Deodorant Stains – What to do?

We never notice these until we are out the door, or even worse, until the middle of a party or a meeting. Even when buying the “invisible” deodorants, they seem to leave white marks everywhere! Now that we are into the holidays and lots of festive clothes and especially sleeveless ones, this creates a real hassle. Even our workout clothes have marks all over them. Ugh. It never seems to end.

Yes, these are inconvenient and you’ve got to keep an eye out to first notice these marks in order to correct them. It isn’t very hard or time consuming though. We’ve got different circumstances where we find these spots that will dictate what we can do to treat them.

The first one is when you are wearing the clothes and you’re out. You can’t take them off to change or wash them at that moment. You need a quick fix. Your first attack is to rub the stained part of the fabric against another part of the garment. Usually that friction will rub out the spot, at least enough to get you through the rest of your day or night. A clean sponge, with clean being the key word, will also usually help to work out the spot. I little bit of water applied with the sponge can also do the trick. Be careful if your garment isn’t dark because you don’t want to have a big wet spot showing. If you’re wearing black or something else pretty dark, a little bit of water shouldn’t be a problem. Also avoid trying to use towels or anything that will leave behind lint and make a bigger mess when trying to rub out the spot.

The second circumstance where we will almost always find deodorant stains, especially when looking for them, is when doing the laundry. Depending on what you use, deodorant is waxy and thick and can really build up on fabrics and be hard to remove even in the wash. Pre-treating is the most reliable way to make sure you get rid of all of these marks. They are almost always on your bras and sports bras and usually on anything sleeveless. We recommend using either Roux Maison Stain Remover or else the Roux Maison detergent that you are using to wash those garments to spot treat them prior to washing. Just apply a few drops to the affected areas and rub it in with your fingers. You can leave it there and then launder as you usually would. These marks can be hard to get out if you do not spot treat them prior to washing. The deodorant can build up over time and depending on your machine or how you hand wash, some of it can stick to the fabrics.

The most important thing is to do a quick check in the mirror before you head out the door and then to do another quick check of your garments and pre-treat them before you wash them. It only takes a second and you’ll be so glad you did and will have such improved outcomes. We love your laundry!