Dress Shirt Spots!
 

Help!!

I just went to put on a dress shirt to go to work (business professional in the office at all times) and all of my color dress shirts have these spots in them. It's not ink spots, it's more subtle than that. It looks like a grease stain. All of them have been washed, and all of them are 65% polyester, 35% cotton. The spots are hard to see until you put the shirt on, and it looks like you've peered over a deep fryer and let the grease waft up into your shirt. I just recently moved into temporary housing for my job, could my washer/dryer be doing this? Please help! It's on every single color shirt I have. My white shirts don't have the spots.

Thanks! If you need more info, just ask.

Did you overload your washer? Sometimes when I wash my comforter I get spots like you described.

Since they are colored shirts, the tried and true bleach won't work. Try Oxiclean, a granular additive. Make a paste, apply to spots, let it sit a few minutes and then wash. You can also try 'Shout' or Stain Stick'. 'Shout' comes in a gel with a scrubber top and it works pretty well-again, let it set a while.
I used to get those mysterious spots on pants and shirts and never could figure out what they were. Some suggested mild mineral/rust from the machine, I've heard they're from oil from the machine (although how oil would get in the load is beyond me). Are they anywhere else? Since I tended only to get them on some things and not others, even within the same washload, I think perhaps they have something to do with the fiber in the clothes. I even replaced a favorite pair of slacks because of a huge spot and the same thing happened to the second pair.

All I know is it's freaking annoying, because it renders those shirts unwearable. It looks like you spilled french fries all down your shirt. They are only on the same type of fabric that I mentioned, as far as I can tell. If they are on my other items of clothing, I haven't seen it. I'll probably try rewashing them first, then if that doesn't work, I'll resort to the alternatives you mentioned, ngdawg.

Oxyclean is just powdered Hydrogen Peroxide- and if you're not careful it can eat holes in your clothes!

I'd recommend just rubbing in regular liquid detergent with an old toothbrush, letting sit for at least an hour, then soaking in cold water overnight. Wash, then check to see if the stains are still there BEFORE you put them in the dryer (so the stains won't set). If that doesn't work, take a shirt to a dry cleaner and see if they can get the stain out- if they can, take all your shirts there.

It's entirely possible that a bit of oil found its way into your washer somewhere along the line. I really don't know what to do about that... other than google it or call the company that made the washer and ask them what they'd recommend.

How's Boone :)

If it's grease--Heloise says to sprinkle on a bit of artificial sweetener (doesn't matter which kind, she prefers Splenda) and let it sit there as long as possible. The sweetener will absorb the grease.

:)

I thought the problem was gone, but I just washed a load of clothes with one dress shirt in it, and everything is fine except for the dress shirt. It's brand new and it put spots on it. It isn't as wide spread as the first batch of spotted shirts, but they are definitely there. I'm about to move out of this apartment in a month; I wonder if it's worth it to get the landlord and all that involved. Le sigh.