Comments on: How do I get rid of armpit stains?

Question: How do I get rid of armpit stains?

PowerCat — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:21:07 -0800

Why do I get weird stains on my t-shirts, under the armpits?

Most of my t-shirts have stains on the armpits. Some are yellowish, some are darker. I've tried to wash my white t-shirts in warm water with half a cup of bleach at least twice, to no avail.
The deodorant I use is old spide original. The tube is red and the deodorant material itself is blueish. I thought of blaming coffee cause it makes me sweat, but my room mate says it might be marijuana since I smoke it regularily.

What are these stains and how do I get rid of them?

By: Rash

Rash — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:22:07 -0800

By knocking it off with the deoderant.

By: PowerCat

PowerCat — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:29:03 -0800

Everyone uses deodorant yet my friends don't have stains like my t-shirts do. Am I using too much of it? The wrong kind?

By: GleepGlop

GleepGlop — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:29:47 -0800

intiperspirant tends to cause white stains under the arms, sweat causes yellow stains under the arms.

By: Work to Live

Work to Live — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:30:51 -0800

Are you sure it's only deodorant, and not anti-perspirant? (There is a difference.)

I used to get stiff, yellowish stains under the arms of my white T-shirts, and nothing would take them out. I finally switched to plain old deodorant and no longer have the problem.

I think the ingredients in anti-perspirant -- like the aluminum hydro-whatchamacallit -- leaches into the fabric and stays there. Deodorant doesn't have that ingredient.

By: Sprout the Vulgarian

Sprout the Vulgarian — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:31:03 -0800

It might be your body chemistry interacting with the deodorant. Try a different brand.

By: blueplasticfish

blueplasticfish — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:31:36 -0800

plain deoderant is usually ok, its the anti-perspirant that is your problem. the aluminum that is the "active ingredient" in anti-perspirant causes the yellowish discoloring.

you might try switching to an herbal anti-perspirant.

check the label on your old spice, if it doesn't have aluminum and you are getting stains you might try using less or switching.

Also, see this previous question.

By: cosmicbandito

cosmicbandito — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:38:11 -0800

I use the same type of deodorant, and don't have this problem. I vote for the either the body chemistry incompatibility or the weed.

By: ml98tu

ml98tu — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:44:10 -0800

I think it's also the aluminum in the anti-perspirant. Adidas makes a product that is a deodorant but absorbs wetness. It's called Absorbent-Deo and does all the antiperspirant stuff without the aluminum that is probably contributing to your stains.

By: Dark Messiah

Dark Messiah — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:44:23 -0800

I've never heard of weed affecting the chemical content of your sweat... I have, um, rather extensive first-hand knowledge. Unless you're smoking with an ounce or two under your arms, it's likely something body chemistry related and / or the deodorant.

By: GeekAnimator

GeekAnimator — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:49:52 -0800

It's not the deodorant, it's the sweat. I've gotten the same yellow stains in the pits and the collar of some of my shirts, and I sure as heck don't put deodorant on my neck.

By: parmanparman

parmanparman — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:52:21 -0800

Aluminum Chloride DOES NOT contribute to staining. It is salt in sweat that causes sweat stains. If you are sweating too much, use a high aluminum chloride anti-perspirant (I use B+Drier, which is the strongest w/o a prescription, and really does work). If you are dealing with stains, use an oxygen-based washing detergent, which is more likely to remove stains and dried-in salts.

By: killyb

killyb — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:54:04 -0800

use less anti-perspirant(or none at all). I've used oxyclean to remove some of the stains, but not all...and if you honestly think it's the weed it's probably time to cut back on that (for your own good, not your clothes)

By: Rash

Rash — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:05:12 -0800

My sweat doesn't stain, and I use neither deoderant nor anti-perspirant ('cept before a date). If you wash daily, you probably don't need it, either.

By: PowerCat

PowerCat — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:12:25 -0800

I used to use anti perspirant but I dumped that cause my armpits were getting itchy and uncomfortable. I switched to deodorant. Maybe I should just get new t-shirts?

By: adamwolf

adamwolf — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:13:43 -0800

I use a salt brick for deodorant, and I never get 'pit stains', and I sweat a fair amount most every day.

I believe there are a few factors here. I have gotten darkening around my collar on a few white tshirts, and that would be from sweat.

On the other hand, the more 'vibrant' armpit stains are supposedly from aluminum. I wish I had a source.

By: Leenie

Leenie — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:38:54 -0800

I used to have this problem. Way too many ruined shirts. I don't know if it was the anti-perspirants/deodorants I tried, but nothing helped, until...

Certain Dri Roll-On

This is the answer. You actually put it on at night before bed and shower like normal in morning. It stays active for 1-3 days.

No sweat = no stain.
No heavy roll on/stick = no stain.
No antiperspirant/deodorant on your skin when you dress (you put it on at night and shower in the morning) = no stain.

It is VERY nice to have dry armpits and clean shirts.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:59:01 -0800

PowerCat, not much advice about avoiding the stains, but you may want to consider wearing cheap, replaceable undershirts under your, um, shirts. I nearly always do--the undershirts get stained, but my nice over-shirts stay clean.

By: phearlez

phearlez — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:08:42 -0800

Some of the stains you get this way are beyond repair, a result of some of the components of the anti-persperant hydrolyzing into small amounts of hydrochloric acid. For the others you might find a soak in some vinegar helpful.

By: blueskiesinside

blueskiesinside — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:00:34 -0800

I had a nice blouse that got ruined the same way (yellow sweat stains, blegh). If you really want to put the effort in, try soaking it for a day in water with OxyClean and then washing with more OxyClean and spraying a pretreater (Spray and Wash, etc) on the stains. Repeat until stains are gone. For a really bad stain, it took about 10 repetitions of this routine to get my shirt back to pristine white.

By: wryly

wryly — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:03:57 -0800

A great stain remover is Zout. I should be on commercials for this stuff, because I recommend it whenever possible. Oxy-bleaches are a good bet also, as blueskiesinside suggested.

By: aladfar

aladfar — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 13:02:26 -0800

As for the why: my understanding is that perspiration contains some of the same bacteria found in feces. Which isn't to say that our sweat is like shit, only that some of the same organisms present in our gut are also present in sweat.

Some people have more or less of this bacteria. You might wash your clothes every day and still get a shade of yellow in the pits or the collar. Such is life.

But if you can cut down on the sweat you'll cut down on the staining. I notice it on my shirts only if I leave them lying around for a while. On dress shirts, it's obviously a problem. For the tshirt I wear at the gym, I don't particularly care about the stains.

Between anti-perspirants and a zen approach to pit stains, you should be OK.