Nobody can fault you for breaking into a sweat on a scorching-hot day. But showing up to work on a cool day with yellow sweat stains under your arms means something is wrong with your laundry technique.
Normally most kinds of sweat stains shouldn’t be too hard to remove from a T-shirt, blouse or shirt with a normal cleaning cycle in the washing machine. But if you still see sweat marks on a clean top, then here’s what you need to do.
First, try washing any sweat-drenched clothes with a bleach-containing powder detergent or a universal detergent, if the label says that’s ok.
“If the sweat stain is still visible after washing, it may be a stubborn deodorant stain,” says Bernd Glassl a laundry pro from the German Cosmetic, Toiletry, Perfumery and Detergent Association (IKW).
If that’s the case, just clean the stain again, only this time with a special stain remover for sweat and deodorant stains, which you should be able to find in a drugstore.
Alternatively, you can try adding a few drops of a citric acid-based bathroom cleaning product, such as those used against limescale on tiles or sensitive fittings, he says.
The best method is to pre-treat the stain by applying this cleaning agent — leave it to soak in for about 10 minutes, then rinse it out and put the item back in the washing machine.
If the under-arm on the top turns yellow after prolonged storage in the cupboard, it’s possible that too little detergent was used during the last wash.
Before washing again, it can help here to pre-treat the stain by, for example, applying liquid detergent directly to the stain or using a pre-wash spray. – dpa
