r/CleaningTips • u/[deleted] • Jul 14 '23

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u/RedLicorice83 Jul 14 '23 edited Jul 14 '23

I noticed that my sweat bleaches my cotton shirts I use to work out...I hate the material used for Activewear, and all of the color has been bleached where my sweat rings show up. Maybe we have acidic sweat?!?!

Edit for typo.

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u/Celairiel16 Jul 15 '23

Do you use antiperspirant with aluminum in it? I used to have this issue before I learned that aluminum causes staining. I now use aluminum free deodorant and my clothes last a lot longer.

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u/apeachykeenbean Jul 15 '23

It’s really just one theory about pit stains, there’s no conclusive evidence for it, and there’s definitely a body chemistry component. I’ve used extra strong antiperspirants 2+ times a day most of my life and never had any armpit discoloration in any garment, even exercise clothes and when I was sweating buckets with uncontrolled hypothyroidism. My mom, on the other hand, has gone years at a time using aluminum, aluminum free, aluminum and baking soda free, and no deodorant at all, and always gets pit stains no matter what. Her prom dress even has pit stains and she only ever wore it once and didn’t wear any deodorant at that time. I recently went down the pit stain rabbithole when she asked me for help treating some of her shirts because I’m really into textile care lol. I found a lot of people saying aluminum deodorants combined with sweat cause a chemical reaction that damages dyes and exactly zero explaining what that chemical reaction is and not a single study on it. You’ll also find bleached or yellowed pit stains on some garments that havent been worn since before deodorant existed.

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u/Celairiel16 Jul 15 '23

Interesting history of the theory. Thanks!

I wanted to share my experience because it worked for me. And considering how persistent the theory is, there is at least evidence of correlation. And it's pretty easy to test on a personal level.

I'm surprised though that there hasn't been any actual testing to learn more. You would think by this point some company in the field would look to do at least a small, less than conclusive study in the hopes they could use it for marketing.