Yellowing shirt collars

Does anyone have a good method of whitening a yellowed collar band? Or does this always mean that it's time to relegate said shirt to the rag pile?

I had (have) this problem with massively-yellowing Land's End "non-iron" 100% cotton shirts. Having laundered them only five or six times a piece, they are yellowed beyond salvage.

Off to the Salvation army they go -- I really didn't like them that much anyway.

Here's what I do, it works like a charm. It has been effective on many types of stains, including sweat stains that have been present for several years.

1. Soak the shirt for an hour or two in a solution made from one gallon of hot water (as hot as it will come out of the faucet) and one cup of vinegar. This just helps to loosen the stain before washing.

2. Purchase a small tub of Oxy Clean (get the granules, not the liquid) from the store. Mix a strong solution of this using four to six ounces of hot water and one scoop of Oxy Clean. The solution should be like a watery paste.

3. Rinse the vinegar from the shirt. Generously apply the Oxy Clean solution from step two to the yellowed areas of the shirt. Place the shirt in a plastic pail and let sit overnight.

4. Remove shirt from bucket. Mix a solution of 1 gallon hot water and one and a half scoops of Oxy Clean. Allow shirt to soak in this solution for up to 12 hours.

5. Remove shirt from solution and briefly rinse. Wash shirt using regular detergent, and rinse. Voila.

I've done this on many shirts with almost complete success. A few shirts with really bad stains may take two tries - usually the first treatment removes about 90% of the stain, leaving a really faint yellow mark behind. The second time usually removes this.

oxy clean does indeed work on all sorts of stains in you soak the item in a bucket as versace states above

i find that putting a stain remover such as shout onto the collar as well and then soaking it in the oxy clean works well too

Originally Posted by VMan

Click to expand...

Here's what I do, it works like a charm. It has been effective on many types of stains, including sweat stains that have been present for several years.

1. Soak the shirt for an hour or two in a solution made from one gallon of hot water (as hot as it will come out of the faucet) and one cup of vinegar. This just helps to loosen the stain before washing.

2. Purchase a small tub of Oxy Clean (get the granules, not the liquid) from the store. Mix a strong solution of this using four to six ounces of hot water and one scoop of Oxy Clean. The solution should be like a watery paste.

3. Rinse the vinegar from the shirt. Generously apply the Oxy Clean solution from step two to the yellowed areas of the shirt. Place the shirt in a plastic pail and let sit overnight.

4. Remove shirt from bucket. Mix a solution of 1 gallon hot water and one and a half scoops of Oxy Clean. Allow shirt to soak in this solution for up to 12 hours.

5. Remove shirt from solution and briefly rinse. Wash shirt using regular detergent, and rinse. Voila.

I've done this on many shirts with almost complete success. A few shirts with really bad stains may take two tries - usually the first treatment removes about 90% of the stain, leaving a really faint yellow mark behind. The second time usually removes this.


Deliberate necropost: I followed Vman's procedure here, and it works wonders. I had some undershirts that had really, really nasty caked-up deodorant stains, and it got them out beautifully.

Highly recommended to anyone with shirt stains--especially the underarm ones from aluminum-based antiperspirant, which are nearly impossible to get out with normal laundering.

I think it's time to move on, you can try those bleach pens but they will only go so far.

I find Oxi-Clean spray works well for light dirt on collars. I have five white Brooks OCBDs that I wear very frequently (for work), and they occasionally get light dirt around the inside of the collar. The spray usually works perfectly.

Originally Posted by hermes

Click to expand...

oxy clean does indeed work on all sorts of stains in you soak the item in a bucket as versace states above

i find that putting a stain remover such as shout onto the collar as well and then soaking it in the oxy clean works well too

Nice to know. I have the same problem.

My roommate has this serious problem and the reason that I say serious because his shirt is dark blue, but his collar is filthy that I can see yellow through blue color.

I use my moms years 40s and 50s trick. This old and fat spaniard soap on the collars during all night and then an usual wash on the morning . http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2091/...bf488bdcf6.jpg

I've had great luck with napthalene soap and a fingernail brush.

White Brite works wonders if you let it soak in the machine before the cycle.

I have been using shout and a fingernail brush on the collars before sending them to the cleaners to be laundered with great success.


I had a related question - while going through my closet I found a shirt that I had worn only once, to a cocktail party and then off and back in the closet. While its possible that I should have noticed when I put the shirt away, when I pulled it out (about 8 months later), it was badly stained in the neck and cuffs. Is it possible/logical that the stains would have appeared sometime later after wearing, or did I just miss it? It doesnt look like your normal ring around the collar brown, but rather a yellowing sweat stain.

Somebody here suggested brushing in a good amount of blue Dawn dishwashing soap with a toothbrush about 15 minutes before the shirts go into the washer. It works -- the dishwashing soap has a compound which breaks down grease.

I am adding my 2 cents to this thread. I use similar products to get rid of those stains. But in order to avoid yellowing shirts, i usually rub my neck with a clean cotton wipe drenched with Cologne Water or rectified alcohol, about twice a week.