Cruel Summer - Sunscreen Stains

[westtexman]

Spray-on sunscreen is awesome, but unfortunately the after effects aren't so groovy. After spending two sun and sweat-soaked days at the Texas Rangers game, my bright, white t-shirts have some nasty yellow stains around the collars and the sleeves of the shirts, I suppose due to the lovely combination of sweat and sunscreen.

I've tried washing in hot, hot water with my cocktail of SA8, STPP and Percarbonate Bleach, but they still didn't come clean. Persil couldn't even touch this one. Any suggestions? Should I give the ole' LCB a try?

Bryan

 

[danemodsandy]

Pretreating with...

...liquid laundry detergent rubbed into the stain works for me, with every sunscreen I've used. I let it sit overnight, then launder as usual.

I've also read that a combination of dishwashing liquid and glycerin can be used successfully, but I haven't personally tried it.

P.S.: My success with liquid laundry detergent has been on all-cotton items. Anything with synthetic content may be tougher to treat.

 

[jeffg]

I've had good luck with both Shout Advanced Gel and Advanced Aerosol for suntan oil and other oily stains. Saturate the stains, use an old toothbrush to work it into the fabric, then leave it overnight (or longer) and wash in hot water/Tide with Bleach.

 

[oxydolfan1]

Try "Seabreeze" facial astringent (the yellowish formula, not the blue).

 

[aamassther]

Bryan, You could also try the SA8 stain spray, not the liquid. It's a formula (like the original Spray n Wash aerosol) with an oily, solvent base. Works great on most oil based stains. Or you could score some old Fels Naptha soap, that still contains naptha. Todd

 

[danemodsandy]

TAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHDD!

"Or you could score some old Fels Naptha soap, that still contains naptha."

Todd: Are you trying to say that Fels no longer contains naptha?

As Mr. Bill used to say, "Oh, noooooooo!"

 

[cvillewasherbo]

stains?

haven't you "set the stains in" with what you've tried already? (like hot water, different chemicals, etc.) sounds like they are there to stay!!! Sorry man. I will take note the next time I'm in the sun.

i would just go to wally world and get some new t-shirts and use the other ones as cleaning rags, instead of wasting time, water and chemicals on something that won't come out and in the end, doesn't really matter. are you trying to get stains out of a really nice table cloth or just a t-shirt?

c in va

 

[aamassther]

Sandy, I'm afraid Fels hasn't contained naptha for many years now. I'm thinking around ten. You know, toxic substance and all of that....
I can usually get oil stains out, even if they've been through the dryer.

 

[appnut]

Ahh true Courtney, but for Brian it's the challenge whereby he will still overcome and overpower and succeed against these stains. So B, has anything worked thus far and how well?

 

[danemodsandy]

Todd:

I'm not sure if this is correct. According to the MSDS info on Fels found on the Dial site, Fels contains hydrocarbons and terpene processing by-products.

Haphtha is a hydrocarbon-based solvent, so is terpene. It seems a bit odd that Dial lists both hydrocarbons and terpene.

 

[peterh770]

Ammonia is a great greasecutter in the wash... Use it with detergent ONLY!!!

 

[jetcone]

its my understanding

Fels has not had naptha since the late 40's but they put back in napthalene, something similar to naptha with the same scent.

Evidently naptha has a benzene ring in it--- very cancerous. Gosh if I could only count the benzene rings i've held on my fingers over the years!!

 

[aamassther]

I stand corrected. Thanks for researching this, I must have gotten old information. Todd

 

[danemodsandy]

An Odd Laundry Tip:

I forgot to mention that I've had success with something that isn't meant for laundry- Formula 409. I've sprayed it onto greasy stains, and they were removed completely. I've only done this with cottons and sturdy stuff; I have an idea that finer fabrics would be negatively affected. But when it works, it works.

 

[MrX]

Wash the item by hand in dish detergent / washing up liquid like Fairy or Dawn.
Rinse very well (by hand)
Then re-wash in a washing machine with a heavy dose of good detergent like Persil or Ariel.

Bleach won't help you here, you need surfactants and lipase.

 

[MrX]

Next time get a non-staining sun screen

Many of them are notoriously difficult to remove as they're designed to stay on your skin while you're swimming.

 

[mrboilwash]

Over here some sunscreen products have a warning on the bottle that reads like: Avoid contact with fabrics, product might cause permanent stains !
I guess it`s not the grease, but rather another chemical, perhaps even the sun blocking chemical that causes permantent stains.
Isn`t there a similar problem with some hair styling products, leaving pale bluish stains on white towels? Those stains even resist to a 95°C wash with Persil.

 

[toggleswitch2]

~Ammonia is a great grease cutter in the wash... Use it with detergent ONLY!!!

Beware if you have cats; to them it means "pee here"

Stains are best handled with a pre-wash that is not hotter than "warm" as hot water can set some stains.

 

[jetcone]

Yes Toggles

I always use my soak cycle on the Bendii with warm, it really get the stains moving out of the fabric before the heavy hot bendix tumble wash!

Too bad the WO-65's never put on a soak cycle...oh welllll