Laundry mavens: Need men's white shirt help

PinkFridge

Sun, Jul 12 2015, 2:36 pm

Please tell me your tried and true techniques, brands, etc., to prevent and get out ring around the collar and cuff stains.
Also, my son has black stains on the outside of some shirts. His theory is that it's from leaning back with his hat tilted back, so the stain's coming from the felt.

Thanks!

zaq

Sun, Jul 12 2015, 3:05 pm

The black mark on the back of the collar is coming from the hat. Tell your ds to quit tilting his hat back, or learn to live with black collars.

Oxyclean MaxForce Gel Stick is reputed to be the be-all and end-all for collar and cuff rings. I have not found its reputation to be deserved, and it is rather expensive. I prefer a good old-fashioned stiff brush dipped in liquid laundry detergent and applied with a generous dose of elbow grease shortly before putting the shirts in the machine. You may not want to do this for your ds, and who could blame you? That should be his job.

Understand: stain removal products remove STAINS, not DIRT. First you have to get rid of the dirt, which is a large part of cuff and collar grime. Putting Oxyclean or bleach on a dirty shirt will avail you nothing.

PinkFridge

Sun, Jul 12 2015, 6:14 pm

zaq wrote:

Thanks. This is what we figured. But it's not just the collars, the stain is on the outer shirt, not the inside.
And you're right about training ds, the problem is that I don't do laundry when he's home. How about if he pretreats the night before?

zaq

Sun, Jul 12 2015, 8:58 pm

Pretreating the night before is even better: it gives the detergent more time to work. I suggest using a colorless liquid detergent just to be on the safe side

The staining from the hat is caused by the felt fibers rubbing off onto the shirt. I'm not sure whether the dye used on the fibers is also transferring to the shirt, in which case it may never come out, or if it's just that the felt fibers are so fine that they are more like a powder and therefore look like a stain.

Many thanks to my ds who informed me about the "hat stain". I couldn't imagine how his neck could possibly be dirty enough to make his collar literally black as coal. We call collar rings "black" but they are really grey, or yellowish-grey. The residue left by a black hat is mamash black.

Ashrei

Sun, Jul 12 2015, 10:56 pm

Lady Godiva

Sun, Jul 12 2015, 11:26 pm

Shout stain remover works miracles for me. (I don't have experience with black-hat staining issues, but it has never failed me, yet.)

kiwi strawberry

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 1:07 am

I actually use a bar of ivory soap on these stains and I've found that works very well. It's annoying to do it all the time but for a stain here and there it's great. I put some cold water on the stain, rub the soap bar on the stain, put some more water, and rub the shirt together in that area. I've seen wonders with this method, including with collar and cuff stains.

LittleDucky

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 1:58 am

I do any or all of the above, depending on how nice a shirt, how bad the stain and how much time I have. Soak in oxi clean (powder dissolved) and use a stain remover (shout etc) OR laundry detergent smeared on and let sit before throwing in the machine seems to work best. Repeat detergent before throwing in the dryer if needed. I smear with my hand many times- I lose brushes too easily. Just work it into the stain well and let sit.
I hate bleach and this works on colored clothes too!

But what to do about pen?

LittleDucky

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 1:59 am

kiwi strawberry wrote:

Why ivory bar?

amother

Navy

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 4:04 am

try sano oxygen..an exc stain remover

Chana4

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 4:31 am

I live in Israel and have tried everything... I get shout every time I go back or have someone bring me refills because it works the best, just spray it on before you put it in the washing machine, no need to rub and scrub and wash hot with no bleach.....

It should be white as new.

BTW I use it for my babies cloths as well, but that I shout right away and let it sit and all his cloths still look brand new and in perfect condition. ( He spits up and is a very messy eater)

kiwi strawberry

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 9:08 am

LittleDucky wrote:

Why ivory bar?

That's just what I use. I've tried dove and that just didn't work.

6pack

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 11:18 am

To the one wondering about pen/ink stains, I keep a can of cheap aerosol hairspray just for ink. It works great!

Stars

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 11:22 am

Octagon Bar Soap, if you want to put in some elbow grease. Gets rid of the worst stains.

amother

Peach

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 2:51 pm

Here is what works for me:

I rub Shout Gel Stick on the collars, cuffs and any other stains.

Then I fill the machine with warm water, Oxy Clean and Tide With Bleach (or any brand detergent with bleach alternative). Add the shirts and let soak for several hours or overnight. Works great.

It might be expensive, but I figure that all the detergents I am using for this load are still way cheaper than one shirt which I might have to replace if the stains don't come out.

zaq

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 6:39 pm

Ashrei wrote:

I was going to start a similar thread, I hope you don't mind if I ask for some details. I'm housework challenged...

'stiff brush,' like a tooth brush or a dish brush with a handle?
dipped in 'laundry detergent' like the free and clear tide I usually use? (not HE, we have an old machine)

yes to both or a nail brush. Free and clear is the best because there's a slight chance that colored detergents might stain the fabric if left in too long.

And I rub this on the collar and cuff areas where it looks yellow and dirty respectively?

Precisely.

Something else I was going to ask is:
1. What brand white shirts are best?

[color=Font Color]I have no idea. But I do know that sateen, even 100% cotton sateen, is a dreadful fabric that looks cheap and does not hold up. The thicker the fabric, usually the better the shirt, but also the more ironing it requires.[/color]

1a. Do you iron these?

[color=darkblue]Hey, I'm a liberated woman. Also a lazy one. I taught my dc how to iron almost as soon as they were big enough to reach the ironing board (I exaggerate, but not much) and let them iron their own. Ditto for dh except he already knew how to iron when we met. [/color]

2. Do you get a different brand for Shabbos and iron those?

My dss buy different shirts for Shabbat than for weekdays. Shabbat shirts are usually white-on-white and have French cuffs. It's a Yeshivish shtick. I personally see nothing wrong with wearing a nice new blindingly white oxford shirt with button-through collar on Shabbat, then downgrading it to every day when it no longer looks quite so sparkling. My dss wouldn't be caught wearing an oxford shirt on Shabbat.

I happen to like the Stafford brand of oxford shirts from JC Penney as well as the pinpoint oxford ones from Lands' End. Stock up when they are on sale--they never go out of style.

3. Ever use bleach? Bleach pens?

Yes to bleach, but only when desperate. I love bleach but it is not kind to fabrics. I once stained one of my dss shirts even worse by pouring bleach right on it--the bleach turned the white fabric yellow. It was a very inexpensive shirt and the reinforcing material under the placket may have been the culprit, but I'll never know.

Bleach pen is helpful because the bleach stays right where you want it.
I have used bleach directly on fabric (NOT RECOMMENDED but I do it anyway) when there is a really bad conspicuous stain. If the shirt is ruined by the bleach, well, I can't use the shirt as it is. I have had excellent results dabbing bleach on a cotton swab right on the stain and flushing with lots of water as soon as the stain vanished. You must rinse like mad to remove all the bleach, otherwise residual bleach will continue to eat away at the fabric.

Also, be careful when ironing any fabric that has had a stain removed with bleach. heat will often bring the stain back. You see, bleach doesn't actually remove the stain--it just turns it white. heat will turn it back. You could go back and forth a few times this way, until the bleach eats a hole in the fabric.

Hydrogen peroxide--yes, the stuff you use for cuts and scrapes--is a milder bleach than chlorine bleach. It does the same thing but more slowly, so you need not be quite as careful as with chlorine bleach.

Besides washing and ironing them, how else do you recommend treating the shirts to DH (my boys are still little) looks put together and fresh in them?

[b]

Wash as soon as possible. Don't leave them lying around in a hamper for two months, esp. not in the heat of summer when the heat will help spots set into stains. "Wrinkle-free cotton" is usually easy to iron, and may need no ironing at all if machine-dried and removed from the dryer and hung up while still slightly damp. Stretch the seams and the collar and cuffs to straighten and he should be good to go.

If dh sweats a lot, he should wear a short-sleeve T-shirt underneath. Pretreat collar and cuff rings and any other spots. Add some vinegar to the final rinse water to counteract the alkalinity of the sweat. White cottons should be washed in the hottest possible water (though this means more ironing, it makes for a whiter wash); permanent-press in warm.

If your detergent does not contain optical brighteners, you can put bluing in the final rinse to give the illusion of a whiter white. Or air dry in the sun if you have that luxury.

But remember: all white fabric will eventually discolor, even if it is never used. There is no way to keep white fabric white forever or to make an old shirt look like a new one.

amother

Silver

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 7:24 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

black stains on outside of shirts is from the straps (retzuos) of the tefillin

sourstix

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 7:28 pm

I use bleach and oxiclean and they work wonders on white shirt. I use a qtip and put the bleach straight on shirt. and then wash as usual. oxi clean does wonders too. make sure to first put it in hot water so it dissolves and works better.

PinkFridge

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 7:31 pm

amother wrote:

black stains on outside of shirts is from the straps (retzuos) of the tefillin

Bingo. Our detectives just figured that out. But I still all the help I can get otherwise.

sourstix

Mon, Jul 13 2015, 7:34 pm

this is to the poster who soaks clothes in the washer overnight! a washer repair guy told me never to soak clothes in machine for that many hours. it ruins the machine. clogs the holes and just ruins the parts you cant see but is right behind the holes. please dont soak in machine overnight. 2-3 hrs is fine but not more. if you need more then use a sink or bathtub.