The summer’s relentless heat takes a heavy toll on your wardrobe — especially your crisp white tees. While sweat is your body’s natural way to keep you cool, it’s notorious for leaving behind stubborn yellow stains.
Dingy underarm stains can feel impossible to banish, but with the right cleaning methods, you can bring your favorite whites back to life. So, before you fling your tees into the trash, give one of these easy laundry cleaning hacks a go.
Don't get into a sweat over your laundry
Sweating is how our bodies regulate temperature, and according to Michigan State University, it’s our personal cooling system. And while sweat is mostly water, it also contains electrolytes, bacteria and some types of toxins.
So, if sweat is mostly water, how does it make such an unpleasant stain? Apparently, it’s all down to your antiperspirant. The aluminum in your deodorant reacts with the proteins and salts in your sweat to create a discolored residue.
I’m not going to stop using my trusted antiperspirant, and I’m sure you don’t want to either, so I sought out the best way to clean yellow stains off my whites.
Luckily, there are a couple of easy cleaning solutions, and the main ingredients for banishing yellow stains are already recognized as cleaning staples by laundry pros.
Bicarbonate of soda
According to Janine Dutoon, owner at Belle Lingerie, bicarbonate of soda, when mixed into a paste with water, can lift those yellow stains. I use a similar method for removing grease stains from clothing, but I swap the water for dish soap.
Place a teaspoon or two of bicarbonate of soda into a bowl, add a small amount of water and mix into a paste. This can then be applied to the stain and left for 30 minutes, before placing the garment on its usual wash cycle.
Dutoon also suggests trying the same laundry-cleaning hack, but swapping the bicarbonate of soda for dissolved aspirin. (Let me know in the comments below if you’ve ever tried this method!)
White vinegar will also cut through the stain
If you don’t have any bicarbonate of soda to hand, you could try white vinegar — another multi-tasking product that’s in my emergency cleaning kit! But don’t pour it directly onto the stain undiluted, as this can damage the fabric. A good ratio is two parts water with one part white vinegar.
Laundry Heap recommends applying the solution to the stain and leaving it to work for 15 to 30 minutes before washing. It also recommends air-drying your garment and checking whether the stain has been removed before using a clothes dryer, as the heat will set the stain in for good if it hasn't been removed.
