Category Archives: Clothing Care / How To

What to Do If You Spill Bleach on Your Colored T-Shirt

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Have you had an accident with bleach?  Spilling bleach on a colored T-shirt may seem like a death sentence for that T-shirt. You may be tempted to throw it out because you don’t see any other way to fix the T-shirt and create something that is wearable again. And if you do choose to go that route, you still have something that you can use when you don’t want to throw it out. You have a T-shirt that is one that you can use to sleep in, to do messy chores in, or to wash the car in. You might even use it to clean certain household objects that need a soft touch such as eyeglass lenses.

However, if you are not resigned to using the T-shirt for any of these purposes, there are still a few things you can do to save the T-shirt and to be able to wear it out in public again. One of the most obvious things that can be done in this situation is to simply bleach the rest of the T-shirt so that the entire shirt will match. You can do this by soaking the T-shirt in a tub with water and bleach, or you can wash the T-shirt by itself or with a load of white laundry with bleach. The bleach will turn the entire T-shirt white. It will not look the same as the T-shirt did before you spilled the bleach on it, but it will be a T-shirt that is all one color and very wearable and it will still fit the same as it did before.

If you don’t want the T-shirt to become a white T-shirt, there are a couple of options. If the T-shirt color was originally light, you might be able to dye the entire T-shirt and to end up with the same T-shirt in a darker shade. The darker color will ensure that the entire T-shirt is dyed the color. Trying to dye the T-shirt a lighter color will clash with the original color and create a mottled look.

If you are determined to keep the T-shirt all one color but you don’t want it to the bleach completely white, there is another option. You can began with the T-shirt that has a bleach stain and continue bleach it until the entire T-shirt is white.  Make sure to rinse that T-shirt very thoroughly before attempting the next step. Once it has been rinsed and all the bleach has been removed, you can dye it a different color. Because the entire T-shirt is white, is a blank canvas that is just waiting to accept a new color. When you do this, you can choose any color at all. You can pick a pastel or another light color, or you can try to find a fabric dye that very closely matches the original color of the T-shirt.  This will get you back your T-shirt the way it was before you had the bleach accident, or it will at least get it to a shade that is very much like it.

How to Remove Tea Stains From T-Shirts?

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A tea stain can seem like a terrible stain to try to get out of the T-shirt, but there are far worse stains that people are able to remove. A tea stain on a T-shirt does not have to mean that the T-shirt must be thrown away. There are many ways to get the stain out of the T-shirt and to get it looking the way it did before the tea was spilled. In other words, there’s no reason to cry over spilt tea.

One of the most important things to remember with any type of stain is to treat that stain as fast as you are able to treat it. That means getting to it quickly and treating it before it has the opportunity to set too deeply into the fabric. Once a stain gets set into the fabric, it becomes much more difficult to get it out again. If you have a stain that has not been on the T-shirt for very long, there’s a much higher chance of being able to get it out.

If the spill just happened, take off the T-shirt and rinse it with very cold water. If the stain is a small, you may be able to put water on the T-shirt while you are still wearing it. Otherwise, take it off and run it under the faucet or in a cold stream or whatever source of cold water is most convenient at the time. If you don’t have a source of cold water, use hot water if you have it. Hot water can have the unfortunate effect of setting the stain if the tea has been on the T-shirt for very long, however. So if it has been more than a few minutes since the tea was spilled, don’t try hot water.

A fresh stain will generally respond very well to cold water. If rinsing the T-shirt in cold water doesn’t get rid of the tea, try soaking it in a tub of cold water for several minutes.  This should release much of the tea. If that still doesn’t work, use a laundry spray to try to lift the tea out of the T-shirt before it sets into the fabric. These sprays are high-powered detergents that will pre-treat the stain and lift much of it away before the T-shirt is washed. Once you have pretreated the stain according to the label of the spray, wash the T-shirt in the laundry as soon as possible.

Use cold water to wash the T-shirt, even if it looks like most of the tea stain has been taken out of the fabric. If there is any of the tea still left in the cotton, using warm or hot water can cause it to bind permanently to the fabric. This can make it impossible to remove the stain without using bleach. If the T-shirt is a plain white shirt, or if the tea lands on a plain white portion of the T-shirt, bleach is another alternative to getting the stain out. Using a small amount of bleach can lift the stain away and make the T-shirt look just the way it did before.

How to Remove Red Wine Stains From my T-Shirt

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Red wine is deeply-pigmented liquid that can easily ruin any type of clothing if the stain is not taken care of the right way. Most methods for removing red wine only work if the stain is treated soon after the spill. Once the wine sets into the fabric, or has been dried into it, it can be very difficult to get it out of a t-shirt.

Putting a t-shirt with a red wine stain on it into the washing machine without some type of pre-treatment will generally not be successful. If the spill just happened, blot the stain with anything you have available. A paper napkin, a cotton towel or even an older t-shirt that you never wear anymore will be absorbent enough to get much of the red wine out of a fresh spill. The more you can blot out of the spill, the better the outcome will be for your t-shirt.

Once you can’t blot anymore of the wine, start a pre-treatment. There are a number of commercial pretreatments on the market that can be used to soak the t-shirt in, or a pre-treatment stick or spray can put the treatment right onto the stain. To make a difference against red wine stains, the stained area will have to soak for at least several minutes to lift some of the wine out of the fabric.

If this treatment isn’t successful at lifting some of the stain out of the t-shirt, there are a few alternative treatments. The pre-treatment solution can be mixed with about a teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent and a cup of hydrogen peroxide. If you don’t have any liquid detergent on hand, liquid dish soap will work just as well. Mix these items together and soak the affected area of the t-shirt in it for at least 10 minutes. If the t-shirt is a bright color, you might try a color test with the hydrogen peroxide before soaking the shirt. This can be done my applying a small dot of the peroxide to a small portion of the t-shirt to make sure that the chemical will not strip the intended color out of the t-shirt.

Once the treatment has soaked into the fabric for the required amount of time, rinse the area thoroughly with cold water. If the stain doesn’t seem to be lifting, let the t-shirt soak in very cold water for about 10 minutes. This will likely remove some of the wine if the stain isn’t too old.

For an older stain on a light-colored t-shirt, using regular laundry bleach should get the wine stain out of the t-shirt. This works well on a white t-shirt, but a light colored shirt that isn’t white may still have a noticeable mark, though it will be less noticeable than the wine stain would have been. To apply the bleach, use a laundry bleach pen or use a cotton swab to dab a little bleach onto the wine-stained area. After a few minutes, rinse it away with cold water and wash the t-shirt in the washing machine.

How to Fix a Hole in Your T-Shirt

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A hole can be a serious problem with a t-shirt, or it might be nothing more than a minor inconvenience. The extent of the problem is usually related to how large the hole in the t-shirt is and where exactly on the shirt it is located.

If the hole is located on a seam, it is the easiest type of hole to fix. To fix it, simply turn the garment inside out and sew a line across the seam to close up the hole. To do this, match up the thread color to the thread that was originally used to sew up the seams on the t-shirt. This is usually the same color as the t-shirt, but that isn’t always true. Take a look at the thread first to make sure.

If the hole is small, thread the matching thread through a small needle and knot the end of the thread. Then, pinch the seam together so that it looks the way it should look after the repair is done. Then, sew through both parts of the shirt that go together to make the seam. Continue doing this until the hole in the seam is closed up. Knot the thread at the end of the stitches and cut off the thread. The t-shirt should look just like it did before the hole formed.

If the hole is not located at the seam it can be a little more complicated. The thread must exactly match the color of the t-shirt in order to allow the stitches to blend into the shirt as well as possible. Even if the t-shirt is white, this may mean matching the t-thread to the exact shade of white that is used in the t-shirt. If the hole is very small, turn the t-shirt inside out and make a few very small stitches in order to close up the hole.

If the hole is larger and is not on a seam, use a sewing machine for a better effect on the t-shirt. The t-shirt should be turned inside out before you begin. Then, load the matching thread into the sewing machine. Use the zigzag stitch to close up the hole. Place the sewing machine needle into the fabric located at the top part of the hole. Then, use the zigzag stitch to close up the hole until you get to the other side of it. Once you reach the other side, reverse directions and use the zigzag stitch all the way back to the other end of the hole. This will create tight stitching that will barely be noticeable in most cases.

If you aren’t as concerned about the hole or the stitching being visible, consider fixing the hole with a patch. There are a number of different kinds of patches available, and they can be ironed on in just a few minutes. A large hole that could take a long time to mend with stitches will take considerably less time to fix with a patch. And, the t-shirt will be one that is different and unique.

Baking soda

How to Soften and Whiten Laundry by Using Baking Soda

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Baking sodaBaking soda is an inexpensive substance that is easy to find in any grocery store and general merchandise store. It has a million uses in the home, but one of the most useful of these is likely its power to soften clothing and make white clothes whiter. If a home has hard water, baking soda is especially helpful in keeping clothing from becoming stiff from the hard water residue.

Baking soda is a mildly alkali substance, making it a perfect natural detergent. It doesn’t come with any harsh chemicals like artificial fragrances and it is generally safe to be used by people with sensitive skin. There are several ways that baking soda can be used in the washing machine to make clothing softer and to whiten whites.

One of the easiest methods of using baking soda to keep clothing softer and brighter is to add about half a cup of baking soda during the rinse cycle. This works in much the same way that a liquid fabric softener would work in the wash.

Another way to use baking soda is to use it as a part of the detergent. This is done in order to brighten clothes and keep the whites looking whiter. This can be done by simply substituting a cup of baking soda for the detergent you would usually use. This can also be done by using baking soda as a part of a homemade detergent. By mixing a ¼ cup of baking soda with ½ cup of white vinegar, you can make an effective washing liquid that will treat most stains but will leave clothes softer than if a regular detergent is used.

A pre-treat solution can also be used for whites that will keep them brighter. Mix ½ cup of white vinegar with ½ cup of ammonia and ¼ cup of baking soda. Mix in about two quarts of water and two spoonfuls of regular liquid hand soap and you will have an extremely effective pre-treat solution that can be used for treating whites before they are washed. To use this, the solution can be sprayed onto the clothing stains and left to soak for about 10 minutes before washing. Or, the clothing can be rinsed in the solution before being rinsed with water and placed into the wash. This will work to keep white clothes brighter than if they

If you are using bleach to whiten whites, it can make clothing somewhat stiffer than regular detergent. To counteract this effect, add a little baking soda into the bleach to keep the clothing softer. This will also give the bleach a little boost and will result in even whiter whites.

To work on tough stains on whites, scrub the area with baking soda. To do this, make a paste from the baking soda a little bit of water. Take the paste and scrub it into the stain with a small scrub brush or an old toothbrush. Avoid scrubbing too hard, however, or you may scrub a hole into the fabric. Once this is completed, wash the clothing as usual.

Wash cycle

How to Choose the Right Wash Cycle When Washing Your T-Shirt

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Wash cycle

Washing a t-shirt sounds like something that should be simple, but choosing the right wash cycle is important for keeping the t-shirt both clean and looking like new for as long as possible. The proper washing cycle will depend a lot on how dirty the t-shirt is, what type of stains it has on it and how old the t-shirt is. It also depends on what the color of the t-shirt is.

A brightly-colored t-shirt might benefit from a slower washing cycle than a white t-shirt or one with a pastel color. Vigorous washing can fade a t-shirt color faster than if the washing cycle is slower. Cotton t-shirts don’t generally require a delicate cycle, but a bright t-shirt might benefit from a slow cycle to keep the color bright.

If a t-shirt is a white one or one with a lighter color, the wash cycle will not be as important for keeping the t-shirt’s color. The color still may fade, however, if it is washed in the fastest washing speed many times. To help extend the color and the life of the t-shirt, try to change the washing speed between gentle cycles and faster washing cycles. This will keep the t-shirt looking newer longer while still giving it the occasional vigorous cleaning.

The color of a white t-shirt generally will not be affected much by a fast washing cycle. It may fade the white slightly, but as long as the t-shirt is being washing with other white clothing items, the color should remain white for as long as you have the t-shirt. The fast cycle won’t have much affect on the color of a white shirt, but it may have an effect on how long the t-shirt lasts. The shirt may become covered with pills, tiny balls, if it is washed too many times on the fastest washing cycle. The cotton may also become thinner if it is always washed this way.

Unless a white t-shirt is extremely dirty or smells badly, using the same technique of switching the washing cycle between the fastest cycle and a slow washing cycle will extend the life of the t-shirt. It will keep the material from thinning as much and allow the t-shirt more life than if it is always washed on the fastest cycle.

If a t-shirt is extremely dirty, the fast cycle may be the only one that works well to remove the dirt and grime. This is often true if the stains are hard to get out. Grass stains and blood stains may require the use of the fastest cycle in order to loosen these stains. If the t-shirt is only slightly dirty, a slow cycle will work fine to loosen the dirt. It might even be cleaned just as well as if the t-shirt is rinsed out in the sink with some gentle soap. A quick hand wash in the sink will give the t-shirt a longer life and keep the t-shirt from developing pills or faded colors.

Ballpoint pen

How to Remove Ballpoint Pen Ink From Your T-Shirt

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Ballpoint pen

Using a ballpoint pen is an integrated part of everyone’s daily life. However, using a ballpoint regularly means that eventually some of the ink from that pen will make it onto the clothing that you wear. When this occurs, there are several way that the ink can be taken out of the fabric in order for a cleaner, more attractive article of clothing.

Because t-shirts are made from cotton, the ink is easily absorbed into the t-shirt. But, cotton is also easy to wash and it’s possible to get just about any stain out of it. Ballpoint pen ink is generally fairly easy to wash out of a garment. If you want to get the ink out quickly and easily, try washing it along with the other laundry as usual. Use a fast washing speed to make sure to get out as much ink as possible.

After the washing machine cycle is over, take out the t-shirt and check it thoroughly. If there are still any signs of the ink on the t-shirt, either wash it again or find another method to get rid of the ballpoint ink. Don’t put it into a dryer yet, as this will set the remaining ink into the fabric and make it much more difficult to wash the ink out.

Try to remove the ink by hand if the washing machine isn’t effective. This can by done by putting the ink-stained portion of the t-shirt under hot water and letting the water run through the stain for a few minutes. This should loosen up the remaining ink from the fabric. If it doesn’t, try rubbing the ink-stained area back and forth against itself while holding it under the running hot water. After a minute or two, the ink should have disappeared.

Sometimes using some type of soap can help the stain to come out of the fabric faster. You might try a little bit of liquid laundry detergent while using this rubbing method. Liquid hand soap or liquid dishwashing detergent has also been known to help with this type of ink stain.

If the ink stain is older and you’re still having trouble getting it out, try spraying a little hairspray on the stain. Let het hairspray sit on the stain for a few minutes and then try the rubbing method to get it out of the t-shirt. Then, just wash the t-shirt as you normally would in order to get the hairspray out of the fabric.

With a white t-shirt, using a little bit of nail polish remover can also be effective. It is a strong substance, however, and it can stain even a white t-shirt if too much is used. If the ink stain is on a white shirt, using a small amount of bleach from a bleach pen should take out any ink that has remained from the other methods. A bleach pen lets you to apply bleach with precision and to avoid having to wash the entire garment with it.

New clothes

How to Keep T-Shirts and Clothes Looking New

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New clothes

Most articles of clothing including t-shirts look their best when they are brand new. Keeping the look of new clothing is one of the biggest struggles of clothing care. There are some washing and drying techniques that make clothing wear out far quicker than if the clothing is treated with other washing and drying techniques.

One of the harshest things that can be done to laundry is to use an electric drier. These age clothing faster than just about anything else that can be done to it. To keep clothing looking newer for far longer, use other drying techniques if possible. Using a dryer does make clothing feel softer but it strips it of many of the fibers of the clothing. If you’ve ever noticed the lint that comes out of a dryer lint trap, you’ve seen where those fibers end up. That lint is largely small particles of the clothing that was dried in the machine.

If you want to bypass the dryer, using an old-fashioned drying line can dry clothing quickly and without wearing out the fabric. If you have bright colors drying, be sure to put the line in the shade. Bright sunlight can cause colors to fade more quickly. This will make the drying process take longer, but the clothing will eventually dry in the fresh air.

Another way to keep t-shirts and clothing looking newer longer is to use cold water to wash the clothes. Hot water is a harsh way to wash clothes and can lead to fading of the colors and for the fabric to ball up into the pills that can form on cotton. Use cold water whenever possible to wash your clothing. There are times when clothing is so dirty or has so many odors that washing it in cold water won’t solve the problems. In those cases, try warm water instead of hot. You might also try alternating between using cold water and hot water on each load of laundry. This cuts in half the number of times that the clothing is washed in hot water while still giving it a deep cleaning every other time.

Harsh detergents are another problem with keeping clothing looking new. The detergents that we use may be effective, but they can also cause some damage to clothing and fade the colors. Using the gentlest detergents possible, that still get out the dirt and odor, will keep the clothing looking better. If the clothing is not getting clean by using a gentler detergent, try a pre-treatment regimen first before using the gentler detergent.

If possible, don’t use bleach to clean the clothes. There are of course times when only bleach will remove a stain. But, on everyday loads, don’t include bleach in the wash. It causes fabric to wear thin far more quickly than a regular detergent. After just a few washes in bleach, a thin fabric may develop holes. If you do use bleach, use it as a spot-treatment if possible instead of adding it to the wash.

Coffee stains

How to Remove Coffee Stains on Your T-Shirt

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Coffee stains

Coffee stains are one of the most dreaded of all laundry stains. The dark color of coffee and the deep pigments in the liquid can make it tough to get coffee stains out of a t-shirt, particularly when the t-shirt is colored.

To have the best chance of getting the coffee out of the fabric, treat the stain right away. Don’t hesitate to start getting the coffee out of the t-shirt as soon as the spill happens. Take the t-shirt off as quickly as possible in order to be able to treat the stain quickly. The stain will be a lot easier to treat if it is treated quickly. If too much time has passed, it may not be possible to remove much of the coffee stain without using bleach on the t-shirt.

To start treating the t-shirt, get as much of the liquid out of the fabric as possible. If the spill was large, wring the t-shirt out several times to get the coffee out of it. If the spill was smaller, press a towel, or napkins or whatever you may have into the stained area. Keep doing this until you aren’t able to remove any more of the liquid.

Once you’ve done this, turn the t-shirt inside out and run cold water through the stained part of the t-shirt. If the entire t-shirt has been stained, squeeze and wring the t-shirt repeatedly under cold running water. However large the stain is, rub the fabric together under the water to get the stain out more quickly. Continue doing this until no more of the coffee is running out of the fabric with the water.

Use a pre-treating spray or rub on the stained area of the t-shirt. This pre-treating solution should be used on the entire stained area. Pay particular attention to the edges of the stain. These edges may be darker than the rest of the stain because of the way the coffee was moving along the fabric. Let the stained area soak in the pre-treatment solution for as long as the directions indicate. Once the soaking time is completed, wash the t-shirt in hot water. If the coffee stain was treated quickly, this should lift the remaining coffee out of the fabric. This process will give a colored t-shirt its best chance of beating the stain.

If the t-shirt is white, there are a few additional options that can be used that would alter the color of a colored t-shirt. The main principle of treating this type of dark stain on a white t-shirt is to simply strip all of the color out of the t-shirt. This can be done easily by washing the t-shirt with chlorine bleach, but it may weaken the fabric to do so. The best approach is to blot away the liquid and then rinse the t-shirt as you would with a colored t-shirt. Then, allow the stained area to soak in bleach for a few minutes. After that, rinse away the bleach and launder the t-shirt in hot water. If the bleach soak doesn’t remove the stain, try a bleach pen or soak the t-shirt for a longer period of time before washing it.

How to Get Bubble Gum Out of Your T-Shirt or Clothing

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Getting bubble gum out of clothing can look like a difficult prospect. But, without making an attempt to remove it, the bubble gum will ruin the article of clothing. Bubble gum creates such a mess in clothing that it would be difficult to wear any item while it still has gum on it. There are a number of ways to get bubble gum out of clothing, so if one method doesn’t work for you, simply try another.

One of the most popular methods for removing gum is to use the freezing method. This requires the use of ice cubes and a knife in order to get the gum out of the fabric. To use this method, hold at least one ice cube up to the gum for several minutes. Keep applying the ice until the gum is frozen all the way through. Then, it is just a matter of breaking apart the frozen gum. Once the gum has been frozen, it will act like any other frozen substance and should be easy to break apart.

If there is a large area of gum on the t-shirt or piece of clothing, you might try shattering the gum against a hard object and then using the knife to scrape away the remaining gum from the fabric. If the area of gum is fairly small, jus t use the knife to break away the gum. This can take some time to get all of the particles scraped away, but it is generally a very effective method.

Another way to get the gum out is to use peanut butter to separate the gum from the fabric. This has the potential to stain the garment, however. To use peanut butter, use a knife to scrape the gum while pressing peanut butter into it. This will cause the bubble gum to lose its ability to stick to the fabric. It will begin falling off as it becomes affected by the oils in the peanut butter.

Vinegar can also be used to get the gum out of the article of clothing. To use vinegar, pour some into a cup and heat it up in a microwave. Get it good and hot through not boiling. Use a small brush or a toothbrush to apply the vinegar to the bubble gum. Dip it straight into the vinegar and use it to brush the gum with the substance to remove the gum. Keep dipping the brush into the vinegar and brushing it into the gum. If the vinegar cools off to room temperature, reheat it again in the microwave.

Some people apply liquid laundry detergent to bubble gum and then rub it into the gum. This can be done with a brush or with the fingers. Once the liquid has mixed with the bubble gum, scrape the mixture away from the fabric. This will be a slow process but it will not stain the fabric the way that bubble gum can. Using a fingernail or a pair of tweezers may make it easier to remove the last few pieces of bubble gum when using this method.

How to Sew a Patch on Your T-Shirt

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A patch can be used for any number of different things on a t-shirt. It may be a way to add a little bit of visual interest to the t-shirt. It may be required in order to make the t-shirt ready for a club meeting or a sports match. It may also be needed in order to fix a hole in the t-shirt. A patch can be sewn on using a sewing machine, or it can be done by hand.

For a small patch, it may be easier to simply use a needle and thread than to drag out the sewing machine. To get started, choose the exact spot that your patch will occupy and choose how it will be oriented. This will save you from having a crooked patch later. To keep the patch in its proper position, tape it in place until at least part of it has been sewn onto the t-shirt. Putting some double stick tape between the patch and the t-shirt will hold it in place easily.

Once you have it oriented correctly and held in place, thread your needle. The thread color should match the color of the patch. If the patch has many colors, match the thread to the color of the patch around the edges. Many patches have thread around the edges to keep them from fraying. That is the area that you will be sewing, so the thread should be the same color as this edging thread.

Start from the back and push the needle through the t-shirt from the inside and then through the patch. Keep the stitches small and even and at the very edges of the patch in order to get the best-looking results. If you have double-sided tape between the t-shirt and the patch, remove it before you sew the final stitches through the patch. If it’s left behind, the patch it could bunch up and create a rumpled look for the patch.

If the patch is large or it’s very thick, you may find it easier to use a sewing machine. When using a machine to attach the patch, make sure that the arm of the machine has only one layer of the t-shirt together. It is possible to sew two portions of the t-shirt together, such as closing up an armhole, if the shirt isn’t arranged carefully. When using a machine, just about any type of stitch will do as long as the stitches are close to the edge of the patch.

If you are using the patch to cover a hole in the t-shirt fabric, taping the hole closed from the inside of the t-shirt will make it easier to keep the fabric flat and the t-shirt from warping. If the fabric is left gaping under the patch, the entire t-shirt will look slightly warped and the patched area will have ripples around it. If the hole is large, it may be necessary to apply tape to the hole from the inside and then to make a few stitches right through the tape. The tape can be removed later by cutting it away from the thread.

How to Remove Mold From Your T-Shirt

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Mold spores are always in the air, and they are always searching for ways to begin growing on any surface. When something is wet for a prolonged period of time, those spores start to infiltrate the item and will soon begin growing mold. Mold can be extremely dangerous for those with mold allergies, and it can plague the sinuses and noses of those who aren’t. It also leaves unsightly stains on t-shirts that can be difficult to remove. But, with a little work, many moldy t-shirts can be made free of mold and ready to wear.

There are a few easy-to-find, inexpensive substances that are extremely useful for getting rid of mold. One of these is vinegar. Specifically, white vinegar is a strong chemical for getting rid of many types of stains, but it will not stain your clothes. It is one of the best and most natural substances for killing mold and restoring a t-shirt.

White vinegar can be used in the washing machine to get rid of small amounts of mold. It can be poured directly into the wash along with the detergent, or it can be added on its own during the rinse cycle. It will also get rid of the smell that mold can leave behind on clothes even after the mold has been removed.

If there is a lot of mold on the t-shirt, getting rid of as much mold as possible before the t-shirt is washed can help the vinegar to be more effective. To do this, use a small scrub brush outdoors to brush away the mold. If this is done inside, it can adversely affect the health of those in the home by putting the mold into the air. Once the mold has been scrubbed away, you can leave the t-shirt lying in the sun. This will allow the heat of the sun to kill the spores that remain on the shirt.

Once this has been done, the t-shirt can be put into the washer and washed with vinegar. It may take more than one washing cycle to completely get rid of the remaining mold stain and the moldy smell. If any of the mold persists, you may have to choose a harsher substance to get rid of the mold.

Ordinary laundry bleach is another effective substance against mold, but only if the t-shirt is white. If the t-shirt is another color, it will likely be ruined by using bleach.. If the mold is heavy, it should be brushed away outdoors before using the bleach. To use it, just let the t-shirt soak in bleach for about 10 minutes. Then, rinse the t-shirt and let it dry outdoors in the sun. Once it has dried, add it to the laundry and wash it as usual. Use a little white vinegar in the wash if the mold smell remains on the shirt.

If the mold spot is small, try soaking just the moldy portion of the t-shirt in bleach before it’s washed. This will cause less damage to the t-shirt but will remove the offending mold from the fabric.

How to Salvage Smoke Damaged T-Shirts and Clothing

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There are many items that simply can’t be saved from smoke damage. Luckily, t-shirts clothing doesn’t have to be one of them. Depending on the degree of smoke damage to an item of clothing, it may be able to be salvaged by giving it some special care.

The first thing to do is to figure out which items of clothing can be salvaged and which ones can’t. There may be a few pieces that are so heavily damaged that no amount of care can save them. If the entire garment is covered in soot and it’s difficult to tell what the item originally looked like, it may be too late to save that particular garment.

Clothing that has light smoke damage may benefit from a spray with a fabric odor spray. These are often made with cornstarch and lift odors out of the fabric and allow them to evaporate along with the liquid in the spray. Try spraying lightly-damaged items and then washing them with a color-safe bleach to remove the odor of smoke.

Some clothing may have a little more smoke damage but may just need a vigorous washing in hot water to make it look the way it did before. A garment that has a strong smoky smell but that doesn’t have a lot of soot on it may be salvaged by washing the item on the fastest washing cycle in hot water. Use a heavy-duty detergent and use a pre-treatment soak before putting it into the laundry.

For items that are in worse condition, try pre-treating the item for a longer period of time and then rinsing the items several times before washing them. It may be necessary to wash these items three or four times to remove the soot and the smell of smoke from them. To help the smell come out of the clothing more easily, add a half a cup of baking soda in with the washing detergent. This will help to absorb some of the smell and to wash it away. Don’t dry the clothing until you’ve gotten out all of the soot that you can.

Chlorine bleach is helpful for whites that have smoke damage. This is an effective way to get both the smell of smoke and the residue of it out of white clothing. Soak the items in bleach in the bathtub or in a sink. After a few minutes, rinse the bleach from the garments and make sure that most of the soot has been rinsed away. After this step, the items can be put into a washing machine with a little more bleach added to the load if needed.

If the clothing has severe damage to it but you want to try to salvage it, try a fire restoration service. These services specialize in restoring smoke and fire damaged items to their best possible condition. There are also some dry cleaners that can provide smoke-damage care to clothing. There is an ozone treatment process that can get small particles of smoke out of clothing without damaging the fibers. Call local dry cleaners and find one that can provide this treatment.

How to Care for Vintage T-Shirts and Clothing

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Vintage clothing requires special care for many reasons. Because vintage items are older, they may have fabrics that have been weakened over time. This means that the standard way that you care for your other clothing may be too harsh for your vintage items. It’s also hard to replace vintage items, making it even more important to take care of the ones you have.

To keep your vintage items in their best condition, practice preventative care. This means being careful when you wear them and wearing them to the right occasions. An outdoor occasion or one where there will be a lot of children may not be the best place to wear your vintage items. You should also take care not to wipe your hands on your vintage clothing. You may have unconsciously done this with newer clothing, but vintage clothing requires more deliberate care.

The seams of vintage clothing are their most vulnerable areas, so you should be prepared to sew up the occasional seam or hem on these items. Carry some thread with you if you are wearing vintage items, and always make sure you have plenty of thread colors if you love to wear vintage pieces.

After you have worn your vintage t-shirt or other item, take it off and turn it inside out. This will allow you sweat to dry from the garment before it has a chance to set into the fabric. This will minimize the staining that can be done by sweat and will allow you to treat the garment more delicately when it’s time to wash it.

Once your sweat has dried from the garment, wash it. Don’t leave the item of clothing lying around for any longer than is necessary. This will mean that if any stains have been left behind, they will be easier to remove than if they had days to settle in.

Always use the gentlest detergent you can and use the gentlest washing cycle possible. A slow washing machine cycle is best to use for vintage clothing, but hand washing the clothing is an even better idea. If you do use a washing machine, make sure you wash it with clothing that is colored as much like the vintage item as possible. This keeps the colors of different items from migrating on to the vintage item and discoloring it. If you can wash the item by itself in the machine, this will keep any competing inks from getting onto the vintage piece.

If an item has been worn once for a short time or even a couple of times for short periods of time, it might not need to be washed at all. If any sweat has evaporated and the item isn’t stained and doesn’t smell bad, it may not need washing. If possible, go without washing it and evaluate the need to wash it each time it has been worn. While a newer garment might be thrown into the laundry each time that it’s been worn, a vintage item will get a little weaker each time it is washed.

How to Remove Hair Color From a T-Shirt?

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Hair color can be extremely difficult to remove from any kind of surface. And unfortunately for t-shirt lovers, cotton is a particularly absorbent fabric and will soak up hair color very quickly. To be able to remove any of the hair color from a t-shirt, it will be necessary to move quickly and to keep attacking the stain until it’s gone. For some stains and with some t-shirt colors, it may not be possible to remove all of the hair color from the fabric.

The stain should first be blotted to remove as much of the hair color as possible. Once the hair color soaks into the fabric and dries, there will be little that can be done about the stain. Use a little rubbing alcohol to blot the hair color to remove it more easily. The hair color should be blotted until no more of it is coming away from the fabric.

If the t-shirt is white, some bleach can then be applied to it. If the shirt is a different color, bleach will only create a worse area of discoloration. A colored t-shirt can be treated by soaking the shirt in cold water and using a pre-treating liquid to try to lift the stain. If this doesn’t work, a little turpentine may help the hair color to come out. Before using turpentine on the t-shirt, test it on a small, out of the way spot of the fabric to make sure it will not strip the color out of the shirt.

A colored t-shirt may also respond well to nail polish remover to remove the stain. If the remover is applied with a cotton swab directly to the stain, it could lighten it enough to make it blend in with the rest of the shirt. This will not work well, of course, with a dark-colored t-shirt. This method should also be color-tested before being used.

If the t-shirt is black and the hair color was blonde or a color much lighter than the black of the shirt, there is no way to remove the stain and restore the black dye of the t-shirt. What needs to be done is to color over the stain to make it black again. This can be done easily with a permanent marker.

Color-safe bleach should be used to wash a colored t-shirt with. This will keep the color of the shirt while applying the maximum cleaning power to the stain. A white shirt will probably have to be washed in chlorine bleach to fully remove the stain.

Hydrogen peroxide or dye removers may work in some cases. Peroxide can be poured through the stain after a color-safe test has been done. It can also be dabbed in small amounts directly onto the hair color. Color removers are available in many drug stores and in grocery store laundry aisles, but they may leave a worse color behind. If a dark t-shirt has been stained with hair color, a color remover may cause more discoloration. These removers may work well with white or very light colored shirts. To use these, follow the directions on the box.

How to Get Rid of Static Cling on your T-Shirt

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Static cling is an unattractive and uncomfortable side effect of dry air. When an item is washed and dried in a drier, this can create the type of dry air that is perfect for static cling buildup. Sometimes, the dry air outdoors or in the house is what causes the static cling, and sometimes it’s a combination of environmental effects. But, there’s no reason to keep static cling in your clothing when there are many ways to be rid of it.

One of the easiest ways to eliminate, or to at least reduce, static cling on your t-shirt is to use dryer sheets. These are used for two purposes- to make clothing feel softer and to reduce the static cling that often results from using the dryer. These sheets are simply added to the laundry when the clothes are put into the dryer and then removed after the load of clothing is dry.

If you don’t want to use a fabric softening sheet, there are also liquid fabric softeners that can be added to the wash, and they sometimes have a similar effect of reducing the static cling. These are added at a specific time during the wash cycle as is directed by the label.

Apart from fabric softeners, there are other substances that can help to keep the cling away. One such item is talcum powder. A small amount of powder applied to the body or to the inside of clothes can keep the clothing from clinging to you or to other items of clothing. It also adds a fresh smell and can help keep clothing from being discolored by sweat.

Moisturizer is something that can be used in small amounts to stop static cling. A tiny dab of skin moisturizer can be rubbed on the inside of clothing to keep it from clinging. Or, it can be rubbed along the outside of an article of clothing to keep it from clinging to itself. To keep it from clinging to you, moisturize your skin with lotion just before putting on clothing.

There are a few products on the market that are made specifically for getting rid of static cling off your t-shirt or other clothes.. These work very quickly and are easy to use. A static cling spray can be sprayed directly onto the clothing while you are wearing it and the cling should cease immediately.

Hairspray is another inexpensive method of removing static from clothing. Spray clothing lightly with hairspray to get rid of static cling. For the best results from hairspray, use an aerosol spray and hold the can about two feet away from the garment when spraying it. Otherwise, too much hairspray will make your clothing too stiff for comfort.

Another spray to use to get rid of static on your t-shirt or clothes is spray starch. This is made to make clothing stiffer, and one of the side effects of this stiffness is less cling. It washes out of clothing easily and it will not stain the item. Follow the directions on the starch can for the best results.

How to Remove Rust Stains From Your T-Shirt

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Rust stains are the perfect way to ruin clothes- they are unsightly, difficult to get out and they are extremely noticeable on most t-shirt colors. It may be tempting to throw out a t-shirt that has rust stains on it, but there are ways to remove those stains and keep the t-shirt.

If the t-shirt is white, the stain is especially noticeable. But, it is also easier to get rid of. There are quite a few substances that will get rust stains out of a white t-shirt without staining the fabric. One of these is lemon juice. This ingredient is highly acidic and should be used in the smallest doses that will get the stain out. If a t-shirt is allowed to sit in large amounts of lemon juice for long periods of time, the fabric will be weakened and it may become stained.

To use lemon juice correctly, put the t-shirt into extremely hot water and then sprinkle the stained area with lemon juice. Rinse the t-shirt and then sprinkle it again if needed. This should remove any rust marks from a white t-shirt. It may also work for rust on a colored t-shirt, but it should be tested against the color to make sure it won’t change the color first. To do this, apply a few drops of lemon juice to the inside part of the hem and watch for any color change.

Lemon juice can also be used along with salt for rust stains that are more stubborn. The salt is sprinkled over the rust stain and the lemon juice is them rubbed into the area. This gives the lemon juice some friction and will remove larger, deeper stains that water and lemon juice alone. Once this has been done, rinse the stained area in hot water and use the salt and lemon juice again if any sign of the rust remains.

Another common household item that can be used against rust stains is called cream of tartar. This is a powdered substance found in the spice aisle of grocery stores. Usually used in dessert recipes, it can also be used to raise rust out of fabric. To use it, mix about a cup of water and three teaspoons of the powder together. Boil this mixture to create your stain fighter.

Place the stained area of t-shirt into the boiled mixture. You can also pour boiling water over the stained area and then sprinkle cream of tartar over it. Then, rinse it away with more boiling water. Try the colorfast test on a colored t-shirt to make sure it will not stain the shirt before using this method.

Another method is to use hydrogen peroxide on the stain. This can be done by dipping a cotton swab into the solution and then dabbing it onto the stain. You can let it sit for a few minutes or you might try brushing it into the fabric with an old toothbrush. Once the rust starts to fade, rinse the peroxide away and wash the t-shirt as you normally would.

At What Temperature Do T-Shirts Shrink

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Shrinking T-shirts is a fact of life. We have all done it at one time or another. If not, our turn to shrink a T-shirt is coming. In fact, all T-shirts, when they are new, will shrink a certain amount. That is a fact of life and something to keep in mind when you are purchasing a new T-shirt. Never buy a T-shirt that just fits or fits perfectly because after that first wash, it no longer will. Expect shrinkage from 1 to 5 percent of the original size for 100% cotton T-shirts. If your T-shirt is a blend of different types of fabric, there will be much less, if any, shrinkage.

T-shirts shrink more extensively at higher temperatures. In fact if you want to shrink a T-shirt, wash it in the hottest water setting on your washer and dry it at the highest heat temperature of the dryer. This combination will ensure maximum shrinkage. Hot water for the purposes of shrinking a T-shirt is 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything below this is simply considered warm water. In fact the optimal T-shirt washing temperature is 110 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Most people use higher temperatures while doing laundry to try and get out stains, however treating stains individually is much more effective.

If you want to avoid shrinkage, use cold water for washing and low heat for drying. If you must use hot water for stain removal, opt for warm instead of hot. You may also want to consider hanging T-shirts to dry instead of using the dryer too as it is even better for those wanting minimum shrinkage. The sad part about it is that if you shrink a T-shirt, it is practically impossible to unshrink it. You may be able to regain a little of the size but for the most part, the damage is done.

If you happen to be unfortunate enough to shrink a T-shirt that you did not want to shrink, you can replace it quickly and easily. By ordering a custom-made T-shirt, you can recreate the exact design in the size, color, weight and style that you want. Your new T-shirt will even be better than the original one, because you can change anything about it that you want. Just be sure you opt for a good quality pre-shrunk cotton when ordering your new custom-made T-shirt to avoid shrinkage issues.

The great thing about custom-made T-shirts is the versatility of choice you have in them. You really can replace a favorite T-shirt that you inadvertently shrunk without anyone being the wiser. You can even have T-shirts made about shrinkage. You can have them printed with sayings like:
–    Shrinkage sucks
–    Shrunken T-shirts are hot
–    I heart shrinking tees
–    I’m working on shrinking
–    Just add hot water for a tighter tee
–    I am 5% smaller than I was one wash ago
–    Pre-shrunk T-shirts rock
–    Don’t shrink me
–    Honey, I shrunk the T-shirt

Get your custom-made T-shirt today and solve the problem of shrinkage at any temperature.

How To Remove Odor From T-Shirts

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Odors appear in fabrics for a number of reasons. If a person sweats profusely in a T-shirt, that shirt can hold the odor of the sweat. In certain workplaces, there are a variety of chemical odors, food odors or other scents that seem to weave their way into the fabric of a T-shirt and stay there. There are even times when you buy a T-shirt and notice a chemical odor on it that worries you. Unfortunately, you can wash these items over and over but still smell the offending odor, especially when the T-shirt is dry.

Therefore it is very important to many people to be able to remove odors from T-shirts. Luckily there are a variety of techniques that you can try in order to accomplish this goal, all of them being rather easy to do and inexpensive. These techniques however are much more than simply using a nice smelling detergent and fabric softener. Removing odors from T-shirts can take time and multiple steps like when you are removing stains.

When you first discover that your T-shirts have an odor, hang them outside to air out. Just doing this alone can make a huge difference to the smell of your clothes. This is also a good technique to do with new clothes that have a chemical smell. Afterwards, wash them with a cup or more of vinegar added to the wash water in addition to the laundry detergent. To dry, hang them outside again. A pre-soak in sodium bicarbonate and water is also another good odor remover. Another odor booster to add to your wash cycle is a cup of Borax and regular washing soda. Let the clothes sit for several hours or even overnight before washing. This is great on odors but not on the stains that are often the cause of them.

Sodium bicarbonate and vinegar are very effective at getting rid of odors because they do not mask the odor, as a scented laundry detergent might. The chemical reaction caused by their use actually neutralizes the odor. You may use either of these laundry boosters to deal with odors or you may use one at the beginning of the wash cycle and the other during the rinse cycle. However, if you try to use them both at the same time, they will counteract each other.

If you happen to be unlucky enough to get an unpleasant odor in your T-shirt that you cannot get out, the best thing to do is to toss out the shirt and get a new one. If you order a custom-made T-shirt you can get one identical to the one that you cannot get clean. People will never know the difference. They’ll just think you managed to get the funky odor out of your shirt. If you happen to have a job where you are cursed with fabric-permeating odors, use it to your advantage and have a funny T-shirt made up that says “This T-shirt smells just like my workplace.”

Get your custom-made T-shirt today for the optimum odor removal altogether.

How To Get Nail Polish Out Of A T-Shirt

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Of all the stains out there, nail polish is probably one of the most difficult to deal with. This is simply because nail polish removal products are very harsh chemicals that can damage a T-shirt or any garment that has such a stain on it. If you are unlucky enough to get nail polish on a T-shirt, there are a couple of ways to treat it.

If the stain is fresh, you may be able to use non-oily acetone nail polish remover or pure acetone to successfully remove. However, it is essential to test the fabric with a little of the solution before using it on the stain to make sure the acetone does not damage the fabric. Keep in mind that acetone will damage certain types of fabric like acetate. If you use acetone to remove the stain, place a folded paper towel under the fabric to make sure the stain does not transfer to another part of the fabric and so that the acetone does not come in contact with the counter, table or other work surface you are using.

Dab at the stain with the acetone, rubbing gently to remove all of it. Move the paper towel as it becomes stained to ensure it remains an effective helper in the stain-removal process. When the stain is gone, rinse out the excess acetone under running water, then apply a commercially made pre-treatment to the area and wash the T-shirt as usual.

If you happen to have a dried on, older nail polish stain to contend with, you may want to try using a bug repellent spray like “OFF”. Follow the same stain fighting technique as outlined above and in no time your favorite T-shirt should be as good as new.

If you are stuck with a T-shirt with a super difficult nail polish stain that simply refuses to come out, there are still options of what to do. You can relegate that T-shirt to certain tasks only, like painting your nails, working around the house and gardening. You can then work on replacing the T-shirt you have ruined with nail polish.

Luckily, by having a T-shirt custom-made you can recreate the T-shirt you have ruined easily. By going with a custom-made tee you can choose the color, weight, style and design of the shirt. You can have fun with the idea of getting nail polish on your clothes by having a custom-made shirt printed that says something like this:

–    Nail polish rocks
–    This is my “getting beautiful” shirt
–    Flying nail polish – watch out
–    I heart nail polish
–    Nail polish stains show you are serious about good looks
–    Beauty takes hard work
–    What we have to go through for the sake of beauty
–    No stains, no gains
–    Eat, Sleep, Paint my nails
–    I’d rather be painting my nails
–    A little nail polish never hurt anyone

Get your fun nail polish stain T-shirt now and show that you can deal with anything.