deodorants don’t provide any sweat protection, but do offer odor-control.

antiperspirants offer sweat protection, and most of (or all of) them also offer odor-control as well.

from everything i’ve read, come across, or even tried myself, there are basically three products that are reasonably reliable in removing yellow/dark deodorant stains or build-up from shirts. they are oxi-clean, deo-go, and raise.

from the reports i’ve read, people are more successful with oxi-clean when they soak the garment overnight – like you did. with deo-go and raise, the process is a little faster since you only need to leave the solution on the underarm area for 30-60 minutes, but sometimes you have to treat the stain a couple times to get the stain fully out. in some instances, the stains just don’t come out either. i’m sure it has to do with how long stains have been on the garment, how severe they are, and other things like body chemistry, antiperspirant exposure, etc.

here’s a deo-go video review and demonstration that recently went up on the modernwife youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCtJw90c6Rs&feature=youtu.be

to your question about underarm hair:
from my own personal experience, most antiperspirants i’ve used seem to make their way through underarm hair during the application process. the underarm hair gets wet/saturated, and i’m sure a good amount penetrates the skin enough to become effective in doing it’s job of blocking sweat through a chemical reaction that causes the sweat glands [eccrine-gland ducts] to swell and close.

shaving underarm hair: this is a great question. over the last 5+ year, i’ve been seeing a lot more public display proof of men shaving their underarms. heck, mrs. tug and i were recently watching and episode of big brother where britney and danielle used a nair-like product to remove ian’s underarm hair. some guys go with completely removing the underarm hair (nair, shave, wax), and others like me do trimming to keep the hair short, without fully removing it all. for me, i just feel cleaner and more hygienic when my body hair is trimmed, but i’m sure it also reduces odor and bacteria too.

tea tree products: i’ve definitely read about odor eliminating / reducing products like tea tree, but if i recall correctly none of them actually are effective as an antiperspirant. i find there is a lot of confusion with the term “deodorant”. some people use the term when talking about sweat-blocking characteristics (which is antiperspirant) and while some antiperspirants are also deodorants (anti-odor), a deodorant alone is not an antiperspirant.

bear in mind, there are ways to minimize underarm shirt staining. one, is to let your antiperspirant fully dry before putting on your clothes – this is what i do. there are also some antiperspirants that are less likely to result in underarm staining or build-up. off the top of my head there are products like stainguard and nivea invisible, but there are others.

here are a couple of good threads on askandyaboutclothes.com that talk about underarm stains, removal, prevention:
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?112040-Ugh-Yellow-Underarm-Stains
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?116562-OCBD-s-in-the-heat/page2

there are tons more sites out there that talk about these issues, but if you go to a site like askandy or style forum, you’ll get first-hand knowledge from community members talking about what worked and didn’t work for them.

thanks for stopping by! let me know if you have any other questions (:

I first applied shout and also had some Tide per treat spray. Nothing much happened. I washed the shirts between every successive product, but did not use the dryer. I tried the sprays again, soaking over night. no change. I even tried Lestoil, which is a solvent I use to remove tar. No change. I tried Citri-Solve another natural orange solvent. It actually left an orange cast.

I finally soaked overnight in a strong solution, per instructions , of Oxi-Clean and soaked over night, rubbing into the stains before washing. the change was remarkable. the stiff buildup was gone. the orange color from the Citri solve was gone and the original yellow stain was almost completely gone. this was a buildup over 2years. Oxi-Clean also has a spray that would be convenient for my son to apply to the shirts before they are thrown into the basket.

Now I have a question about deodorant that no one has mentioned. men have hair in their armpits. doesn’t the solid deodorants or antiperspirants just lay on the hair and not get to the skin? and I am guessing if you give it a good rubbing that perhaps there is alot of product there, maybe too much? do me ever shave? hair definitely collects bacteria and odor. I guess that’s why I have read that tea tree products work. the other question is, has Consumer Reports ever covered this topic? they have teams of scientists who investigate such things. And personal care is big business. maybe we all need to write to them!

have you ever tried deo-go or raise?

Results: The under arm areas are still stained and probably have some slight embedded deodorant but they are not caked feeling like they were before. The shirts are still dingy, and the underarm stains are still noticeable. But they seem much better than before. For all the work and the results I think buying new shirts is the best solution and then keeping up with them from there. Mind you, these shirts are old shirts and this issue has been going on for a while. I will see what the hubby says when he gets home, since he is the one who wears them!

i’m not too familiar with how ‘he’ washing machines operate or what laundering methods optimize washing conditions in those types of machines, but i can tell you a bit more about the underarm stain removal.

most of the treatments outlined here should not make the color on your garment bleed, however, it mostly depends on how the garment was dyed and not so much on the actual cleaning treatment. it’s always safest to test the treatment on a place of the garment/shirt that you can’t see first.

the only treatments that i’ve heard can remove set-in underarm stains are:
1. oxiclean (with or without baking soda) – must rub in oxyclean into stain, and soak shirt overnight in oxiclean/water mixuture
2. deo-go or raise stain remover – spray, scrub, wait 30 minutes, launder – pretty easy
3. hydrogen peroxide / baking soda – paste
4. simple green

here’s a rather current article at one of my recommended sites that offers similar cleaning ideas:
http://artofmanliness.com/2012/04/03/how-to-remove-yellow-armpit-stains/

oh, and my wife and i always hang our towels or gym clothes to dry before putting them in the hamper/laundry basket. like you said, if we put them in the wet, the laundry gets that nasty musty smell. ugh/yuck.

I am nervous to try some of these suggestions on colored clothes. I used vinegar on grey sheets and it ruined the color. I used lemon juice and had to rewash the load because there was a weird “crispy” area on the bedding cover I washed. I am getting to the point where I feel like I need to throw out my clothes and start with major preventative care on the new clothes. So frustrating. Also. If clothes get tossed in the laundry damp (being from humid GA) they very easily get that damp musty smell. We have been drying our towels after every shower to try and prevent this. And again just another thing that seems to not be working as well as hoped.

i’ve tried the vinegar/water thing – but it’s never been effective for me.