Q: My husband likes to use a white washcloth in the shower on a daily basis. After a few launderings, the washcloth soon turns gray. I periodically bleach the cloths in hot water and Clorox Bleach, but, after a time, this no longer works. What is the best way to keep these washcloths looking clean and bright longer?

A: First off, make sure you’re using a good detergent. If you have hard water, you might consider moving to a powdered detergent. This type of detergent contains ingredients called builders that make the water softer when faced with complex water. Interestingly, better cleaning happens in soft water. Also, you might want to add a little extra detergent to make sure you're in a good cleaning environment. This helps if you have a heavy soil load. It also helps prevent re-deposition of removed soil back onto the "cleaned" cloth.

Here are a few additional suggestions to consider:

• Don't over-pack the washer – too much laundry means the detergent can't get to all the stains/soils to remove them.


• ALWAYS wash whites in HOT water. The hotter the water the better the removal.
  
• I am a strong believer in adding bleach to EVERY white load − Wash EVERY white load in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach to help finish the job.

Q: I made the mistake of washing a new red shirt with my other shirts with light colors. The red colored shirt bled and the light colored shirts have red stains all over. Could you help me get the stains off?

A: I probably don't have much good news for you. New dark colors are notorious for bleeding for a few washes and should always be washed with similar dark colors. That's why I always recommend sorting at least whites, lights and darks to avoid the problem in the future.

Depending on how extensive the red spots are and the type of fibers (cotton, poly/cotton, etc) of the remaining shirts, I would try the following:

To have a better chance at red dye removal you will need to kick it up a notch on the bleach scale hopefully to liquid bleach like Clorox® Regular-Bleach. So we need to know if the lighter colored items can stand to be bleached.

• Just do the simple Bleachability Test on any colored portion in a hidden part of the shirts (2 tsp 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).


• Then follow the recommended presoak procedure (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes before laundering). 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 presoaking/applying 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
  Also remember that washing in hotter water will SLOWLY remove additional dye over time; this will usually be barely perceptible wash-to-wash.

Q: I had a stain on a 100% cotton golf shirt. It had been washed a few times when I finally saw the stain. I took a Q-tip and dipped it into Clorox Bleach and rubbed it on the stain. I have done this before on white clothing and the stain came right out. This time, everywhere I used the bleach on the shirt, it turned yellow. Unless I can get these stains out, it's ruined. Please help!

A: First, I NEVER recommend using Clorox® Regular-Bleach full-strength on any item or surface. It should always be diluted because it is so strong and if unrinsed, can actually cause little holes in the garment. That's what happens when there is accidental liquid bleach spillage while pouring into the machine and someone brushes against the washer. Next time they pick up the garment it either has "bleached out" the colors and/or small holes are present.
I suspect that you have bleached some of the dye out of the shirt and the yellow spots are the result. Unfortunately, this is irreversible.

In the future, if you notice a stain after drying, I would first try pretreating it with liquid detergent (apply; rub in; let set 3-5 minutes before washing) and then immediately wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and either 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach, if white or Liquid Clorox2® for Colors Color Safe Bleach, if colored. Always check for success after washing and retreat the item if needed before drying.

Q: My sailboat sails are made of Dacron, white in color. I have seen small black specks in certain areas, which I believe to be mildew stains. Could you please tell me how best to remove the black specks and also let me know is Dacron is susceptible to fabric damage from the use of mildew cleaners? Thank you. E.M. Raasch

A: Short answer here is that Dacron™ is a trademark name for polyester. This material is widely used in such things as tires, fire hoses and curtains as well as clothing. It is also widely used in boating for sails, ropes and even combined with fiberglass for the hulls.
One of the reasons this material is used is it can be easily cleaned and bleach is not a problem here.

For the mildew stains I would try:

• Brush the area with a stiff brush to remove as much as possible.


• If the sail has been removed, you can place affected area in a solution of 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach/ gallon of cool water to soak for 5 to 15 minutes. Wash/scrub the area thoroughly and rinse with fresh water. Repeat if necessary. I probably would wear some rubber gloves if prolong contact with the cleaning solution is required.


• Another approach if the sails are not removed, would be to wash/scrub the stains with hot, sudsy water and some Clorox® Regular-Bleach added; then rinse and dry. Repeat if necessary. Again, I probably would wear some rubber gloves if prolong contact with the cleaning solution is required.

Q: What is the story with Lestoil? It seems suddenly most stores don't carry it and there are some concerns about it on white sinks. Are there some dangers? I used it all the time for years. Why is it not being made widely available?

A: I too, am a big Lestoil fan and yes, it is difficult to find. I usually have the best luck in hardware stores rather than grocery stores. As with most products, if you don't keep advertising them and keep people aware of their presence, then they kind of slowly get forgotten for the newer products. Then stores don't want to stock them and this is the case with Lestoil.

I am not aware of any problems or concerns with white sinks. If you have some more specifics, then I may be able to respond more directly.

Q: My husband wears cotton white T-shirts. I use Clorox in hot water each time I launder them and rinse them twice. They are fairly new (Christmas) and they have developed stiffness in the under arms. He has asked me to buy him new ones. But that is not going to resolve the problem. What can I do? Please help.

A: I hear this question a lot; how do I get rid of the dreaded "pit" stains. The stiffness is simply a build-up of the underarm deodorant/antiperspirant that has not been removed wash-after-wash-after-wash. It can get almost "crunchy" and that is uncomfortable. This can be complicated by the choice of antiperspirant, with aluminum-based ones usually reported as worse for changing colors, and there also seems to be some impact of diet in producing colored components.

Think about what has happened. You take a solid underarm product and apply it to a warm body where it melts. Now, it can more easily transfer to anything that the underarm touches (T-shirt, etc). Add to this the volume of liquid (sweat) that acts as a collection and transfer agent for anything it has collected from the armpit (deodorant, salt, bacteria, body oil, etc) and you can better understand how this generates such a problem.

So what can we do? For the current problem, you need to do something to "re-melt" the build-up. I have seen mention of a couple of approaches: One says to use boiling water poured directly over/through the stained area (be careful of spillage). Then, follow with a paste of 1:1:1 baking soda: hydrogen peroxide: water which is applied after the hot water and rubbed (probably should wear rubber gloves hereto protect your hands from the heat) aggressively into the stain. Rinse again with hot water. It may take more than one application, but this definitely should do the trick. It may also require a good pretreatment with a liquid detergent or solvent. Remember to wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label and use 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach to help kill the odor-causing bacteria. Or the easy solution is simply cut out the affected area and he has a new set of muscle shirts.

For the future, I would check the brand of antiperspirant and see if you can find one without aluminum active. Also if new t-shirts are purchased, you might try applying the liquid detergent to the pit area when they are first removed or at least before washing to keep the build-up under control. Of course, ALWAYS wash in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach.

Q: Can you tell me how to get black make-up out of new white towels?

A: A little more info would have been helpful; like name/brand, whether you have tried something to remove it, and the results. The reason is that, unfortunately, these days most make-up is made to stick/stay on the surfaces to which it is applied. This would also go for the towels. While on your skin/eyelashes, these products may stay more on the surface, in towels, the cotton fibers tend to be more open, porous and the black particulates get shoved/ground down into them and this makes total removal much more difficult/impossible.

So what we want to do is first remove any of the "carrier" and then deal with the remaining black colorant/particulates. Probably best not to wet the stain as the carrier is likely a greasy/oily type. Think how you remove these things from your body; maybe even use some of the same products here. We want to solubilize /dissolve the carrier, so pretreat the area with a good liquid detergent or stain remover (apply; rub in; wait 3- 5 minutes then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach. Check for success as you may need to repeat the process.

Q: Help! I washed my son's clothes with a towel that bled red dye all through the load. My son is 20 and he had boxer shorts and t-shirts in the load. Some of the t-shirts have some designs on them. I have left the load in soak overnight and tried peroxide and club soda but the load is still very pink. Is there any way to remove this dye? It contained some of his favorite shirts.




A: I hate when this happens and pink underwear is the result. You did the right things after the "accident" by trying to soak out the color and using a mild bleach like peroxide.


To have a better chance at removal you will need to kick it up a notch on the bleach scale to liquid bleach like Clorox® Regular- Bleach. So we need to know if the boxers and T-shirts can stand to be bleached.

• Just do the simple Bleachability Test on any colored portion in a hidden part of the shorts/shirts (2 tsp 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).


• Then follow the recommended presoak procedure (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes before laundering). 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, I would presoaking/applying 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
  Also remember that washing in hotter water will SLOWLY remove additional dye over time; this will usually be barely perceptible wash-to-wash.
  

Q: I am in collage to become a Massage Therapist. One of my instructors said that we could not use colored sheets and towels because color safe bleach did not disinfect them. Please let me no if this is true or not. I will pass this info on to my school so they can pass it on to future students.




A: Congrats on your career choice as anything that reduces tension in the world is a step in the right direction.


Great question, and one I hear a lot. Your instructor is correct regarding the colored sheets/towels. Unfortunately, there currently is NOT a product for disinfecting colored clothes. Our Clorox2® for Colors contains hydrogen peroxide as its active ingredient. It is a much weaker bleach than the sodium hypochlorite found in Clorox® Regular- Bleach and is not capable of meeting EPA disinfecting requirements.



As I have written previously, the best way to reduce germ counts in (colored) laundry are:

• Use the hottest wash water recommended on the care label; Might also do more than one wash on these items to further reduce the bacteria count


• Consider washing the items of concern separately so that the germs are NOT spread to more items; transfer can occur in the washer and when transferring /handling from the washer to dryer.


• Use the hottest dryer setting recommended on the care label and dry the items separately to maximize germ reduction. While the dryer isn't capable of completely killing, it will help lower the germ count.


• Check the items for Bleachability. It's surprising how many things labeled as Do Not Bleach are actually OK to use liquid bleach. Do the quick Bleachability/colorfast test on a hidden part of the colored item ( 2 tsp 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. If bleachfast, consider a quick bleach soak (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes) before washing in the hottest water recommended on the care label.


• Finally, to prevent further germ spread, I would do a white load using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach after these items had been washed. Kind of like a mouthwash for your washer.

Q: I have a white 100 % cotton sheet that has been water damaged leaving brownish spots in several places. I'm hoping bleach will remove stains such as this, but what concentration of bleach and should I soak for a length of time? The sheet is fairly new and I want it pure white, but don't want to ruin it.




A: You have a couple of options for bleaching the water spot.

You can do....

• The recommended presoak procedure (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach in gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes before laundering).

or

• 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
  


Give either of these a try and let me know how it turns out.