Q:  My son's white 100 percent polyester soccer uniform is dirt-stained.  How can I safely bleach it?

A:  I have good news for you: polyester fibers can be safely bleached with Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Chances are the shirt also has a player number and maybe even a name.  If those components are screen prints, then they should also be bleachable.  If they are sewn on, then as long as the shirt’s care label says “100 % polyester” and not “100% polyester exclusive of trim” then the shirt should still be bleachable and you can proceed as follows:

• Start by rinsing away loose soil and ground-in dirt. 


• If the shirt is really dirty, then you could use a bleach soaking solution to really jump start cleaning.  For this, use ¼ cup bleach per gallon of water and fully submerge the shirt for 5 minutes. 


• Drain the soaking solution and then wash the shirt in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent + ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach. 


• If you have localized dirt stains, you could skip the bleach soak and instead pretreat the stains directly using Clorox® Bleach Pen Gel—rub a little of the gel into the stains and then immediately wash the shirt using detergent + ¾ bleach. 

Whatever you do, though, never apply bleach full strength to the shirt or any fabric!

Q:  How do you remove a Clorox® Regular Bleach stain out of shoes?

A:  This sounds like quite a problem because stains caused by undiluted bleach are unfortunately not reversible.  The trick is to try to keep the shoes wearable by either camouflaging the spot or bleaching the rest of the shoes so they are at least uniform in color.  This assumes the shoes are cotton canvas—if they are leather, that material (along with wool, silk, mohair, and spandex) should never be bleached and additional bleach treatments will just damage them more.  For cotton shoes, here are some different approaches for you to try.

To camouflage a white spot on colored shoes, find a felt pen that matches the shoe color and use it to fill in the spot.  It helps to take the shoes to the store to match the color—the staff will probably let you experiment, and then be sure to keep the pen on hand for touch ups in the future.  This works very well with black Sharpie permanent markers on black items, so hopefully you can match the color.

You can also try to strip the remaining color on the shoes with Clorox® UltimateCare® Bleach, a thickened bleach product with a lower hypochlorite active level that’s safe to apply directly to bleachable fabric.  Working on a white towel, remove the shoelaces from the shoes and set them aside.  Then, apply Clorox® UltimateCare® Bleach directly to the entire canvas surface of the shoes, and rub in with a soft brush for 5 -10 minutes (note that this is a longer contact time than what’s typically recommend for pre-treating with this product).  Next, wash the shoes, with the towel, in hot water and detergent in your clothes washer on a short cycle—this works particularly well in a front loading HE washer.  Allow the shoes to air dry completely, and repeat the treatment if necessary.

Q:  Will bleach remove sunscreen stains from polyester?

A: I would like to break this question into two:  can you use bleach on polyester, and what's the best way to remove a sunscreen stain.  Polyester fibers can be safely bleached, and usually colored polyester has the colorant applied before the fibers are spun so both colored and white polyester is bleachable. One thing to note:  check the care label to make sure your polyester item does not contain spandex, since this fiber shouldn't be bleached.  In that case, you will need to use Clorox2® plus detergent. 

Regarding the stain, sunscreen has an oily component, and polyester fibers are hydrophobic (meaning water repellant), so they will naturally hold onto the oil.  Breaking up the oily component is the most effective way to remove the stain, and liquid dishwashing detergent is actually one of the best tools to get this process started.  Use it as a pre-treater: apply a little directly to the stain, wait 5 minutes, and then wash in the hottest water recommended on the item's care label using detergent + 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach (to help remove the now less-hydrophobic stain).  Be sure to air dry the item and check for success--a wet or damp garment often hides incomplete removal of an oil based stain, so keeping it out of the dryer is important to avoid heat setting any residual stain.

Q: I have a knitted shirt that has some stains, how long should I let it soak with out damage?

A:  Here’s a quick guide to help:

A pre-soak with Clorox® Regular Bleach:  Use 1/4 cup bleach per gallon of water; fully submerge for 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.  (Note: never use Clorox Regular-Bleach full strength—it should always be diluted first).

Pre-Treat with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel: apply the gel directly to stains on white bleachable items, and then wash immediately with detergent + ¾ cup bleach.

Pre-Treat with Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster (for non-bleachable items): apply a little of the liquid directly to the stain and wait 3-5 minutes before washing.

Pre-Soak with Clorox2®: use either 1 scoop or 1 cap added per 2 gallons of warm water.  Submerge colored items for up to 1 hour, and white items for up to 8 hours.

As a general rule, the sooner you wash something, the easier it will be to get the stain out!

Q: My husband's clothes come out with grease stains after I wash them.  What can I do?

A: Regarding the grease stains, do they appear on the clothes after they come out of the washer or the dryer?  When the rubber seal inside the dryer begins to wear out, grayish-black stains can appear on the clothes that feel a little greasy.  In that case, it's time to replace the dryer. 

If you have an HE washer, and do not use bleach on a regular basis, then it is likely your washer has a build up of soil and gunk on the inner works of the machine that can transfer to the wash load.  If you've had the washer for a while, the build up could be quite heavy and you may need to repeat a clean out cycle for complete removal.  At least once a month, if you run a clean out cycle, you'll keep the problem under control.  All that said, if you have a standard top-loading washer, then it's something else, and a little more information would be helpful.  How long have you had the washer, and how long have you had the problem?

Anyone else experience similar problems?