Removing 15 year old sweat stains from dress shirts

[josepidal]

Please feel free to laugh. Cleaning out my closet, I found old dress shirts from 15 years and 15 kg ago, left in storage. They fit again thanks to pandemic weight loss, and I'm eager to rediscover these old beloved shirts, and some were well loved and well worn. They are in perfect condition but for severe sweat stains at the tops of the collars (including some white and white contrast collars) and the folds of French cuffs. I even found a set of old Thomas Mason fabric J. Crew being recommended on this forum in a Style Forum sale feeding frenzy many years ago.

I tried soaking these shirts for over 24 hours in 50% white vinegar, 50% water, then running them through a hot washer setting for 2 hours. It removed but did not eliminate some stains, and many are still visibly stained at the collar.

What is the best way to save these shirts without replacing the cuffs and collars? Just dunk them again in 50% white vinegar and 50% water, making sure they are submerged and not exposed to air to avoid dye reactions from the vinegar, then keep washing? Or is this a lost cause?

 

[dougc33]

Please feel free to laugh. Cleaning out my closet, I found old dress shirts from 15 years and 15 kg ago, left in storage. They fit again thanks to pandemic weight loss, and I'm eager to rediscover these old beloved shirts, and some were well loved and well worn. They are in perfect condition but for severe sweat stains at the tops of the collars (including some white and white contrast collars) and the folds of French cuffs. I even found a set of old Thomas Mason fabric J. Crew being recommended on this forum in a Style Forum sale feeding frenzy many years ago.

I tried soaking these shirts for over 24 hours in 50% white vinegar, 50% water, then running them through a hot washer setting for 2 hours. It removed but did not eliminate some stains, and many are still visibly stained at the collar.

What is the best way to save these shirts without replacing the cuffs and collars? Just dunk them again in 50% white vinegar and 50% water, making sure they are submerged and not exposed to air to avoid dye reactions from the vinegar, then keep washing? Or is this a lost cause?

Caveat : May be a lost cause. Sweat stains are especially persistent and I haven't found a reliable method to eliminate completely.

That said, for whitening, I've had a modicum of success with a blend of baking soda (the carrying agent that will turn the blend into a paste) and hydrogen peroxide (make sure it is FRESH - buy a new bottle) and lemon juice. Apply the paste to the areas you want whitened and scrub with a soft-bristled brush. Sit in the sun for as long as you can be patient - minimum of a full sunny day's worth.

Spray with Shout and wash in as hot a water as the shirt will withstand. If shirt is completely white I add bleach.

You may also need to repeat the process.

Good luck and let us know what method you deploy and the results!

 

[josepidal]

okay, is the vinegar even effective? I had a white polo shirt with some kind of brown stains on them from storage (though not around the collar and not for 15 years) and two dunks in a strong vinegar solution eliminated these completely.

 

[gnatty8]

I'm waiting for the explanation of how you actually LOST weight during those lockdowns?

 

[josepidal]

I'm waiting for the explanation of how you actually LOST weight during those lockdowns?

Being forced to eat your own cooking has that side effect...

 

[bicycleradical]

I'm waiting for the explanation of how you actually LOST weight during those lockdowns?

I rode my bike more miles in 2020 than I had in any year until that point.

 

[FlithyButler]

On the pieces of true white fabric only... the best (but last resort) would be actual bleach [sodium hypochlorite].

Very abrasive to the fiber and definitely not something to make a habit of, but would be fine purely as a one-time thing; you aren't planning to wait another 15 years in-between further washes after all.

Just something to bear in mind with whites if all else fails.

 

[complexgloss]

Please feel free to laugh. Cleaning out my closet, I found old dress shirts from 15 years and 15 kg ago, left in storage. They fit again thanks to pandemic weight loss, and I'm eager to rediscover these old beloved shirts, and some were well loved and well worn. They are in perfect condition but for severe sweat stains at the tops of the collars (including some white and white contrast collars) and the folds of French cuffs. I even found a set of old Thomas Mason fabric J. Crew being recommended on this forum in a Style Forum sale feeding frenzy many years ago.

I tried soaking these shirts for over 24 hours in 50% white vinegar, 50% water, then running them through a hot washer setting for 2 hours. It removed but did not eliminate some stains, and many are still visibly stained at the collar.

What is the best way to save these shirts without replacing the cuffs and collars? Just dunk them again in 50% white vinegar and 50% water, making sure they are submerged and not exposed to air to avoid dye reactions from the vinegar, then keep washing? Or is this a lost cause?

Hi,
It depends on the fabric content of the shirts. If they're 100% cotton I would put them in a vat of oxyclean for, essentially, as long as you're willing to with as much powder as you're willing to use. Neck sweat stains are stubborn but Oxy will lift a lot. Not as familiar with what that may mean if there's any facing in the shirts, but if you've run them through on hot already this is no worse. If they're synthetic it'll still work but it can get really ground in with that.

 

[josepidal]

100% cotton, tailored with Thomas Mason or similar. What do you mean by powder and facing?

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

100% cotton, tailored with Thomas Mason or similar. What do you mean by powder and facing?

Powder means the oxyclean powder that you'd be putting in the water to soak your shirts in. Really, you're probably SOL, but oxyclean has worked miracles for me before so it's definitely worth a shot. You can dissolve quite a bit of it into hot water to make the solution very concentrated, and then leave your soiled shirt soaking for many days at a time. I once left some stubborn stains in there for the duration of a 2-week trip, and when I came back, the stains were gone.

I think by facing he means any stiffening materials used in the collar and cuffs, which might not completely tolerate being dunked in OxyClean for a long time. The Thomas Mason fabric itself should be fine.

 

[Carl@]

Great help was this very old thread that I bookmarked. It worked for me quite well, but of course I didn’t tried it with 15 years old stained shirts. Basically very similar approach to what has been already suggested.

stain-removal-guide