How do you remove sunscreen stains that turned pink after soaking in chlorine bleach?

[saz1]

I have a few white shirts that got sunscreen stained. Initially the stains were yellow, but after soaking them in chlorine bleach, the stains turned pink. I've tried everything i can think of...Oxiclean (which later i found out works just like chlorine bleach for this specific problem), washing soda, oxalic acid, vinegar, citric acid, shampoo, dawn, laundry detergent, sunlight...nothing is working. The oxlic acid (thanks to ea56's and thomasortega's suggestion) got a lot of the stain out...but they're still there nonetheless. I even soaked them in the acid overnight. It worked wonders on the rust stain though, which i read the sunscreen stain was, but apparently not, because the oxalic acid turned the dingy whites (result of hard high iron water and bleach) bright white again but didn't completely removed the screen stain. Again, credit goes to ea56's and thomasortega for ending my dilemma by suggesting oxalic acid.

Any suggestions of what else i could use to get the stains out? Greatly appreciate it!

 

[yogitunes]

oddly enough, was going through the same thing with a pair of white striped shorts for a friend....from suntan oil...

it almost appeared as if the fine line blue stripes bled onto the white.....

I did the oxi-clean, borax, and finally bleach.....

first thing always is never dry the item, keep it wet through all your processes...as drying may set some stains permanently

but the real wonder was RIT Color Remover.....I followed the directions on the package for stove top.....heated the water to boiling, removed from heat, added the product and stirred, then added the wet garment, they recommend 30 minutes, I left it in a covered pot for an hour, stirring on occasion...…

and blind luck, it all came out......back to its original look...

I rinsed it several times, then ran it through a full wash cycle and dried....

this was the first time of using this RIT product...but figured at this point what do I have to lose....

 

[saz1]

Ahh! RIT Color Remover. My Google searches keep pointing me to it but im abroad and unfortunately its not sold here. Cant find it anywhere. Theres gotta be an alternative.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Back in the 70s, a friend washed his white shorts with madras shirts. I used Rit Tint & Dye Remover as above and returned the shorts to white. Why anyone who knows what madras fabric is famous for doing would not wash them separately is beyond me.

 

[vacerator]

Or drive on the expressway with the shorts

on the rear seat of a convertible like I did. One good breeze, no more shorts.

 

[michaelman2]

RIT Products

I have used the RIT Color Remover and it works like a charm. They also make a Super Stain Remover that has worked for me and nicely in the past.

I noticed on their website they make a product by the name of White Wash. I wonder if the composition of the White Wash is similar to some of the recipes for removal of yellowing and stains suggested on this site a few months back (the yellowed bed linens)?

 

[foraloysius]

Amazing that you soaked this stain in bleach too while you had such a bad experience with that with another stain.

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?76327

 

[iheartmaytag]

You are forbidden to use bleach again

You do not seem to be having good outcomes.

Chlorine bleach is a powerful oxidizer. The Bleach oxidized the chemical in the sunblock, Avobenzone. What you have effectively done is caused a rust stain.

Before you created the mess, you could have tried using baking soda on the dry garment to try to absorb the remaining oil, then use dishwashing liquid without bleach or oxy bleach, as a soak. Then launder as usual.

Now that the stain has set, I would wonder if a rust out, or iron out product would help, or you may just need to get used the pretty color pink you have created.

Remember the advice that I think our Dear Laundress has given before. Always start your stain removal with the most gentle method and move to the harsher (or more caustic) methods for stain removal.

 

[saz1]

Since I can't get Rit here, I'm wondering if I could get the active ingredient from the chemical store. i read its sodium hydrosulfite. Thoughts?

@ foraloysius and iheartmaytag. I soaked them in soft water this time. Didn't know they would turn pink until they did. I know not to use bleach and hard water... I don't see why i should give up on bleach altogether.

They whole the sunscreen stwin is rust thing...if it was, why would oxalic acid - which is a deruster - not work?

 

[foraloysius]

Well, bleach is not a cleaner, it doesn't remove spots or dirt. It is just meant to whiten your laundry and sanitize it, but it is better to remove stains with something else. So, never try to remove a stain with bleach. You must have learned that by now.

 

[saz1]

@ foraloysius...

Actually, all I learned is not to use bleach with water that contains iron and not to use it to remove sunscreen stains. As for other stains, it's been effectively removing them (or turning them clear...which is as good as removing them as far as I am concerned) for me since 1976.

 

[iej]

You're best to remove sunscreen stains with a very good surfactant.

The problem now is those stains may be more like dyed fabric and removing them will just damage the shirt.

Generally sunscreens are designed to be water resistant. The best way or tackling it (when fresh) is a long soak in a good detergent solution or a long warm wash in a front loader - I'm talking like 2 hour+ wash.

Trying to remove sunscreen by hitting it with bleach will just give you bleached sunscreen. It's not going to "let go" of the fabric that easily.

Try coating the stain in dish soap like Dawn and gently scrubbing.
Then leave it in a sink of warm water for several hours.

Rinse well and rewash in the machine on a cotton cycle with good quality detergent.

If that doesn't shift it, you've effectively dyed the fabric.

 

[launderess]

Rit and other color removers

Are reducing bleaches. That is instead of attacking coloured stains by adding oxygen, they do the oppose; remove.

http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Reducing_bleach

Reducing bleaches are commonly used to remove excess dye, and or for preparing textiles or paper for dying by removing color. Hence RIT an other dye makers offering a "color remover" product. Often those dying things at home need to remove the color of whatever first.....

 

[iej]

The problem is sunscreen is designed to bind to skin and stay there. It will do exactly the same to most fabrics. Normally you don’t notice it as it’s clear, but the chlorine bleach has turned it pink.

Many of its ingredients are also not likely to be impacted by bleaches, particularly polymers and oils and certainly not in the relatively weak concentrations that are safe to use in a washing machine.

A strong surfactant should have significant impact, but you need to allow it time to work.

You’re dealing with a stain that’s a chemical coating, specifically designed to adhere even when immersed and sloshed around in sea water and pool water, rubbed, perspired through. It’s very tough stuff!

I would apply dish soap, scrub very gently and rinse well (by hand), apply a top of the line liquid detergent for laundry (non bleaching) and scrunch into the stains, fill a bucket of warm water or a sink and soak, maybe overnight. Then wash in a machine using the same detergent.

You could also try a stain remover suitable for something like ink stains.

If that doesn’t work - you’ve a dyed shirt.

 

[speedqueen]

I would try a really heavy surfactant, that has a solvent in it, Lestoil would work well I'd bet, it has stoddard solvent which would have a better chance at removing the oils.

 

[iej]

Actually, getting the item dry-cleaned may do the trick too as often dry-cleaning solvents are far, far more effective at dissolving oils than water and detergent.

 

[mrboilwash]

I think removing sunscreen is not only about removing the oil base but the chemical UV filters as well. They`re among the most stubborn stains. Apart from preteating with surfactants and soaking I`d suggest an oxygen bleach. As the stain has already been chemically altered by the chlorine it`s probably a case for the trash can.

 

[iej]

I'd tend to agree, it sounds more like it's dyed than stained. You can't really get chemicals to distinguish between some of those types of products and the fabric dye itself, so you are looking at really doing a lot of damage to the clothes to remove it.

 

[saz1]

Thanks for all your input guys. I've spent more money on stuff to get the stains out than what the clothes cost. Now, it's not even about the money anymore. I've invested so much on this, I just can't give up.

I noticed something interesting. I've been soaking the stained clothes in a bucket of water, washing soda and liquid laundry detergent for 3 days. Looking at the stains today - still wet - they've become much more pronounced. I'm seeing stains now that I didn't know where there. I wonder if it's the semi hard water and the liquid detergent that's reacting with the sunscreen and causing this. Or maybe the washing soda? Or maybe it wasn't even the bleach. The clothes have been washed so many times with so many cleaners, I didn't think there was any sunscreen left to react with anything.

I rinsed them and soaked them again in water and citric acid to get any minerals from the hard water off, and the stains have faded, considerably. But that was the case before, when I soaked them in oxalic acid. I bet if I resoak them in the washing soda and liquid detergent again, the stains would pop again. Any idea what's going on?

@ mrboilwash. Funny, I got flamed before for using oxyclean, people saying (and even going as far as scientifically explaining) how oxyclean is what caused the stains.