Work Shirts softhening under the arms

[UncappedTag]

Sorry did not know of a more suitable title!

Anyone know how to soften the cotton under the arms that over time gets somewhat hard because of antiperspirant etc.

I bought some shirts not so long back and they are already deteriorating under the arms but hopefully recoverable.

Anyone have any tips apart from fabric softeners that does not seem to do the trick?

Thx

[james_tigerwoods]

UncappedTag said:

Sorry did not know of a more suitable title!

Anyone know how to soften the cotton under the arms that over time gets somewhat hard because of antiperspirant etc.

I bought some shirts not so long back and they are already deteriorating under the arms but hopefully recoverable.

Anyone have any tips apart from fabric softeners that does not seem to do the trick?

Thx

Bloody hell - how much do you sweat? Try using something like Vanish on the underarms regularly to keep the dirt/sweat off - I fear the current shirts you have may not be recoverable though, although you could try handwashing just the underarms to clean off the "gunk"...

[anonymous-user]

They are done for. New shirt required. HTH.

[UncappedTag]

It's mostly the seams

[JakeS]

UncappedTag said:

It's mostly the semen

That's your problem

[Ahhh Moneypenny]

UncappedTag said:

It's mostly the seams

Minger

[Digger]

Are you a heavy sweater? Two possible options. Either catch the hardening early and use some white wine vinegar (IIRC), soak and scrape the hardened area and you may get most of it off, otherwise yep its new shirt time.

What worked for me was Driclor, applied every other night until sweating reduced or stopped. You may find you sweat a tad more in other places as a result but the benefits of no more sweat patches (under arms) and longer lasting shirts won the day! EDIT Mitchum Roll-On may help too as it uses the same active ingredient but it does leave residue which may or may not harm the shirt!?

Edited by Digger on Tuesday 8th December 14:56

[Ozone]

OP i have the same problem with cotton shirts from Next. I think it's the deoderant that causes it and SWMBO has tried various concoctions and voodoo to soften them up but no solution yet.
M&S shirts don't have the same problem....

Unfortunately i Sweat like John Prescott in a pie shop

I don't lift my arms up anymore

Edited by Ozone on Tuesday 8th December 15:28

[jimothy]

I have the same problem. All I do is replace them once it gets bad. Its expensive, but my lot in life. I wonder if I can claim some sort of shirt benefit from the government due to my disability of sweating like a black man caught raping a white girl in Alabama?

[71notout]

Look for Sure 48 Hour deodorant - it has worked wonders for me...and no more wasted shirts.

Unfortunately I am now spending the equivalent on underwear as the sweat has been redirected to my arse

[Alex]

What you need is an antiperspirant that is good for your noses and your clotheses.

[RSGulp]

Change your anti-perspirant to one which doesn't leave marks and deo build-up such as 'Sure Men Invisible Ice' aerosol.

This is still PH isn't it?

http://www.boots.com/en/Sure-For-Men-Invisible-Ice...

Edited by RSGulp on Tuesday 8th December 16:02

[Emeye]

I've experienced this prob and I don't sweat much - the problem is the antiperspirant, especially the roll-on ones. Try making sure the antip has dried before putting your shirt on, otherwise it just gets on your shirt and ruins it.

[Don]

It's your deoderant/anti-perspirant. Change to something more clothes-friendly.

I actually use a wipe-on-stick, largely scentless, Dove one but used to use Sure which was OK.

That and when you wash your shirts

1) Do them seperately to the rest of your clothes
2) Select a 90C wash - not one of the pathetic low temp ones
3) Use the Vanish additive

Even then over time there will be some degradation. But a "boil" wash with a whitening agent will work wonders in comparison to these modern "eco" "don't fking work" washes.

[Don]

Emeye said:

I've experienced this prob and I don't sweat much - the problem is the antiperspirant, especially the roll-on ones. Try making sure the antip has dried before putting your shirt on, otherwise it just gets on your shirt and ruins it.

This is also true. Roll-on very bad. Aerosol/wipe on and wait five minutes will also help a good deal.

[.:ian:.]

Soaking the shirt in a strong caustic soda softens it up quite a bit, rips all the colour out of the garment though (black tshirts go a bit closer to grey) Its a mysterious substance , resists all sorts of chemical and biological attacks (I suspect even nuking from orbit would barely touch it)

[bazking69]

As above, it is your deodorant, not you excessive sweating.

With some deodorants I can go through work shirts in a matter of a couple of months tops before they are rendered ready for the bin. With a decent aerosol the same shirts will last a year.

[hman]

Required :de solv it stain remover from tescos', normal rounded tip dinner knife.

Method: spray the stuff on the affected area, work it in with the BACK of the knife.

Now do it again, working it in even more.

Then 60c wash.


Should be much better if not gone.


If not gone then repeat spray and working in then wash.

The spray is pretty nasty to breathe in so I have a window open and the kitchen extract on, still tastes rank.

Works though- and at £60 a shirt its worth it for me.

Once you have done this and got it to a reasonable state then spray the stuff on prior to washing and you shouldnt need to do it so intensively in the future.

[UncappedTag]

Cheers for the suggestions. I used to use Driclor (100% aluminium ) but now find I do not need it now that I'm swimming and lost 2 and a half stone. Just use a regular sure spray on.

Used to be niagra falls, but now mostly dry so it must be my deodorant that is causing it.

[HOGEPH]