Dear Home Ec 101,
I have a question about deodorant stains on nice clothing!
I have a fuchsia pink bridesmaids dress and there is a thin line of white along the armpit seam. I need to get rid of that stain.
I’m sure I could take it to a dry cleaners but do you have any suggestions?
Thank you!
No Stinky Pits Here
Ivy says:
I emailed the original emailer about this to find out what her dress was made of before answering, because there’s a big difference in what you do with different materials. What I failed to ask were the regular laundry directions, so I’ll just give both answers.
The fabric is a polyester blend on this particular dress, which means it’s most likely washable. In the case of washable items, simply pretreating the stain and then washing as usual would probably get the stain out. Some antiperspirants can permanently fade the material, so keep that in mind.
If the material is not washable, the best method of removing the stain is to sponge the area with alcohol. Dilute alcohol with 2 parts water for acetate, Rayon, and triacetate; test silk for colorfastness before using alcohol.
Be careful and spot test the material before doing anything serious to it! Good luck.
Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.
Fuschia must be ‘in’ this year. i’m in a wedding next weekend with a silk shell/polyester lining so definately not washable. Any tips on what to do so i don’t have this problem? Its supposed to be in the upper 80’s and very humid and it’s an outdoor wedding so going w/o is not an option.
I found these things called “Gal Pals”, which look like pink sponges about the size of your palm. If you get any deodorant stains on your clothing, you can rub the Gal Pal onto your clothes. I’ve never had them damage any kind of fabric, and I’ve used it on cotton, rayon, silk, etc. No affiliation, I just really like it! I found mine in a 3 pack at The Container Store.
Great tip- I’m sure it’ll save some money on dry cleaning in the long run.
As a hairstylist I'm constantly shampooing clients and I don't want them to have a prime view of any undearm nastiness including hair or deoderant stains on my dark workshirts. I've switched to the liquid Addidas roll-on deoderant. Sure, they're a bit of a hassle in that you have to apply them and let them dry before you pull on your shirt but I apply the deoderant, then work on my makeup while it dries, then pull on a shirt. It leaves nothing on any of my dress shirts and dark tanktops.
Tender thanks you looking for details. It helped me in my assignment
I've had some luck removing underarms stains from vintage white clothing with white toothpaste and old worn-out toothbrush.