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5 Simple Tricks to Remove Stubborn Sweat Stains From Shirts

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There are several reasons your clothing, or sheets, may retain a less-than-fresh whiff or hard-to-remove yellow stains — most of which come down to the deodorants you use on your body and the products you wash your clothes in. With a little know-how, these unpleasant smells and stains can be removed and avoided in future.

What causes yellow sweat stains on clothing?

Sweat stains are caused by aluminum compounds in your deodorant reacting with the salts in your sweat. This can build up over time, and hey presto, you’ve got yourself a not-so-attractive yellow tinge to the armpit area.

5 Ways to Get Rid of Yellow Sweat Stains on Clothing

  1. Make a paste using four tablespoons of baking soda and a quarter of a cup of warm water. Rub this into the stain with your fingers and leave out in the sun for two hours. Then wash as usual.
  2. Use equal parts of hydrogen peroxide, water, and baking soda on the stain — soak for an hour, then wash as usual.
  3. For severe perspiration stains, crush a couple of uncoated aspirin into a powder and mix with a little water to create a paste. Apply this paste to the stains with a toothbrush, then wash as usual – the salicylic acid will help get rid of the stain.
  4. Squeeze the juice from a fresh lemon into a bowl and dilute with an equal measure of water. Leave on the yellow stain for one hour (preferably in the sun), then wash as usual.
  5. Soak in an oxygen bleach stain remover — do not confuse this with regular bleach, which is likely to make it worse!

How to Prevent Yellow Clothing Stains

Prevent future stains by spraying the underarms of your shirts with a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar when you take them off (make sure they’re dry before tossing them in the laundry basket; otherwise you’ll be dealing with mildew stains next!).

How to Remove Body Odor From Clothes and Bedding

Too much laundry detergent may be the cause of lingering body odor in fabrics. Excess detergent leaves behind a sticky residue that is excellent at trapping odors caused by sweat.

To remove this residue — and set the odors free — wash the items in the hottest water they can stand, adding only white vinegar (no detergent) to the load.

This article originally appeared on our sister site, Homes to Love.

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