Getting yellowish stains out of white cotton tops - help

[Twattergy]

If you have a great way to keep white cotton t shirts and tops actually white, can you share please? My washing machine doesn't seem to clean massively well so for things like white t shirts and vests, I often end up hand washing. The staining I mean is that general slightly yellowish tinge you get around neck and arm holes...not make up I guess just...sweat? Sun cream?
I'm not a big fan of whacking extra chemical stuff like Oxi into the machine...but maybe that's what I have to do?

Hang out in the sunshine for as long as you can

First post nails it

Sunshine!

I love lying in my hammock relaxing & literally watching the sun bleach my whites. Stained tops etc get left out a couple of days.

very effective & free.

OK thats good because that is literally what I've done this morning with stained vest and bikini!! I hope it works!

Thhanks ...just got back from hols and several whites are stained so will be taking advantage of the sunny weather

If your washing machine doesn't clean well, run a hot wash on an empty machine with a cup of citric acid, to break down any limescale that's built up inside the machine. If you live in a hard water area, you may need to do this a couple of times to properly clean the inside.

Yellow stains are typically either sweat or sunscreen, so soaking in bio powder with some oxygen bleach, then a wash with ammonia and line drying in the sun will help.

What's your usual routine, and do you use fabric softener/scent boosters etc?

Thanks @MotherWolthats a comprehensive suggestion! Don't use softeners or scent boosters, I try to avoid adding any more chemicals into the water system than I really need to. I will do a hot 'cleaning' empty run like you suggest. Even though its quite new, I feel like our machine freshens stuff but doesn't really do a great deal of cleaning for stuff thats actually dirty. Maybe thats just me not using it properly though?

I don’t believe all these suggestions that sun will ‘bleach’ stains 🤷🏻‍♀️. If that were true everyone’s colours would fade on the line. It might be true if you left it out in the Atacama desert for a couple of years, but a few hours of British sunlight? Tosh.

This is like saying you can't get sunburn in the UK. Uv is powerful, it can change our skin colour so why do you think it won't affect fabrics too?

And Yes black clothes do fade if left out for too long in the sunshine which is why I bring them in as soon as they are dry.

I leave the whites out for as long as possible...it really does work

Try it! It works especially well for stains caused by red food like tomatoes, peppers, strawberries etc

it’s something to do with how the sun reacts with organic stains, so not the type found in dyed fabric.

if I wasn’t so hot I’d look it up

Generally for whites I use biological laundry powder/liquid. I think youre supposed to pre-treat suncream stains with neat washing up liquid.

Nancy Birtwistle would recommend sodium percarbonate ('green bleach') for whitening.

And yes UV works on many stains.

You can buy eco bleach, I use bio d, it’s great, I use a stain bar of theirs too.
i buy it online, much better than Ecover and cheaper , all non bio.
Water here very hard, I use a descaling ball in my aeg 2 yr old machine

Citric acid is a natural chemical, it's the same stuff that's in lemon juice, and it dissolves limescale really effectively in washing machines, kettles etc - just throw a cup of the crystals into the drawer when you're doing a hot wash.

I use Persil bio powder (the green one) and pre-soak anything really grubby, the enzyme lipase is really effective on sweat and grease stains. I avoid scent boosters as they gunge up the inside of the machine, and I use the Bio-D oxi bleach @Nsky62 mentions as it's really effective and allergy-safe https://biod.co.uk/shop/all-products/bio-d-laundry-bleach-400g

I'm also really sceptical of the blurb on laundry products to wash on cool and quick cycles, at least with my machine it's less effective at getting dirt out, and the products are just covering up the smell with extra fragrance. My preferred sunscreen has a tendency to stain, so I feel your pain - I've just accepted a certain amount of yellowing is inevitable on the clothes I wear through the summer!

Thanks All. I think a swap to bio will help for paler clothes, will give all these ideas a try. Love the MN hive mind!

If you are doing quick wages then try one of the slow washes and see how it goes. My son came back from university with a huge pile of absolutely minging white Nike socks and t-shirts. I soaked it all in ace bleach and then washed it with bio powder on a long slow wash. They look so clean!

I left a navy bed throw on my line for a frw days and it faded significantly and had to chuck it !