What is this splotch?
July 29, 2013 1:10 PM Subscribe
I'm panicking a bit, because I really want to wear a certain shirt tomorrow. I don't have too much time to do internet searching so I'm taking a shortcut by posting here.
I have a very nice 100% cotton wrinkle resistant shirt. It's got a nice sheen to it. I don't wear it very often. It is an Easter egg blue color.
I just noticed that there are lighter blue splotches on it. I have no idea where the splotches came from. It almost looks like spilled milk. I can't tell if the shirt was in contact with bleach, or if it's something else that doesn't want to budge. I've tried a bit of Folex but that didn't work.
Are there any "tests" to help identify what the splotch is? Any advice on how to clean something like this?
Where are the lighter splotches? Could your deodorant have gotten on the shirt? I have inadvertently stained a few shirts with deodorant and the stains look similar.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 1:27 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 1:27 PM on July 29, 2013
Do the splotches have any texture at all? Those do look like bleach stains.
posted by penduluum at 1:33 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by penduluum at 1:33 PM on July 29, 2013
Looks like bleach stains.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:33 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:33 PM on July 29, 2013
I got stains like that from getting drops of hand sanitizer on a pair of khakis. They looked like bleach stains and unfortunately did not come out.
posted by jabes at 1:37 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by jabes at 1:37 PM on July 29, 2013
I have a shirt that weirdly looks like that when it gets drops of water on it and they dry. It goes away when it's washed. It could also be bleach or something similar, you don't use acne treatments containing benzoyl peroxide by any chance? Or it could be milk or toothpaste or something.
If the fabric has been lightened by something then there's nothing you can do to fix it anyway. And if it's dirty then a normal wash with whatever strain treatment (e.g. Vanish) and good detergent you normally use is likely to fix the problem. So I'd go for the wash first and see if that works. Whether you'll get it dry by tomorrow depends on the shirt and your normal drying methods, but you can't really wear it with stains anyway so you don't have much to lose at this point.
posted by shelleycat at 1:39 PM on July 29, 2013 [5 favorites]
If the fabric has been lightened by something then there's nothing you can do to fix it anyway. And if it's dirty then a normal wash with whatever strain treatment (e.g. Vanish) and good detergent you normally use is likely to fix the problem. So I'd go for the wash first and see if that works. Whether you'll get it dry by tomorrow depends on the shirt and your normal drying methods, but you can't really wear it with stains anyway so you don't have much to lose at this point.
posted by shelleycat at 1:39 PM on July 29, 2013 [5 favorites]
If you will be wearing it with a jacket or vest, it might cover the stained area.
posted by yohko at 2:07 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by yohko at 2:07 PM on July 29, 2013
I don't know how you dried it last, but I have had similar mysterious spots on clothes from what I can only assume are the dryer sheets. They're a bit oily in texture though, so if yours aren't I would second bleach stains. The dryer sheet spots came out in the next wash.
posted by sarahgrace at 7:21 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by sarahgrace at 7:21 PM on July 29, 2013
When you wash your clothing, do you wait until the washer is full with water before putting the detergent in? My boyfriend does not do this and puts the detergent in with the dry clothing before it fills with water and ends up with these stains on some of his shirts.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 8:53 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by MaryDellamorte at 8:53 PM on July 29, 2013
I have gotten bleach stains like those on my clothes from dishwasher detergent splashing.
posted by KathrynT at 11:01 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by KathrynT at 11:01 PM on July 29, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the interesting ideas. I ended up buying a new pair of pants to go with a different shirt.
As for the blue shirt, it really does look like something bleached it. Unfortunately, the more I look, the more light splotches I see. Shucks. It was a great shirt. I will give it one more valiant effort with a stain remover, and if that doesn't work... call it time to "get over it".
Thanks again!
posted by icanbreathe at 8:37 PM on July 31, 2013
As for the blue shirt, it really does look like something bleached it. Unfortunately, the more I look, the more light splotches I see. Shucks. It was a great shirt. I will give it one more valiant effort with a stain remover, and if that doesn't work... call it time to "get over it".
Thanks again!
posted by icanbreathe at 8:37 PM on July 31, 2013
If it is a bleach stain or similar, all the stain remover in the world won't help. A bleach "stain" is really where bleach removes some of the dye from the fabric. The only way to undo a bleach stain would be to re-dye the shirt (which of course might not take evenly).
posted by freezer cake at 2:30 PM on August 2, 2013
posted by freezer cake at 2:30 PM on August 2, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by icanbreathe at 1:23 PM on July 29, 2013