Blue Stains Showing Up on Washed Clothing

Archives: Request: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing Archived on 11/07/2008 Does anyone know what causes those "blue stains" on laundry when they are washed and dried? I don't know if they are coming from the washer or the dryer. I have ran things through the wash for the first time and get blue spots on them and then viola!, they are stained for life and ruined. I heard it can be caused by fabric softener or dryer sheets, but I don't know if that's the case. Can anyone help me? Frank from Louisville, KY Answers: Stains Use Shout Color Catchers in Washer When I wash several differ color tops, I use shout color catcher in washing machine, with good results. Put shout it out on stain first then put shout color catcher in washer, let washer fill up and then put clothes in washer. (10/02/2006) by Sue RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I hear it is from using too much detergent, I have this happen all the time but since I have been using less detergent I have not had it happen at all! (10/02/2006) RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I have that happen a lot, I asked my in laws, who own a dry cleaner, they said I am using too much detergent. I have been using less and have not had the blue spots return. (10/02/2006) By Linda RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing This had me curious and I found this on the cleaning 101 website. http://www.cleaning101.com/laundry/fact/laundrytable1.cfm#4 Problem: Blue Stains Causes: Failure of a blue coloring in detergent, laundry aid or fabric softener to dissolve or disperse. Solutions: If caused by a detergent or powdered laundry aid, add 1 cup (240 ml) of white vinegar to 1 quart (.95L) of water. Use a plastic container. Soak item for one hour; rinse. If caused by fabric softener, rub stains with bar soap, wash. Preventive Measures: Add product first, then clothes and start washer. Dilute fabric softener before adding to wash or rinse cycle, or to dispenser. (10/06/2006) By mef1957 RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I've had this a few times. I happened to be using Liquid Tide at the time. Also we have very hard water. I tried vinegar to get them out, but no luck. I don't use fabric softener so my only thought is that it had to do with the reaction of the Tide to our hard water. I've been using powdered detergent from Costco and have had no problems. (10/16/2006) By Robin RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing Well I have to say, I have read all of the comments written here, I have the same problem, and I'm all the way in Perth Western Australia. and have come to the conclusion, that for me its NOT the dryer, I don't use one, Its NOT the fabric softener, I dont use that either, so I'm down to trying less powder in the machine, wish me luck!- Carol (10/28/2006) By Carol221255 RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I read some info on this site and I can't believe it worked! I have ruined many articles of clothing or so I thought. The blue spots are from too much laundry detergent so I cut it in half. I haven't been getting spots anymore. Then I proceeded to soak some of the clothes I had previously ruined in a cup of vinegar to a half gallon of water and they came clean! I couldn't believe it but am so happy to know you can find answers on these types of websites. (11/01/2006) By Jill RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing If you have found that softener is causing your blue spot problem, switch to white vinegar. One cup at rinse cycle or just put in your rinse dispenser, & your clothes come out nice & soft. Plus your towels will be more absorbent after your shower or bath ! I also put 1 cup of vinegar in my wash cycle w/very little detergent. You really only need about a third of the "recommended" amount anyway. They just want you to use more to buy more! Then about every 10 washes I use only Borax, or something like it, & the vinegar, to get all the built up soap residue out. Good luck all! (12/04/2006) By Nanci-San Diego RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing *POSSIBLE EXPLANATION* I have been finding blue spots randomly all over anything white that comes out of the laundry. Straight away i assumed that it was my washing machine which worried me as it was practically new. I had a peek on this forum and noticed that everyone seemed to have one thing in common - that they used "Tide." As they do not produce Tide in the UK, where I live, I checked out who the manufacturer was and it appears to be a company called Proctor & Gamble (P&G). I use Fairy Non Bio and surprise surprise, the manufacturers appear to be... wait for it... Proctor and Gamble. I have listed all Proctor and Gamble products below, so you may want to avoid using these products in future! UK Products: Ace, Ariel, Fairy, Bold, Bounce, Daz, Dreft, Lenor US Products: Tide, Bounce, Cheer, Downy, Dreft, Era, Febreze, Gain, Ivory. Karen (02/12/2007) By Karen Molloy RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing This is not our washers or dryers! It is something new they are adding to the detergents. It may be that bleach alternative chemical they use now. It happened first with Cheer, I switched to Tide, happened again, switched to a cheap store brand and it happened again! But, I found something that took my blue stains out, long after they showed up too. Best of all, it will cost you only a dollar at Dollar General, or perhaps other dollar stores as well. It is called Brawn Oxy Burst Multi-Purpose Cleaner. In a blue spray bottle. Works wet or dry, may take more than one application (I soak the fabric with it), may take overnight with more applications the second day. But I got results on everything that had been stained. Also used the same stuff on coffee stains on floor mats, took them out as I watched it soak in. Great stuff! Hope it helps you all too! (02/25/2007) By wallacewins RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I have found it to be the liquid fabric softener. I have a front loading washer & when I would use the liquid softener in the dispenser it would leave blue stains. I had the repair man out for the washer & he said it was the liquid. I didn't believe him until I quit using it & the stains quit showing up! I was using blue liquid downy. (03/03/2007) By Stacy RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I am so glad that I am not the only one that has experienced blue stains. I thought at first just like everyone else it was the fabric softener so of course I stopped using it and the stains still appeared. What I have found that takes it out is the detergent by Ivory for babies. I actually called Downy and that is what they recommended. (04/25/2007) By 4tothesand RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I asked a friend about it, she said she uses Gain, I tried it several weeks ago, I love it, the clothes are clean, they smell great and NO BLUE SPOTS. I not going back to Tide. (06/10/2007) RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing In most cases the blue stains on whites in laundry is caused by oxidized copper sloughing from the copper pipes in your home. The increased copper release can be caused by several things: increased water flow, water temperature changes, water chemistry changes, etc. One way to help avoid the staining on whites is to add some sequestering agent with the wash; such as Oxyclean, or clear vinegar might help. Most of the time the blue stains are not caused by colored detergents or other additives. (08/17/2007) By Dave RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I believe it is Tide. I had the same problem for a very long time, I changed to Gain about 3 months ago and have not had one stain since. (08/17/2007) By sellington Blue Stains from Tags on new clothes I just had this happen to a new cream colored sweater. I have not had this happen for about 10 years. My sister says it happens to her all the time, and she thought it was the fabric softener for sure. I know she was disappointed because it always seemed to ruin new clothes. I noticed this happens a lot with NEW clothes...even in this thread. Ever wonder why manufacturer's put dark colored tags on light colored clothes? I think the blue stains come from the tags on new clothes. (01/23/2008) By Sandi RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing Okay, here's another idea. Do any of you use powdered mineral make-up? I just washed a load (didn't dry it yet) and found more spots on a white sweater and entwined with two of the spots were tiny, little pieces of black "bristle" (like the little pieces of "bristle" my make-up brush that came with my powdered mineral make-up often leaves on my face when I apply the make-up). I pulled these little pieces of bristles (1/16-1/4") right out of the blue spots! One spot was even the same length and shape as the bristle that came from it. This would explain why the spots are almost always on my clothes and almost always on the fronts of my clothes! (04/19/2008) By 2beme RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I seriously don't think it has anything to do with the kind of washer you use. My washer and dryer are both a good 15 years old. I've had this problem on and off for several years using mainly Purex with bleach alternative. We recently switched to the concentrated Purex and its really awful. My white towels, socks and lights are the worst. I'm convinced its the newer super-concentrated blue detergents. I'm going to use vinegar in my f.s. dispenser when I put the detergent in I'm going to mix it into the water with my hand thoroughly. That stuff just lays there in the water when you put it in. (05/11/2008) By Jana H. RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I got a white logo golf shirt in a place that I'll never be going to again - a valued memento! The first time I washed it - YES in Tide 2x - the dreaded blue botches were present before it was dried. There was no softener, just Tide 2x. I tried all the tricks on this blog, Yahoo answers, etc., with little luck. Oxy-clean paste and soaking had a small effect. Getting more desperate - Clorox bleach pen (carefully rinsing after each application) reduced but didn't eliminate the blotches. I noticed that the Clorox-bleached areas were yellowish and seemed to have a substance in the fabric even though not blue any more. CONCLUSION: There is something in the new clothes, like sizing, and Tide is using a bluing that permanently colors it. SOLUTION: How much do you want these items white again? I put the damp shirt on a hanger, took it out to the wash line and sprayed it all over with good-ol' bleach from a spray bottle (carefully avoiding the precious logo). After five minutes I used a garden hose with a pressure nozzle to wash it out again. Spraying full force from the inside actually dislodged the sizing, which had turned purple from the bleach even in areas without the Tide blotches. After three repetitions the blue and the purple spots were gone so I put the wet shirt into the washer for a rinse and spin. Now that I understand what's going on, I think it might have worked even better if I'd pressure washed some of the sizing out before bleaching. PREVENTION: Never use a P&G product again if I can help it. They've been pestered about this for years and won't even admit it happens, when they could be helping people get their clothes back to being wearable. Wash new clothes with dye-free products for a while. Mix blue products into the water before adding clothes. (05/17/2008) By Mika RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing Is it possible that some chemical from an individuals body is interacting with either the chemicals in the detergent and or the water that is causing the stains? Like for example some mineral or vitamin or medication (like an antibiotic) that might be excreted by the skin, then absorbed into your clothes fabric? Isn't that the most likely scenario? That some chemical from your body, gets into the clothing fibers and interacts differently and only occasionally with some other chemical; and in only certain circumstances, such as...temperature of the wash, certain acidity of the water that day, or copper piping, and some ubiquitous or common chemical in a detergent. We need a chemist or a biologist, or maybe a doctor, or someone familiar with skin chemistry to make a guess at this. This seems exactly like the kind of problem that lags on and on, until someone puts the pieces together. (07/26/2008) By adrianw RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I sent an email to SC Johnson & Company because they make a product called "Color Catcher". The light pink tee shirt that I had purchased was made in Guatemala was 100% cotton, carried the White Stag Brand and was sold at Wal-Mart. There were no special care instructions with it. As you will see, SC Johnson mentions "imported 100% cotton". Apparently this has been going on for some time because why would a manufacturer like SC Johnson create this product? They realized that there was a problem and therefore would be a demand for it. Here is SC Johnson's answer: Thank you for asking about Shout® Color Catcher. Our product has been around since 2002 to absorb and trap loose dyes in the wash. Many garments today are "non-colorfast", with label clues like: wash in cold water, wash separately, wash with deep color dyes, imported 100% cottons or silks. We recommend you carefully read label directions before laundering any items, and especially those labeled as above. For more information on our product, we invite you to visit www.shoutitout.com. Please let us know if we can help you in any other way. Regards, Carolyn Consumer Relationship Center SC Johnson, A Family Company Toll Free Number: 1-800-558-5252 www.scjbrands.com (07/26/2008) By Betty from WCH OHIO RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On White Wash Almost everyone except one entry is on the wrong track. Blue-green stains are cause by water that has too low a ph factor. Do a lot of you have well water? I'll bet that is true. I do and I have been getting blue-green stains not only in my white clothes wash but on my shower walls. Unfortunately the only real answer is to get ph correction in your system. (09/19/2008) By Bob A Report Spam or Abuse Request: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing Archived on 10/01/2006 I have a mystery that perhaps someone else has discovered the answer to. Periodically when I wash a load of clothes, some of the clothing will come out with blue dye stains scattered around. No pen in the load. No blue item that could have bled. I changed from the blue fragrance Downy to a green fragrance and nothing changed. The only other thing I could find in common was that I was using Era detergent, which is blue. So I changed to a Tide detergent that is clear. I assumed I was free and clear of this period hassle. But nope. I just found a fairly new light blue blouse with the same blue stains randomly scattered all over it. I'd appreciate the answer if anyone has one. Thanks, Jubi from Nebraska Answers: RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing That has been happening to me to. Do you have soft water? I never noticed it before I did, but it causes a lot of clothes to bleed, even if they are supposed to be colorfast. You could try flushing the fabric softener dispenser, if you have one on your machine. I don't use fabric softener, but they can collect pigments, and leftover soap, and such. I hope this helps. Good luck! (02/10/2005) By miss annabelle RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing Sounds like something is "behind" the tub part of the washer. I'd call an appliance store and ask them how to check behind it. Hope this helps. (02/11/2005) By MrsMoted2 RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I've had that happen too and realized it was the fabric softener (which was a light blue liquid), which did not distribute properly -- not a fun discovery when doing a 'white' load. (02/12/2005) By SDfriend RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing This might be mineral deposits. My boyfriend has his water coming from a well. No real filtration. I put a scoop of Oxyclean in every load of laundry. It costs a little more but with the kind of money I spend on my clothes it is a real savings in the long run. He was amazed at how clean and bright his towels and t-shirts look. Even his dad after suffering with this for thirty years is amazed at the look of his white linen table clothes (antiques). (06/23/2005) By Sunny RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing You most likely have copper water pipes and this is causing the green\blue stains. We have the same problem. We have found that if you soak the stained clothes in vinegar and water the stains will come out. We are looking into a small water softener system just for the washing machine. (11/20/2005) RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I have lost at least $800 in clothes in the last 3 years. Many times it will not occur for weeks or months and then 1 load will be loaded with the blue stains. My 3 year old dryer has evidence of the blue stains burnt onto the drum. I heard a rumor that the problem could be caused by the BLUE automatic toilet bowl cleaners. The claim was that as these tablets dissolve, some of the blue dye seep back into the plumbing if the seal for the incoming connections to the tank were not tight. The blue stuff settles down to lowest part of the plumbing and then the next water draw would carry this stuff to that location. It sounded like a long shot but I was willing to try anything so I stopped using the blue tablets and it seemed that the problem subsided. However recently I have started to see the problem again even though I stopped using the Blue cleaner for more than a year. I use a water softener and have a whole house filter to accommodate my hard, iron-rich well water. I am now thinking that this problem is related to the water composition or corrosion in the pipes. I plan on installing some type of inline filter just in front of the washing machine in order to purify the water just before it enters the machine. At least I should be able to see what gets picked up in the filter. (02/23/2006) By victorb RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I believe that the blue staining is from the dryer. When I see the blue stains on clothes after a dry cycle I put them back in the washer and they are gone but when I dry them again they appear again. The dryer drum has a blue stain on the it and I believe that its from washing the blue jeans over the years. Blue jeans give off a dark blue dye especially when new and I think that after a few years the dye eventually bakes onto the dryer drum and every so often transfers onto a load of clothes in the dryer. I've heard that you can soak some old white towel with 1 or 2 cups of bleach and the rest with water to soak up the towel and run it in the dryer, repeating the process until you don't see the blue dye on the towel anymore. I've had my dryer for about 4 yrs. and just recently started to notice the problem so I've been researching for a solution. I haven't had the chance to try this yet, but I plan to asap. Let me know if anyone else tries and the result. Thanks, hope it help me & you. (03/22/2006) By Anna RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I think my husband and I may have found the cause tonight. We've had this exact thing happen at our house for years - random blue streaks and stains in our clothing. Sometimes I can get it out with Clorox 2, or at least lighten it. We've been stumped because we use white powder Tide, no fabric softener in the wash, we have a water softener, city water, blah blah. I always have used powder detergent because my mom said that liquid always gave her clothes blue spots so tonight my husband suggested it might be Shout spray. It's blue, it's liquid, we rub it into stains, and we only use it occasionally. Tomorrow I'm going to find a clear stain remover and hopefully the problem will stop. It's really frustrating to have this keep happening on school and work clothes, so I hope we have found our solution. (04/09/2006) By Jenny RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing Sadly, we have the same quirky problem. Things I know for sure... It happened in our old washer and dryer and now we have a new dryer and washer and yet the problems persist. We do not use any blue toilet bowl cleaner. It happened in our old house with a large metro city water supply as well as our brand new house with a small town city water supply. One common thing I see... Tide detergent. Here's an incident to deepen the mystery. Today, after several months in a row with no blue splotches, they reappeared. They were WORSE on the INSIDE of the shirts than the outside of the shirts. I hope someone solves this mystery soon. I can't afford to keep buying my family new clothes. (05/05/2006) By Jan RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I am so glad to hear that we're not alone! This is such a frustrating problem. I really think it is the dryer because I can rewash clothes or soak them and the stains come out. We have a water softener, don't use fabric softener, changed from Tide to All, and don't use blue toilet bowl cleaner and yet the problem persists. I think the dyes from laundry build up on the dryer drum and need to be cleaned periodically. I have tried wiping the drum out with a white rag and the blue comes off on the rag. If I do that after a load of dark colors, I don't have a problem on the next load. (05/25/2006) By Monica RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing Could be acidic water (water w/ pH <6.5). I have the same problem and I have well water. Oxyclean works well, though. (05/28/2006) By guest RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing We are extremely frustrated with the blue stain problem. After reading all of the feedback, it sounds like most people have water softeners (we do) and have high mineral content in their water (we do). It also sounds like oxiclean might help. I'm going to stop using blue detergent, clean out my dryer drum and use oxiclean. I'll let you know how it goes. Blue stained show up about once every 2-3 weeks - of course only on white clothing and towels. (05/31/2006) By June Moncrief RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I had blue spots on my clothes and I narrowed it down to being the washer. I put stainless steel hoses on the back where it connects to the faucets. No more blue spots! (06/19/2006) By guest RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing IT'S THE SHOUT. Seriously. I just figured it out reading all these posts and looking at the blue stain that ruined my favorite pink shirt, wondering about where these occasional horrid blue stains come from and then it hit me, I recognize the pattern. IT'S SHOUT. We have a water softener. Maybe the two together produce some bad effect, we use arm and hammer and we use borax for washing, that is is. SHOUT! (07/06/2006) By hpike RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing We had this problem and finally figured out it was coming from the dryer drum being stained. Every so often khaki pants, colored and white clothes would come out with blue streaks and we could not figure it out until we saw the inside of a new dryer and noticed that it was white. Our 7 year old dryer was blue. We figured it out. So we tried goof off, which worked but was too strong and toxic. Plus we figured it might catch on fire if we used too much. So we next tried clorox clean-up, fantastik heavy duty cleaner and window cleaner. None worked. One day while at Sears buying hoses for our washer we asked a representative if she could help with our dryer dilemma and she recommended using Cleaning Cream for Smooth Top Ranges. It worked, with a little elbow grease. My hubby is doing most of the cleaning. We recommend doing small sections at a time. We just started yesterday and we are almost finished. When we are done we plan to clean it often especially after washing dark clothing. Hope this helps anyone who has not found a solution yet. (07/30/2006) By tee472 RE: Blue Stains Showing Up On Washed Clothing I have found the only time I have this problem is when using downy fabric softener. I stop using it and the problem stops. (09/12/2006) By Lisa Report Spam or Abuse