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Laundry Question

E

Encryptic

Diamond Member
I've got a couple of plain black shirts and almost invariably when I wash, dry and hang them up, there are these weird faint white streaks or spots in random places on the shirts. (No, I'm not Monica Lewinsky, wiseguys. Save the clever remarks. 😀) I can't figure out where they're coming from.

I'm guessing a few things, which may or may not be plausible:

- The liquid detergent (Purex) is leaving spots on them for some reason. This doesn't seem to hold much water though because I've used different detergents and it keeps happening. It also only happens with my black shirts.

- Residue from powdered detergent clinging to the sides of the washer or dryer? (I live in an apt. complex with a big laundry room)

- Residue from my deodorant gets washed out of my shirts and mixes with the clothes, then gets dried on in the dryer. I use Right Guard and it comes in a kind of white powder that's caked together. I just bought a new thing of Right Guard since I was out and got the gel form this time, so I'll see if that makes a difference over the next few loads of laundry I do.

Just wanted to see if anyone else had had a similar experience or had any suggestions. It drives me nuts cause then I have to wet down the spots on my shirts and rub them out or throw them back in the hamper....
 
First off stop using Purex. I know it is cheap, but it is crap. Move up to Tide or All, even Gain is better than Purex.
 
I'd say it's your detergent. Next time, let some of the water run and put the detergent in before you start putting clothes in. That way the detergent gets diluted and the cleaning agents don't sit on your shirts before getting diluted.
 
Originally posted by: CPA
First off stop using Purex. I know it is cheap, but it is crap. Move up to Tide or All, even Gain is better than Purex.
Click to expand...

I really don't think it's the detergent. If you were using dry detergent I'd say you needed to let it dissolve before adding the clothes.

I think you're on to something with the deodorant theory. I used to notice similar white spots on my dark shirts as well. What temperature do you wash in? If it's cold, maybe try warm (hopefully it won't shrink the shirts) 🙂

amish
 
Originally posted by: ThaGrandCow
I'd say it's your detergent. Next time, let some of the water run and put the detergent in before you start putting clothes in. That way the detergent gets diluted and the cleaning agents don't sit on your shirts before getting diluted.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I usually do that anyway, but what I can't figure is why only my shirts seem to be affected by this, not any of the other clothes.

Anyone else got ideas?

 
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Originally posted by: CPA
First off stop using Purex. I know it is cheap, but it is crap. Move up to Tide or All, even Gain is better than Purex.
Click to expand...

I really don't think it's the detergent. If you were using dry detergent I'd say you needed to let it dissolve before adding the clothes.

I think you're on to something with the deodorant theory. I used to notice similar white spots on my dark shirts as well. What temperature do you wash in? If it's cold, maybe try warm (hopefully it won't shrink the shirts) 🙂

amish
Click to expand...

Thanks. 🙂 As I said before, I got a new thing of Right Guard (the gel, not the "powder") so I'll see if it makes a difference over the next few loads of laundry....

 
Originally posted by: ThaGrandCow
I'd say it's your detergent. Next time, let some of the water run and put the detergent in before you start putting clothes in. That way the detergent gets diluted and the cleaning agents don't sit on your shirts before getting diluted.
Click to expand...

Ding. THat's the answer. I use Purex and have no such probs. I also use mostly cold water only.
 
Originally posted by: MichaelD
Originally posted by: ThaGrandCow
I'd say it's your detergent. Next time, let some of the water run and put the detergent in before you start putting clothes in. That way the detergent gets diluted and the cleaning agents don't sit on your shirts before getting diluted.
Click to expand...

Ding. THat's the answer. I use Purex and have no such probs. I also use mostly cold water only.
Click to expand...

Even with liquid (as he noted above) detergent??

amish
 
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Originally posted by: MichaelD
Originally posted by: ThaGrandCow
I'd say it's your detergent. Next time, let some of the water run and put the detergent in before you start putting clothes in. That way the detergent gets diluted and the cleaning agents don't sit on your shirts before getting diluted.
Click to expand...

Ding. THat's the answer. I use Purex and have no such probs. I also use mostly cold water only.
Click to expand...

Even with liquid (as he noted above) detergent??

amish
Click to expand...

Yes. I start the water running into the washer, with no clothes in it. Wait until I get about 2-3 inches of water. Add liquid detergent. Wait about another 30 seconds. Throw clothes in. Close lid. No spots. If you pour the detergent directly onto the clothes you will get those white spots/streaks.

 
I've never had that problem. I use liquid Tide, and I don't overload. Those apartment Maytags have a very small effective capacity, and it sucks. You need to leave plenty of room for the clothes to move around in the water, or they won't rinse very well. The rinse cycle is very short.

There are 3 washers and 3 dryers at my building and whenever I have 4-5 Maytag loads of laundry to do, just I take it to a laundry-mat to use the front loaders.
 
I've used purex and tide before and i noticed that those white marks only happen when i overcrowd the washer. Now Im strictly on purex and i turn the washer on, dump in the soap, go get the pile of clothes while the soap dilutes with the water and then add the clothes, and i wash on a warm/cold setting.. No more white marks.
 
Originally posted by: TwinkleToes77
I've used purex and tide before and i noticed that those white marks only happen when i overcrowd the washer. Now Im strictly on purex and i turn the washer on, dump in the soap, go get the pile of clothes while the soap dilutes with the water and then add the clothes, and i wash on a warm/cold setting.. No more white marks.
Click to expand...


Maybe that's it. We tend to have a lot of dark clothes to wash. :beer: for everyone who contributed their thoughts. Thanks!
 
To get the optimum cleaning detergent manufacturers operate right on the edge of solubility. If they make the surfactant very soluable it won't adhere to the oils and you won't get much cleaning done. If you make it too insolubile, you get great oil adhesion but you can't get the oil/detergent clump out of your clothes and it ends up looking like random white patches on dark clothes (sound familiar?)

The best cleaning occurs when it is just barely soluable. But that comes with a problem. Something that dissolves fully in 2 gallons of water, might not dissolve fully in 1 gallon. So to fix that, they ask you to add more detergent with larger loads since there will likely be more water. But what if you overload? Then there isn't room for much water and the washer doesn't add much water (they have sensors). Thus you ended up adding much more detergent than can be dissolved.

Best solution: don't overload, try washing a bit less at a time.
Second best solution: use less detergent.

The powder/gel arguement usually isn't relavant unless you put the wash time for less than 5 minutes.

By the way, the best rated detergent in almost all studies is Powdered Tide with Bleach (ie gets out the most dirt, oils, and stains). Plus it is one of the cheapest.
 
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