Sweat Stain Removal
Visible underarm stains on a white shirt look unpleasant and ugly aside from the fact that it can ruin your expensive clothes. The stains can set permanently especially on rayon and silk vintage garments and it’s difficult to remove.
However, these underarm stains are caused by the reaction between salts in your sweat and anti-perspirant ingredients that mostly contain aluminum compound to keep down the wetness.
Without proper handling of your clothing, the build up and yellowing on fabrics will be visible after continuous wear and eventual use of antiperspirant products.
How to prevent the yellow underarm stains
To protect your outer shirt from yellow staining, you should wear an undershirt for extra layer or if possible, try switching to an aluminum-free antiperspirant product. Make sure that you read the labels and choose brands with lesser aluminum content that provide the protection you need.
After application of antiperspirant, let it dry before dressing to keep your clothing from possible rub-off, if you don’t have enough time, blast some air from your hair dryer for a quick dry.
If you have sweated while wearing your clothes, dry clean or wash your clothes immediately so the stains will not set in permanently. If yellow stains are getting visible, stop using the clothes dryer as the heat could set in residual stains that make them harder to remove. If possible, dry your clothing under the sun to step up the whitening power of the fabrics or you can air dry your clothes indoors.
How to get rid of underarms stains
First and foremost, make sure that your shirts are capable of being washed, if the washing instruction says dry clean, believe the tag. Here are the 2 methods to try on if your shirt is washable and white, though success will be contingent upon how old the stains are and fabric content of your shirt – note that cotton whitens better.
• 1:1:1 – Make a mixture of the following 3 ingredients – One part peroxide, one part baking soda, one part water. To treat one shirt, you require ¼ cup of peroxide, ¼ cup of baking soda and ¼ cup of water. Rub the 1:1:1 mixture into the stains and let it set for at least 30 minutes. After that, you can use an old toothbrush to clear away any residual stains and then wash the fabric in cold or warm water.
• 1:1 – Make sure to wear gloves when mixing the solution of 1 part ammonia, one part oxygen based detergent (like oxiclean) in a well ventilated room which is 2 tbsp for each ingredient in every shirt. Rub the mixture into the stains for 30 seconds and wash it thoroughly using warm or cold water.
Make a point to test the solution for light colored shirts like yellow, pink or blue in an unnoticeable spot like the hem before trying the treatment under the arms to make sure that the solution will not fade the garments. If it doesn’t tarnish the color of your shirt, you can proceed using it as for white shirts.
However, to remove and freshen up darker colored shirts that may have unnoticeable residual stains, fill the washing machine with cool water and add 1 cup of white vinegar. Soak shirts for around 30 minutes and drain the water with vinegar and wash it thoroughly as usual in cool water.
Following these instructions can really help getting rid of the yellow underarm stains on your shirts.
