Q: My daughter sprayed glass cleaner on her dress. It's all natural, but the color is starting to change. What do I do?

A: Any time you get a cleaning product on a garment it's always a good idea to rinse it immediately; being careful not to spread what you are trying to rinse out onto the fabric. If the color of the dress is permanently altered where the glass cleaner contacted it, you can try soaking the dress in more window cleaner to unify the color – hopefully the new color is OK looking. Another option is to see if you can match the original dress color with a felt pen (well stocked craft supply stores usually have a good selection) and color in the spots to at least keep the dress serviceable. This works really well for white spots on colored items caused by contact with undiluted bleach, but it might also help in your situation.

Good luck!

Q:  How do I remove a red dye stain from a book cover that left a spot on a priest’s linen surplus (vestment)?

A:  For starters, if the vestement is silk, then you cannot use Clorox® Regular-Bleach to wash it.  If the fiber is linen then you can wash it with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach, but you should not use Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel to spot treat the red stain (the pen is not recommended for use on linen fabric).  It's tricky with linen because it is a fiber, but many people commonly refer to woven cotton items as "linens" too.  So I want to make sure we are talking about the same thing.  If the vestement is made from cotton then you could spot treat the stain with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel by rubbing a little directly into the stain and then washing the entire item in the warmest water recommended by the manufacturer using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Allow the vestement to air dry to prevent heat setting any remaining red color that wasn't removed; although I doubt the care instructions recommend tumble drying to avoid shrinkage.  If the bleach treatment doesn't work, then you could also try RIT® Color Remover, which can be found at drug and hardware stores.  Just be sure to follow the package instructions

Q:  Many of my white button-down shirts within time tend to turn slightly off-white, yellowish.  I've tried washing with bleach but it doesn't help.  What should I do?

A:  This is a question I get a lot, and it deserves a long answer.  I wish I knew a little more about your wash habits.  Since your whites have yellowed over time that could indicate a long term cleaning issue.  Here are some factors that affect cleaning and whitening that you may be able to change and see better results.

1. Detergent choice—Make sure you are using a good detergent that contains brighteners and enzymes in addition to surfactants and builders.  Review the ingredient list—better detergents often list the purpose of the ingredients.  Plus, the better the detergent, the better the improvement in performance when you add bleach.


2. Use the correct amount of detergent—Under using detergent will result in poor performance, especially if you wash heavily soiled items or extra-large loads, or if you have hard water. That’s when you actually need to add extra!


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


4. Don’t overload the washer—Clothes need to circulate/tumble freely through the wash water for optimum cleaning.


5. 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.  Perhaps your clothes washer has a bleach dispenser that limits the amount of bleach you can add to 1/3 cup.  In that case, you can experiment with smaller loads, and fill the dispenser to the “max fill” line.

It’s important to note that there are also a few situations when using Clorox® Regular-Bleach can cause whites to yellow:

• Fabric not safe for bleach—You should never bleach garments made with wool, silk, mohair, leather, and spandex. They are damaged by exposure to bleach, which can include yellowing as well as fiber deterioration.


• The fabric finish yellows—Sometimes a finish applied to the fabric/garment will react with bleach and turn yellow.  Hopefully these garments are labeled "non-chlorine bleach only".


• Concentrated bleach exposure—If cotton is exposed to undiluted or extremely concentrated bleach solutions, it can yellow.


• Poor water quality—When the household water supply contains large amounts of metals (like iron and manganese), they react with the sodium hypochlorite active in bleach to form colored materials that can deposit onto clothes.  The best way to handle this problem is to install a water treatment/filtration system to remove the impurities.

Since your shirts have yellowed over time, there’s a good chance you can whiten up the shirts again (as long as the yellowing wasn’t caused by metals).  Here are some techniques you could try:

1. Soak the items in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water.  Fully submerge for 5 minutes, then wash in hot water using detergent + ¾ cup bleach (or fill the dispenser to the max-fill line).  This is ideal for dingy yellow build-up from poor cleaning over time.


2. Overnight pre-soak with powdered Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster. Add 1 scoop Clorox2® to 2 gallons hot water, and stir to be sure the product dissolves.  Fully submerge the items for 8 hours or overnight.  Rinse the soaking solution, and then wash in hot water using detergent and additional Clorox2®.  This is ideal for white shirts that contain a small amount of spandex, which should never be washed with Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

Keeping whites their best can require a bit of work, but definitely pays off!  It’s always good to prevent yellowing in the first place, but hopefully these tips do the trick.

Q:  I laid my clothes over the back of a wooden chair and the wood stain came off onto my clothes. One of the articles of clothing is a white t-shirt and the other is a striped cotton button-down dress. How do I get the wood stain out of my clothes?

A:  My first question is:  was the chair freshly stained?  Considering the stain that would make sense, but that would also be a problem since the dye in a wood stain is pretty concentrated and not likely to come out.  But if a little bit of the finish on an older chair rubbed off, then you could try pre-treating the stain on the white cotton shirt with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel.  Rub a little of the gel into the stain, and then wash immediately in warm water using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Air dry and check for success.  Hopefully the stain will be gone but if it is lighter, repeat the treatment.  You could also try this if the chair was freshly stained, but I'm not sure if it would be as effective since the stain would have been able to absorb into the cellulose (cotton is similar to wood, after all) rather than just sit on top of the fabric.  It's still worth a try!

For the striped button-down dress, if the stain is on the white part of the dress, you could try using the bleach pen as described above as long as the stripes are colorfast to bleach.  That's because you would likely need the follow-up wash with detergent and bleach to get this type of stain all the way out.  To test for colorfastness, apply a drop of a solution of 2 teaspoons bleach added to 1/4 cup water to a hidden part of the dress.  Wait 1 minute and then blot dry--no color change means you can safely wash the dress with bleach.  If the stain is on the colored part of the dress, don't use the bleach pen--it is intended only for white items--but instead try pretreating with liquid Clorox 2®.  Without seeing the items or knowing whether or not they picked up fresh stain, it's difficult to advise the best way to proceed, but hopefully this is enough information for you to get started.  Also, seeing what works for the white cotton t-shirt will be useful information to guide you in how you proceed with the striped dress. 

Has anyone else had this happen to them and had success in removing the stain?

How would you handle a major home remodel that not only demolishes the kitchen, but the laundry room as well?  Staring at the open wall studs that revealed the disconnected pipes that a few weeks ago were attached to my neighbor’s clothes washer I couldn’t help but ask that question.  Turns out their contractor will bring in a clothes washer once every two weeks to help them get caught up on their laundry—a great idea, except how many families can go two weeks without doing at least one load of laundry?  So last weekend I extended my neighbor Julie an offer:  if you can’t make it that long, just bring your laundry over to my house and use my washer.  I was thrilled when she accepted—after all these are the wonderful neighbors who let me use their oven to bake my kids’ birthday cakes during our kitchen remodel!

An hour later Julie came by with two loads, and one mystery stain challenge.  If you’ve read the list of 30 things about me you may remember that I like experimenting on my friends’ laundry, and the mystery stain was just too good to pass up.  Here are the details—a light blue polyester/nylon blend overshirt with small splotches of stain on the front.  Could be from food, but it also had a mildewed look, and Julie also remembered wearing the shirt while she worked outside so it could also be rust. Hmmmmmm...

Starting with a simple pre-treat, the shirt was washed with Julie’s favorite detergent but the stain did not change in appearance at all (so not a food stain), and of course the shirt did not go into the dryer.  Next, since Julie was pretty sure it may have been rust, I first tested a little rust remover on a hidden part of the shirt to be sure it wouldn’t damage the shirt, and then gave it a try—but it also had no effect on the stain.  Which brought me back to the possibility of mold; depending on how long the shirt had been sitting to be washed, that could be it—and would come out if I could only bleach the shirt!  Since the shirt was a polyester/nylon blend, there was actually a very good chance it would be colorfast to bleach, and the bleachability test confirmed this very quickly!  Sure enough, soaking the shirt for 5 minutes in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox Regular-Bleach per gallon of water did lighten the stain.  Repeating the treatment another 4 times was necessary before the stain (yes, it was mold/mildew) was all the way gone.  It’s hard not to give in to the temptation to use a super strong bleach solution and see if that will speed things up, but that can damage fabric, and it was good I followed my own advice:

• Always let an item air dry while you are trying to get a stain out.


• Use the bleachability test to determine if a colored item can be safely bleached.


• Repeating a treatment several times may be necessary to get a stain that’s been sitting awhile all the way out.


• Never apply full strength bleach to any fabric, ever.

And the happy ending?  Julie’s thrilled her new shirt will be worn more than once, and I think it might be time to remodel my laundry room!

Q: How do I remove a stain caused by Clorox 2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster?  It's a ring around what used to be a coffee stain.

A:  What you describe sounds like liquid Clorox 2® was applied directly to the coffee stain (which is good for improved stain removal), but stayed on the fabric too long before being washed.  We typically recommend allowing 5-10 minutes (depending on the type of stain and its severity) for pre-treating before washing an item.  This allows enough time for the surfactants and hydrogen peroxide to work in concentrated form, but not so much time that the colorant and brighteners permanently dye the area. The product should never be allowed to dry on the fabric since the stain left behind (a combination of blue colorant and brighteners) is nearly impossible to remove.  There’s a chance you might be able to remove the blue colorant by soaking the item (if it’s safely bleachable—avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, and spandex) in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water for up to 5 minutes before thoroughly rinsing.  Any residual blue color left after this is actually concentrated brightener that reflects light off the fabric in the blue spectrum.  Success will be depends on how long the liquid Clorox 2® was on the fabric in the first place.

If the item is colored, you still might be able to safely bleach it.  To check, add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach to ¼ cup water and apply a drop of this solution to a hidden part of the item; wait 1 minute then blot dry; no color change means the item can be safely bleached.  If it passes, then you can try soaking it as described above.  I really hope you are able to use the bleach soak and that it works, but unfortunately it may be too late. 

Has anyone else had this happen?

Q: A few white items were washed in a color load and turned blue. Some of the items were all white and others had colored patterns. I did not put them in the dryer.  Currently, I’m soaking them in 1 cup white distilled vinegar and detergent.  If this doesn't work, what else can I do?

A:  That's too bad about the blue dye transfer.  The good news is that you should be able to restore any bleachable items with a bleach soaking solution!

Start by figuring out if any of the white or colored items can be safely bleached (even if they are labeled "only non-chlorine bleach").  First, check the care label and eliminate any items that include wool, silk, mohair, spandex, and leather – these fabrics should never be bleached.  For the colored part of the remaining partially colored items, check for colorfastness to bleach with this 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 the white items, and any partially colored items that passed the bleachability test, try soaking them in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach diluted in 1 gallon cool water for up to 5 minutes, then rinse them thoroughly.  Air dry the items, and check for success (it’s important to keep the items out of the dryer so the heat doesn’t set any remaining dye). 

Hopefully the fugitive blue 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.

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, and when I looked at the calendar this morning I realized it really is right around the corner! However you spend it, your Valentine’s Day is bound to be full of love, smooches and boxes of chocolate. But we all know that smooches from your red lipstick and ooey gooey chocolate squares can leave a little more mess than you bargained for. Check out our infographics below for some fun facts about your smooches and chocolate treats to get you in the loved-up spirit.

And most importantly, don’t forget to visit us if you find yourself with some lover’s day stains to clean up on the 15^th! 

[caption id="attachment_1450" align="alignleft" width="576" caption="I love a box of chocolates from my hubby on Valentine’s Day, and just like most North Americans milk chocolate is my favorite! How much chocolate do you think you’ll eat this year?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1466" align="alignleft" width="576" caption="Some women can pull of red lips, but I’m more of a rose girl. Either way, I think the stat above is a good reminder for all the husbands across America! How many of you will be getting a goodbye kiss every morning?"][/caption]

Q:  I just washed a new red and white striped coverlet I had custom made. I tried to prevent the red from bleeding on the white by putting two Shout® Color Catchers® in the cold wash. Well, I still had some bleeding on the white stripes! How can I get this off? And in the future, how should I wash this product? The coverlet is made out of 300ct cotton sheets that have been sewn together and I did not dry it once I saw what happened.

A:  What an unfortunate situation, but good for you for not tumble drying the coverlet.  You have a much better chance of restoring it since you didn’t heat-set the dye transfer.  

Start by figuring out if the red portion of the coverlet is safely bleachable (even if the original sheet was labeled "only non-chlorine bleach").  You can check for colorfastness to bleach with this simple bleachability test: dilute 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water; apply a drop of this solution to a hidden or less visible part of the coverlet (or maybe you have fabric scraps to test); wait 1 minute then blot dry; no color change means the item can be safely bleached.  It’s hard to know if the red will pass—many colored bedding items do, but red is notorious for being a problem, and you won’t know until you try. 

Let’s say it passes—in that case, soak the coverlet 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, and check for success.  Hopefully the fugitive color will be gone, but if the bleach soak leaves the dye transfer color unchanged, (or if you determined that the red fabric could not be bleached) then you may need to try RITÒ Color Remover, which can usually be found at drug and hardware stores.  Since you don’t want to strip the red color, you may want to try a weak dilution first to see if that does the trick.

You were also wondering about future care of the coverlet.  If you have any fabric left over from the construction of the coverlet you can determine the extent of the bleeding problem by soaking fabric scraps in a warm water + detergent solution.  If the fabric only bleeds one time when you do this, then it could be that excess dye is now off the fabric and you won’t see bleeding in the future. But if it’s not, and the red fabric takes a few more washes to get the excess dye off, you could do a series of warm water washes with detergent to try to get all the dye off the fabric, and then do one final restoration step.  You could also see if bleeding is minimized in cold water, and then only wash in cold water in the future.  If the nightmare persists, and you decide to make another one, try some of the bleach friendly sheets that are now available.

Has anyone else had this frustrating problem happen to them?

Q:  Are there any health/fire/safety risks associated with adding bleach to the rinse cycle (when already used in the wash cycle) to whiten dingy cleaning rags?

A:  Thanks for sending in your question — it’s a very interesting one!  There’s no fire risk with Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  From the product’s Material Safety Data Sheet, Fire and Explosion Data is as follows:

• Flash Point: None


• Special Firefighting Procedures: None


• Unusual Fire/Explosion Hazards: None. Not flammable or explosive. Product does not ignite when exposed to open flame.

Health risks associated with adding bleach to the final rinse cycle would be limited to potential skin sensitivity of people who use the rags in the future, and that would vary between individuals.  The biggest issue (and the best reason to not add bleach to the final rinse cycle) is residual bleach left behind in the washer that could carry over to the next wash load, meaning you could get bleach spots on items not safe for bleach! 

Adding an extra rinse cycle would eliminate the “bleach residue” problem, but I would recommend using a combined bleach pre-soak and bleach + detergent wash instead.  Start by rinsing the rags, and then soaking them for 5 minutes in a bleach solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of warm water.  Drain the soaking solution and then wash the rags in hot water using a good powdered detergent + ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.