How do I prevent clothing from getting stained in the washer or dryer?

Question

We get stains sporadically appear on specific articles of clothing. The stains appeared on brand new Patagonia brand sweater that we washed for the first time as well as an older t-shirt. The other clothing items in the same load are intact and entirely stain free. The stain pattern is uneven, there are larger blotches (around the size of a quarter) but also tiny specks. Our washer is brand new but the dryer was bought used. The stains are embedded and not removed by rinsing or hand washing.
What can we do to avoid this? Is it possible that the laundry detergent we use is specifically affecting and discoloring some clothes and not others?

Answer 1

Logically, solving this problem involves identifying the cause. Identifying what is — and what is not — in common is the first step.

Repeated loads of laundry done with as few differences as possible will help you isolate a probable cause — which you can remove.

The "problem" is that you'll get the occasional "evidence" of an ongoing issue until you solve the mystery.

On the other hand, this is lifehacks…

Hack: View the problem as a benefit. Keep Washing. Set aside the stained clothing when it happens.
Rock the stained clothing… create a stylish personal fashion statement such as those by Paul Smith whose Paint Splatter T-Shirts sell for up to £150 Sweatshirt, for £230!

Good luck.

Answer 2

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps the stains are due to bleach. Your shirt may be dyed with a combination of colours, and a small amount of bleach may affect the red dye more than the blue, which would explain why the stains look like they were made with something blue.

Bleach is a powerful and highly corrosive chemical, even in small amounts. You should carefully examine the whole process undergone by the shirts, and whether bleach might have become involved at any stage. Perhaps the laundry was sitting in a pile near the washer when you put in bleach for another load. Maybe you cleaned something near the shirts with a bleach solution. Maybe you were handling bleach while wearing the shirts. Maybe you did a load of laundry with bleach before you did the shirts, and some bleach was left over in the system (some washers have bleach dispensers ... maybe not all the bleach was used in a previous run).

The best way to avoid problems with bleach is: don't use bleach, for anything. Modern detergents can brighten and lighten laundry well enough with harmless enzymes. Bleach will eat away at the innards of your washer, destroying seals and causing leaks. Bleach will ruin the elastics on items like underwear and fitted sheets. Bleach-based cleaners will get on your clothes and will eat away the seals in your plumbing.

(If you're going to switch from bleach-based cleaners, make sure you switch all of them at once; you should completely throw away all the bleach-based cleaners before you switch to ammonia cleaners. If you accidently mix the two types of cleaners, you could bring about a chemical reaction that releases deadly chlorine gas ... yet another reason to avoid bleach.)

If you do use bleach, be very careful. Dilute it with water before it lands on anything you're trying to clean with it. Use it only on whites with no elastic (towels and top sheets, not fitted sheets). Don't pour it from the bleach container into the washer; pour it from the original container into a glass measuring cup with a lip which is sitting in a sink, and then pour it from the cup into the dispenser in the washer. The load after using bleach, put water in the bleach dispenser to dilute and clear out any remaining bleach. Change into old clothes before handling bleach.

Answer 3

Some fabric softeners, whether used in washing machines or as sheets put in dryer, can stain.

However, the stains look like the color of the dye itself changed, e.g. due to alkaline conditions acting on a vegetable dye that acts as a pH+ indicator. You might experiment on the shirt, if you consider it ruined, by putting it in a bag or bottle with enough water/vinegar mix (50/50% or so, not critical) to saturate it. Stir and/or squeeze the garment a bit, and let it sit overnight.

Let me know if that made the color more uniform. If it's too red, you can try the same thing with baking soda solution to make it bluish.

Answer 4

Isolate which part of your laundry routine is causing the damage to your clothes.

Begin your detective work with a careful inspection of freshly-washed articles. Look at each one carefully to determine if there is any discolouration, however slight.
It is important to locate any problems before you dry them.
Heat will "set" many stains (which are always darker than surrounding fabric) so they will become virtually impossible to remove. Heat from the dryer will also increase the effects (further darken) of the problem.
Look carefully and systematically—inside and out.

Did you spot any problems?
Yes? That's Bad. The problem is with the washer.
No? Good. Now, dry the articles and inspect each article carefully.
Were there any problems?
Yes? Bad. The problem is with the dryer.
No? Great. Next load of clothing to test.

Then, as the saying goes, "rinse and repeat."

As soon as you isolate the problem to either the washing or drying phase, you can start to examine each step of either phase to identify (and remove) the offender.

Good luck.