Caring for Your Clothes
A little dingy in the armpits? Excessive sweating is the culprit!
And its not just your whites: sweating fades all colors of
clothesyellowing whites and fading darks unevenly.
So how do you keep them clean?
Follow instructions. Those tags on your shirts do more than
identify your size: consider them your laundry cheat sheets. Should
the garment be washed in warm or cold water? Can you use bleach?
Does it go in the dryer? Its all on your tag!
Tip: Realize that items marketed "dry clean only" probably arent
joking. Take these to a commercial dry cleaner to avoid shrinking
and discoloration. For more info, check out Dry Cleaning Tips and
More on Dry Cleaning.
Youd be surprised how much easier garment care becomes when you
simply follow the instructions on the garment tag. As a general
rule, use hot water with bleach to brighten white garments and cold
water with regular detergent and a non-chlorinated bleach (like
Clorox or Biz) to brighten colored clothes. But remember, any kind
of bleaching can be hard on clothes, so use your bleach as
sparingly and infrequently as possible.
Tip: To avoid irritation, allergies or sensitive skin shouldnt use
bleach, and should wash clothes in warm water with a detergent that
is free of dyes and other chemicals.
Timing is everything. Its also good to know when to wash. If
youre active or just sweat a lot, don't let your sweat-soaked
T-shirts and workout clothes sit in the hamper or in your gym
locker for days on end. Take them home and wash them. Remember,
acids and salts corrode metal. Sweat contains your bodys salt,
acid and other chemical byproducts and will erode your clothing if
not removed promptly.
Pre-treat. Pre-treating gets the cleaning going prior to the wash.
If you have an obvious stain or you know that a shirt will likely
develop a stain in a certain area (like your underarms),
pre-treating increases your odds of zapping the stain. Simply apply
undiluted laundry detergent or liquid dishwashing detergent (or rub
bar soap, or suds from bar soap) directly on the yellow-stained
area and launder immediately.
Use quality laundry detergent and fabric softener. In addition to
laundry detergent, use fabric softener when you wash your clothes.
Softener helps keep the material feeling new.
And, yes, the quality of your detergent and softener does play a
major role. Products like Tide and Cheer are more expensive than
generic detergents, but they are also more powerful.
Shortcuts from the Experts
The first time is a charm. According to the "Queen of Clean"
(http://www.queenofclean.com/tips/index.html), after
wearing a garment for the first time, prior to laundering, work in
some warm water and Fels Naptha Soap, available in the bar soap
section of your local supermarket (usually on the bottom shelf),
into the underarm area. This will prevent the yellow stains from
forming in the future.
Grandma Andrews' special mix. Everybody seems to have their own
"secret" formula for fighting the laundry battle. According to
Marcella Andrews of St. Paul Park, Minnesota, the best way to fight
ugly yellow armpit stains is to take six or seven aspirin, dissolve
them in warm water, and soak the yellow-stained area in the mixture
overnight, then wash it with the regular hot water wash load the
next day.
Other Tips and Traps
Cost efficient and environmentally safe. To make "brights brighter
and whites whiter," add 1/4 cup baking soda to your laundry in
addition to laundry detergent. Not only is it great for combating
yellow pit stains, it also removes odors and costs just a few cents
per wash load. Better yet, its better for the environment than
bleach is.
Check before you wreck. Before you throw any clothing into the
dryer, check the stained area to make sure the discoloration has
washed away. If not, don't dry it. If you do, the heat of the dryer
will "set" the stain into the garment forever. Instead, put the
garment through one of the treatments listed above or take it to a
professional laundry for extra attention.
Know your deodorant. Some deodorant products contain acidic
solutions of aluminum chloride, which make the shirts difficult to
clean. Avoid deodorant products containing this ingredient.
Keeping your clothes clean doesn't have to be the pits! Take a
little time and precautions, and your clothes will stay sharp and
clean!