Although deodorants are essential for preventing body odor and maintaining our personal hygiene, they can sometimes leave stubborn streaks and white marks on clothes. These stains are caused by the oils and aluminum salts in deodorants, which are not easily removed. If you’ve ever found yourself with white streaks or yellowish residue on your favorite garment, you might be wondering what can be done to remove those embarrassing traces of deodorant.
In this article, we’ll walk you through several simple, yet effective methods that can help rid your clothes of unsightly deodorant residue, so you only have to worry about how you look!
Instead of removing deodorant stains, try preventing them.
Don’t wonder how to remove deodorant stains from clothes after they appear; prevent them from happening in the first place with these simple tips:
- Wait until your deodorant is completely dry before getting dressed to minimize transfer.
- Wash white and light-colored clothes as soon as you’re done wearing them to prevent bacteria in sweat from mixing with your deodorant ingredients and forming those nasty yellow stains.
- You can start by applying a thin layer of baby powder or cornstarch to your armpits after showering and before putting on deodorant. This creates a barrier between the sweat glands and the antiperspirants and prevents stains from forming.
- Widen the application area of your antiperspirant stick – which decreases the concentration per area, and therefore its staining power.
How to remove deodorant stains using everyday products?
If you’re a little late and now trying to find a way to remove deodorant stains from your clothes, take a look around your house. You may already have some of these stain removers. If the first method you try doesn’t completely remove the stain, you can always opt for one of the other solutions below. Before you begin, be sure to read the garment care label and test your stain remover solution on an inconspicuous part of the item.
Nylon stockings (yes, really!)
Here’s a great trick to use for colored clothes. Rub the stain with nylon stockings, a dry towel, or even a clean sock, then run the garment through the washing machine with a color-safe detergent designed to help clothes stay vibrant. This method is ideal for removing traces left by a stick deodorant.
Water and lemon juice
Apply a mixture of equal parts water and lemon juice to the stain, then let it sit in the sun for an hour before rinsing your garment and washing it normally in your washing machine. The natural whitening effect of lemon juice and sunlight is ideal for fading deodorant stains on light-colored clothes.
White vinegar
Soak the stain in white vinegar for about an hour and loosen the deodorant stain by brushing it off with an old, clean toothbrush. Then you can run the garment through the washing machine with organic detergent. Soaking deodorant stains in white vinegar works just as well for white clothes as for colored clothes.
Baking soda and water
Prepare a paste made up of three parts baking soda to one part water, rub on the stain, let stand for a few hours then wash in the hot water cycle. This process is perfectly suitable for treating dried and yellowish deodorant stains.
Aspirin
Crush three or four tablets of aspirin and make a paste following the same steps as above. This technique is reserved only for white clothes.
There it is: preventing and removing deodorant stains is easy as pie. Just follow our advice and don’t forget to read our other articles.
