My daughter has a shirt (100% cotton/100% Algodon…as the label reads). The shirt is mostly white but has a black logo. I can’t iron the small black trim and white small skirt going around the edge of the shirt (see picture).
The label says to wash inside out and to use only non-chlorine beach when needed. My question: Is the “non-chlorine” bleach really necessary?
—Stephanie
Hi Stephanie;
Thanks for sending a picture — what a cute shirt! It looks like the black flowers on the little ruffle skirt are printed onto the fabric, and the black embroidery thread is probably polyester or nylon, and shouldn’t run or bleed onto the fabric when you wash it. This makes for a pretty easy-to-care-for garment, which of course I love. And you ask a great question: Is as-needed non-chlorine bleach really necessary? If I were going to try to keep this shirt looking as new as possible for as long as possible (at least until my daughter would grow out of it!) here’s what I would do.
It’s really helpful that you sent the picture, too. It looks like there’s a grape juice stain near the embroidered “y,” and down along the hem. This type of stain would benefit from being pretreated before washing with a little liquid Clorox 2®.
If you have a front loading washer, pretreating is critical for stain removal success because of the way the garments tumble through the wash solution. Liquid Clorox 2® is super convenient for pretreating, and because the formula includes cleaning agents, brighteners and color-safe hydrogen peroxide, it’s very effective, too. All you have to do is pour a little product into the cap (always measure) to line 1 and then use that to pretreat. Add whatever is left to the detergent dispenser along with your favorite liquid detergent (or use it to pretreat other items, including shirt collars).
So to answer your question, “Is non-chlorine bleach really necessary?” I would say absolutely! Please let me know if you have any other questions, and thanks for writing!
—Dr. Laundry