Since moving I have started to get very large, stiff, slightly waxy or oily patches on the back of my t shirts after I wash them, exactly where my back leans against my chair. I think they’re just sweat and soap and calcium buildup, but they’re nearly impossible to get out completely. I’ve tried soaking in boiling water, soaking in vinegar, etc etc but nothing seems to quickly and completely get rid of them or prevent it from happening. They stay even after several washes or come back over time when I do manage to get rid of them. Normal cheap cotton-poly blend tees, being worn normally, washed on normal in HE washing machines with the recommended amount of liquid soap. Usually on warm or cold. I am hesitant to do hot very often because of the risk of damaging my clothes. This problem does not occur with my other clothes or my sheets, even when I sweat a lot. It’s just specifically my T shirts for some reason?? Does anyone know a permanent solution to these kinds of stains?

  • blackbrook@mander.xyz
    3·
    9 hours ago

    Is it possible heat or moisture from you back is melting /dissolving something out of the been of the chair? Try draping a towel over the back of the chair while using it for a while to see if it intercepts this substance… Or maybe a sheet of plastic.

  • Zier@fedia.io
    5·
    14 hours ago

    Any type of grease that stays gets washed in hot. Add .25-.5 cups of baking soda in the drum, front or top loader. And do a second rinse if your machine has that setting. Set the wash cycle to heavy. This works well for everything except knits like t-shirts & sweat pants. It will clean those but knits seem to hold that grease longer.

  • kubok@fedia.io
    7·
    22 hours ago

    I have a similar problem with certain shirts in the armpit region, so here’s my €0,02:

    • Soaking said shirts in vinegar for a few hours before washing may help. It is said that that prevents black clotthes from bleaching as well, so that’s two advantages.
    • UV light seems to help. In other words: on a sunny day, hang your clothes outside to dry, inside out.
    • I have a biological detergent that specifically targets protein and fat based stains like blood, grease, et cetera. Soaking clothes in a solution with that stuff works best for me. However, I do not know whether that stuff is for sale outside the Netherlands.
    • Ephera@lemmy.mlEnglish
      6·
      1 day ago

      Yeah, was gonna be my suggestion, too. I get small white stains on specific fabrics and one of my shirts’ colors looked completely washed-out. And yeah, I can get rid of that with citric acid in what my washing machine calls “pre-wash”.

      I’m not sure, it was just leftover detergent for me, though, because while I could wash out some of it by hand-washing the clothes with water afterwards, a lot of it stayed. So, my assumption was that it’s actually just calcium build-up, which of course also goes away with acid.

      • Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        1 day ago

        Use it in the “fabric softener” cycle, not the pre wash. Citric acid neutralizes detergent.

        • Ephera@lemmy.mlEnglish
          3·
          1 day ago

          Does it make a difference, though, if I only put acid into the pre-wash, so no detergent? I was hoping, it would get flushed out before the proper wash cycle.

          I mean, I will check, if my washing machine has a separate hole to put fabric softener in. It does sound like the more appropriate place for it.

          • Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.caEnglish
            4·
            1 day ago

            It does not do a rinse after the prewash, so any detergent added during the main wash will get neutralised and won’t really wash anything.

            It also helps prevent a soap buildup in the machine.

            If you don’t have a fabric softener spot, can always get a “downy ball” which will release during the spin cycle.

      • Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.caEnglish
        7·
        10 hours ago

        I use pure citric acid powder, and use a full tablespoon per load. Just put the powder directly in the fabric softener dispenser.

        It is also makes a cheap, toxic chemical free, perfect rinse aid for the dishwasher.

        • Fondots@lemmy.world
          211·
          1 day ago

          chemical free

          Literally a chemical.

          It’s a common one found in lots of natural foods and such, nothing particularly scary or unusual, but you are presumably buying a purified, concentrated chemical and not just squeezing a lemon into your washing machine as a natural source of that chemical.

            • Fondots@lemmy.world
              121·
              23 hours ago

              No it’s at least 2 chemicals- acetic acid and water.

              And quite a few others if we’re talking about something besides distilled white vinegar.

  • itsathursday@lemmy.world
    5·
    1 day ago

    Could be a bad washer leaking oil into the wash. Had this happen in an apartment block with shared laundry. One machine did this, the other didn’t.

  • snoons@lemmy.caEnglish
    1·
    20 hours ago

    Maybe also try to use the vinegar in the wash cycle by putting it in the cup meant for bleach. Soaking it maybe isn’t letting the vinegar do all it can do.

  • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
    2·
    1 day ago

    I listened to a podcast recently where they were trying to figure out a similarly difficult to remove stain someone was getting in the armpits of some of their t-shirts, but never on their sweaty gym clothes.

    spoiler

    It turns out that stress-sweat is different from exercise-sweat, and he was getting worked up during his video game sessions. I think the solution was along the lines of: “don’t wear your nice shirts when you engage in predictably stressful activities.”

    • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
      7·
      24 hours ago

      Emphasis on pea size. I don’t know the actual limit, but most soap is actually a problem in a washing machine. Laundry detergent is specifically non-sudsing. Dish soap puts you at risk of having a foamy mess to deal with.