotter the temperature the bottle is stored at, the faster the decomposition. Generally, bleach stored at room temperature (~70°F) maintains its label strength active level (6% sodium hypochlorite) for approximately six months before starting to degrade into salt and water. After a year, it will still have enough active ingredients to perform well, since it is always diluted before use; just use a little more bleach or a little less water to dilute it. Note that for EPA registered disinfectant uses, always use bleach at label strength, which usually means no more than 5 months past the purchase date, and the bottle must have been properly stored.

Since you don’t remember when you bought your bleach, and it has no bleach smell, it is definitely quite old. The missing bleach smell indicates that most of the active ingredients have converted to salt and water. You are right, it won’t function much as bleach anymore. To dispose of it, I would add it to your toilet bowl and then flush—any small amount of sodium hypochlorite active that may remain will finish breaking down as it travels through your home’s pipes and out to the sewer. You can find many different ways to use it at http://www.clorox.com/cleaner_home/ so your next bottle is used up more quickly.

Q. I recently purchased an HE machine and was wondering if I could use a little bleach in the dispenser for my dark clothes. There was some odor on a few of my darks that I needed to get out, and I was looking for some advice on how to get it out. If not bleach, then what do you recommend?

A. This is a great question that actually touches on several issues, so let me review them before I answer your question.

1. As a general rule of thumb, avoid bleaching dark colored clothing unless you have confirmed that it is bleach-safe. To test an item, do a quick bleachability test: mix 2 tsp Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup of water, apply a drop to a hidden area (hem, inside cuff, side seam) and blot dry. For multi-colored items, be sure to test each color since they all need to pass. No color change means the item can be safely bleached, but a loss of color means that even a small amount of regular bleach could cause damage.


2. HE clothes washers can develop an off-odor from water that is left behind inside the washer’s interior system. It is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, but you can control the problem by running a cycle with ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach once a week, or every few loads if you do a lot of loads per week. These can be empty loads with bleach, or better yet, white loads with bleach.


3. Removing dark and colored loads promptly after the cycle is finished is another strategy to prevent odors from transferring from the clothes washer to the clothes.

Now to answer your question: to get rid of the off-odor on your dark clothes, just re-wash the items following a bleach clean out cycle, and that should take care of it. And for extra cleaning and brightening of your dark clothes, add Clorox2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster along with your regular detergent. Good luck with your new washer, and let me know if you have any more questions.

I put my pen in my shirt pocket without closing it. It was a gel refill pen. The cotton seemed to draw the ink out of the pen, and I currently have a pink cotton no-iron shirt with a dime-sized black spot at the bottom of the pocket. I have not dried the shirt in the dryer, but have tried several remedies including Amodex. It removed a little bit of the stain, but it’s still very visible.

Should I try Clorox bleach on it? Or is there some other method I can try?

A. 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:

1. Apply alcohol-based hand sanitizer to the stain and let it soak in for a few minutes.
2. 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. Good luck, and let me know how it goes.

Q. Is it ok to use “Regular” bleach in an HE machine?

A. Thank you for your question. Yes, not only is it OK to use Clorox® Regular Bleach in your HE clothes washer, it is really important to do so! Any water left behind inside the works of a HE machine can be a breeding ground for bacteria that may transfer to subsequent loads. We hear a lot of complaints from front-loading HE clothes washer owners trying to figure out why their machines have a bad odor, and bacteria growth is usually the culprit. Regular bleach usage prevents bacteria growth and keeps a HE machine smelling fresh. We also receive questions about how much bleach to use. That depends on your HE clothes washer's dispenser design. For best results, always fill the bleach dispenser to the "max" line. Reviewing the user's guide instructions on how to use the bleach dispenser is also a good idea--the more you know about how it works, the better!