Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Blue No More

I wrote the other day (here) about how yellow stains in clothing were making me blue. I described what I was doing to get the stains out and invited helpful tips from you my readers, in getting out the stains.

Since my post on this, I stumbled on an alternative to Oxy-Clean powder. I was browsing in a discount shop for a few small items when I came across a new to me product called, L.A.'s Totally Awesome Oxygen Base Cleaner. I purchased a small tub of it for $2.99 (Canadian).  I think this product is very much like the powdered Oxy-Clean.  When I used Oxy-Clean a few days ago I was using the liquid spray not the powdered form which probably works better.  If you can't find the Oxygen Base at the dollar store you can find it on line at Amazon.  One of the ingredients in the product is peroxide. Using peroxide on the stains is a tip that was left by Dimple on my previous post.


When I got home I mixed a bit of the new-to-me powder with water to make a paste.  Then I rubbed the paste into the sleeves of my blouses and left them to soak in hot water. After that I washed the clothing in a long cycle in hot water.  Voila, the look was much improved but still not good enough for me so I washed the blouses again with hot water only.  Again, the sleeves looked better but still not good enough.


I soaked and washed the stains in the solution again and this time I put them out in the sun to bleach. Presto, the stains are GONE or almost gone!  I've put these back out in the sun on the patio for another hour or two to "bleach" them even further. You can see in photos #2 and #3 that there is still a bit of discolouration but if the items are worn, the discolouration is not so noticeable. If you enlarge the photos you can get a better view of the sleeves.  I'm sure that with continued attention to the sleeves, the stains will be completely gone soon.


I would have put the blouses out in the sun earlier but I needed to have a long period of sunshine at the right time. As things happen, yesterday was not so sunny and warm until late in the day and I had no time then to leave the clothing outside.

I am pleased with the results and next time this happens I will be quick to sun bleach the stains.Thank you to every one of my readers who left helpful tips.  With a  lot of time and patience, I've now saved myself from having to buy new blouses for next summer. I think I could save time next time by placing the clothing in the sun much quicker and I hope I remember that should I need to in future.

6 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Sun bleaching! Whodathunkit? But of course, if colours are left out in the sun, they will fade. We've known that for years, so why not? I'm sure my mother and grandmother must have done this, but I've become so undomesticated lately...
Good for you, Penny. I can see it's working!
K

Joyful said...

Hi Kay, I think it was a combination of the peroxide based detergent and the sunshine that is getting rid of the stain. It is good to know the old "remedies" still work. I get excited by solutions to stubborn problems/stains, LOL.

Denise said...

Glad it is working for you.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

It's great you were abel to salvage these ready for next summer, save the hassle and expense of buying more.

affectioknit said...

Good work!

~Have a lovely day!

Cindy said...

Your blouses look great, I will have to look in the dollar store for that cleaner or else try peroxide.
Have a good day!

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