How to remove stains from clothes that have been stored for a long time?

Every housewife has had to deal with the problem of yellow spots appearing on white things. They cannot be washed either by hand or in a washing machine, and after using chlorine bleaches they can become darker and more noticeable. How to remove yellow stains from sweat without damaging the fabric? What means can be used? How to put things in order that have old stains?

Before moving on to the question of how to remove yellow spots from white, you should understand the nature of their origin and know how you can prevent their appearance on things.

Why do stains appear on clean clothes?

Most often, unpleasant yellow spots appear on light-colored clothing. There are several reasons for this:

• hard water used for washing;
• poorly chosen detergent;
• ironing that does not correspond to the quality of the fabric;
• unwashed sweat stains;
• improper use of bleach;
• grease stains on fabric;
• prolonged improper storage of clothing;
• frequent use of perfume when wearing clothes.

Helpful Tips:

1. Over time, yellow spots appear on white tulle. To get rid of them, use folk recipes: add a small amount of blue (1 capful) to water and stir thoroughly. Immerse the tulle in the solution and then rinse.
2. You can bleach stains from tulle using brilliant green: after washing, place the curtains in water with coarse table salt (3 tablespoons) and powder. Leave the tulle for 2 hours, add 3-4 drops of brilliant green, rinse the product. The curtain will not only get rid of stains, but will also become more elastic.

Read more about the causes of yellow spots on clothes

As a result of light-colored clothing being soaked, yellow spots appear on it. The reason for this is urea in sweat. The use of antiperspirants will only worsen the situation, since substances resulting from the reaction of sweat and substances from deodorant make such stains difficult to remove.

To begin with, you should try to avoid such problems. To do this, you need to follow the rules of personal hygiene. Particularly sweaty areas should be washed daily with warm water and soap and, after drying, treated with lanolin and talc. You should also avoid eating spicy foods, especially on hot days.

Attention! Excessive sweating can be a sign of a number of diseases.

If the cause of yellow spots on clothing is improper washing, then you should choose a more expensive and high-quality detergent. You should also make sure that the product is suitable for washing in hard water. This will help overcome another problem of yellow spots. The reason lies in the fact that most washing powders and gels react with hard water salts, which causes marks to appear on light-colored fabric. Also, the detergent must match the type of fabric, its color and washing method.

If it is not possible to purchase another product, then water additives will improve the situation:

• lemon acid;
• soda ash;
• vinegar;
• specialized softeners for hard water.

Another mysterious reason for the appearance of stains on clothes is their long-term storage. Even new things can lose their presentable appearance if stored for a long time. The most likely cause is increased moisture in the fabric or insufficient drying before storage. In addition, yellow spots may appear on those items. Which were stored in a room with high humidity or mold.

Important to remember! Storing clothes in a room with mold can cause a colony of fungus to form on the fabric itself and eventually destroy it.

You can prevent this outcome by adhering to several rules:

The appearance of yellow spots can also be caused by improper ironing of clothes and other textiles. To avoid this you need to:

If the stain was caused by bleach, then the following rules were violated:

Recommendation! If bleaching is necessary, it is better to use oxygen-containing products that can be washed by hand, machine, or boiled.

How to get rid of stains on various types of fabrics?

Looking for the right approach to solving the problem of how to remove yellow stains from clothes that have been lying around for a long time requires not only the type of stain and the means at hand. Be sure to take into account the type of material so as not to completely damage the product.

Cotton

To remove yellow stains from old age from white cotton items, you can use the following improvised means:

• Soda.
• Salt.
• Ammonia.
• Laundry soap.
• Hydrogen peroxide.
• Lemon acid.
• Vinegar.

Use the products as follows:

1. Prepare a mixture of 4 tablespoons of soda and 100 g of water. Apply the resulting slurry to the contaminated area. Rub lightly with a brush. Leave for an hour and then machine wash.
2. Add a little peroxide to a bowl of water and soak the product for 30 minutes. Wash the item and rinse. You can also use peroxide in the following way: pour 1-2 teaspoons of the product onto the stain and, until the fabric is dry, iron the treated area, and then wash the product.
3. Instead of peroxide, you can add vinegar to a bowl of water and soak the item for 30 minutes, and then wash it.
4. Prepare a solution of 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of ammonia and 1 glass of water. Place the item in the solution for several hours, then wash with laundry soap and rinse.
5. Prepare paste from 4 tbsp. spoons of soda and ¼ glass of water. Wipe the contaminated area with the mixture using a brush with the mixture applied. Leave the product for 1 hour and wash as usual.
6. Dilute a pinch of citric acid in 1 teaspoon of hot water and apply to the stain. Sprinkle soda on top of the dirt. Leave the item for 10-15 minutes. Rinse your clothes.
7. Grind a piece of laundry soap on a grater. Add soap shavings to the boiling container. Place the contaminated items in the solution and boil them for 3-4 hours, stirring constantly.
8. If there are old stains on thick cotton fabric, treat them with a solution of 4 parts white spirit and 2 parts ammonia. Leave the area of ​​fabric soaked in solvent for a short time, and then wash and rinse thoroughly.
9. For the oldest stains, use gasoline and ammonia, using them alternately: wipe the stain with a sponge with purified gasoline, and then treat the area with ammonia. Make sure the fabric is thoroughly wet. Wash the item and rinse thoroughly. Air dry clothes to remove odors.
10. You can get rid of stubborn stains using the following composition: 30 ml of purified gasoline, 40 ml of denatured alcohol (technical alcohol) and 20 ml of ammonia. Apply the prepared solution to the stain and leave for 5 minutes. Wash the fabric as usual.

Silk

If you find unsightly stains on silk items or other delicate fabrics, then use the following recommendations:

1. Mix 10 g of glycerin with 2-3 drops of ammonia. Apply the solution to the stain and leave for 15 minutes. Rinse clothes in warm water.
2. Dilute hyposulfite in crystals (you can buy it at the pharmacy under the name antidote) in 200 ml of water. Wipe the contaminated area with the solution and after a few minutes, rinse with warm water. The stain will disappear, and the silk will be renewed and gain additional shine.
3. Prepare a solution of table salt and ammonia: 50 g of each ingredient per glass of water. Place the item in the solution for several hours, then wash with laundry soap and rinse.

Wool

It is possible to remove age stains from clothes made of such delicate material in the following ways:

1. Regular laundry soap (72%) will help remove stains from a wool product. Grate a bar of soap and dilute with water. Apply the resulting mixture to the contaminated area, wait a few hours, and then wash the item.
2. To remove dirt from woolen fabric, use glycerin: dilute 20 g of glycerin + 10 g of ammonia in 1 glass of water. Treat the contaminated area with the mixture. Rinse the product in warm water and dry.

Old storage stains: basic washing principles

There are many ways to remove old stains from old clothes. Regardless of which one you choose, you must adhere to a number of rules:

• dirty things cannot be washed or even simply rinsed in hot water, since most stains from such a procedure only eat deeper into the fabric and become fixed there.
• the best water temperature for washing is room temperature;
• It is better to dry clothes made from natural fabrics of a light shade in the sun, since in this case ultraviolet radiation will contribute to the bleaching of textiles;
• proteins contained in sweat, reacting with chlorine, will make the stains darker, so yellow stains on clothes soaked in sweat cannot be washed with chlorine-containing compounds;
• if you had to use a chemical bleach or stain remover for children's clothing, then after that you should immediately wash it with soap to wash out possible allergens and irritants to the baby's skin from the fabric;
• New laundry detergents should be tested on a small area of ​​fabric first to ensure that it does not damage the material. The same should be done with items being washed for the first time.

Is it possible to paint over stains on fabric and how to do it?

If neither a professional nor a folk method for removing yellowness helped, you can try to paint over the stain. Suitable for this:

• dye;
• permanent marker;
• acrylic paint for fabric.

In the first and second cases, there is a high probability that the tone of the entire product and the stain itself will be different and, therefore, will be very noticeable. But as for acrylic paint, covering it in 2 layers will hide any flaw in the fabric. And if after 12 hours you iron the entire thing on the back side, the paint will set and will never wash out.

Finding the best way to remove yellow stains from white things can only be done through trial and error. In any case, it is worth choosing a product depending on its aggressiveness and type of fabric.

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Stain removers and how to use them

If yellow stains are noticed on clothes that have been lying around for a long time, then the first step is to soak them for a long time, and then wash them in the usual way. If this does not help, then you can choose a more sophisticated method.

Method 1

For this method, you need to prepare a mixture of bleach and vegetable oil:

• take 2 tablespoons of chlorine-free bleach;
• add 2 tablespoons of oil (olive or sunflower);
• add an incomplete glass of washing powder;
• if desired, you can also add 2 tablespoons of stain remover;
• the resulting composition is diluted in 5 liters of hot water;
• let it cool a little and soak things in water for a long time;
• after that, take out the laundry and wash it in the machine in the usual way.

Method 2

To prepare a cleaning product from hydrogen peroxide and soda:

• take 2 teaspoons of hydrogen peroxide;
• 2 tablespoons of soda;
• 2 teaspoons dishwashing detergent;
• mix all the ingredients to a thick paste, adjusting the consistency with the amount of soda;
• Apply the mixture to the stain on the fabric and rub;
• stand for 20 minutes;
• Machine wash with stain remover added.

Remedy 3

The pharmacy also sells products that can help in the difficult task of removing old stains. They should be used as follows:

• the item must be completely wet;
• Hydrogen peroxide is generously applied to contaminated areas;
• hissing and foaming will confirm the start of the interaction reaction;
• at the end, the item must be washed and rinsed in the usual way;
• Next you need to prepare powder from aspirin tablets;
• dilute it with water to a paste;
• Apply the mixture to the contaminated area with a damp cloth;
• leave for 2-3 hours and rinse.

Another “pharmacy” method of removing stains is associated with methenamine, or in common parlance – dry alcohol. It should be crushed into powder and then used in the same way as aspirin in the previous method.

Method 4

For the next method, it is recommended to prepare a solution of citric acid. They do this as follows:

• add 1 tablespoon of citric acid to 1 liter of warm water;
• the fabric is pre-soaked in an alcohol solution;
• after 1-2 hours of soaking, add a solution of citric acid to the alcohol solution or soak only the contaminated areas in it;
• Finally, the fabric must be washed in a machine with washing powder.

Attention! These substances are quite aggressive, so the method is not suitable for delicate fabrics.

Top household chemicals in the fight against yellow spots

If you can’t remove the yellowness with home remedies, professional stain removers will do. Among them:

• ACE OXI MAGIC.

• Vanish OXI Action.
• Antipyatin.
• Frau Schmidt.
• Ecover.
• Amway Pre Wash.
• Sarma Active.
• Just a minute.
• Edelstar.
• Udalix Ultra.

To remove stains on white, it is recommended to use not only professional household chemicals, but also folk recipes.

Recommendations for caring for white clothes

It is not always possible to get rid of stains on clothes, so white items need to be properly cared for. The following rules must be observed:

• ensure that detergents are completely dissolved in water;
• do not wash white linen at high temperatures;
• rinse clothes thoroughly so that no powder remains on them;
• use emollients;
• sometimes ventilate things that are not worn for a long time;
• wash items immediately after contamination appears;
• do not use products with chlorine;
• Avoid antiperspirants with aluminum.

If contamination cannot be avoided, then it is safer to remove a stain on a white shirt using folk remedies. It is recommended to use aggressive chemicals last, because they reduce the lifespan of things.

Video material

To prevent yellow stains on clothes from bothering you anymore, follow the rules for caring for them and use our recommendations and recipes. Of course, you can take things to the dry cleaner, but believe me, old stains there will be marked as difficult to remove, which means you will not receive any guarantee for their removal. So take matters into your own hands and prove to everyone that old things have the right to “life”, and yellow spots are not a hindrance to them.