Today I am participating in a fun blog carnival called “Works-for-me Wednesday” hosted by Rocks in My Dryer.
My question for all of you in blog-land How do you get yellow arm-pit stains out of white t-shirts?
My hubby wears a white t-shirt almost everyday under his polo or button-down dress shirt. More often than not, after a few washes, the arm pits start turning yellow. If I catch it early, bleach helps… but it doesn’t seem to be the solution here. Any good ideas out there?
We have them too and I am considering just taking some scissors to them…
I hope somebody has an answer, because SOMEONE in our house has the same issue. (The someone is actually me!)
I have an answer to the question! How do you get yellow arm-pit stains out of white t-shirts?
THROW THEM OUT!
My husband has this same problem, but I have never been able to get the stains out! Maybe someone else will have a real solution ;-)
Hey! I just posted about this on my WFMW post last week! Read up and let me know if it works for you!
p.s. Thanks for your ideas on this week’s questions, I appreciate it.
Soak for 4-6 hours in Oxyclean.
I read a hint somewhere in the blogosphere on one of these Wednesdays to add a scoop of baking soda to your hot water, detergent, and bleach. She said it worked wonders…made the whites even whiter…and she specifically mentioned yellow armpits.
I’ve only been trying it a week (maybe two) and haven’t noticed anything yet (my husband’s undershirts are all new and haven’t gotten that delightful yellow gunk yet), but the original hinter raved about the baking soda. It’s worth a try, right? I was just in the W-Mart yesterday, buying detergent, and there was a big box of baking soda for $2.99. It’s pretty inexpensive for the amount in the box.
I can’t stand yellow arm pits. Sometimes I throw them out, especially if it’s a pretty old t-shirt anyways. My mom makes a paste from the powder dishwasher soap and water. She puts it on the stain and let’s it sit for a little while. It’s amazing the stains she can get out.
Try a baking soda paste. Keep it thick (but thin enough to spread around) and rub it on the stain. Let it sit until it is completely dry. Then, wash as normal.
I’ll give you the same I gave Shannon for the socks. My Mom’s tried and true.
#1 – pre-treat stains with Fantastik.
#2 – use 1 cup of bleach (or more) per load of whites.
#3 – use Javex bleach only.
#4 – wash in HOT water.
I’m lazy on this, so don’t judge by my kids whites or my hubby armpits, lol. But my Mom’s whites – they gleam!
I’ve tried the baking soda paste thing, and I had to do it about three times before I noticed any difference. Our “solution” is usually to buy new shirts.
Ahhhh! Thank you so much for asking this question. I have been wondering the same thing.
Based upon the responses you’ve gotten, I think I need to go out and get a big box of baking soda!
It could be linked to the deodorant. Let the deodorant dry before putting on a shirt, or switch to a brand without aluminum salts. I love my Lafe’s Natural Crystal roll-on. It’s about $6, but should last you an entire year. It is not an anti-perspirant, but keeps smell down better than common deodorant, for me (and my man.) The price on the site is more than the supermarket price:
http://lafes.com/xcart/home.php?cat=4
Buy new ones. Seriously. We have an awesome resale shop down the road that oddly, enough, has a slew of men’s gently used nice dress shirts with no pit stains. I just bought my husband two white ones the other day for $10. Really, come on down and we’ll go shopping.
peace~elaine
Try this: Put 1/2 cup of vinegar in with your wash. Hope it works for you!
Honesty, I have wondered about this for YEARS until I did my research. It’s the deo. My husband used to use gel, and wouldn’t let it dry. DROVE ME NUTS. That was the cause. It reacted with the bleach in the wash.
Now, he uses a stick. I wash the shirts alone, in cold, with no bleach but a bit of oxi-clean, or baking soda. No stains.
Ummm, baking soda works for me! Hope it works for you too. I have to soak them in it for a bit tho. BTW, these make great cloths for washing windows and other glass. ;)
Wash them in Cascade Dishwashing detergent – really!