Help all our clothes are getting ruined and I don't know why!?

Question

We can't figure out why all our clothes have fade stains on them

It has been going on for months, our shirts, pants, towels, sheets, are getting what looks like bleach stains.

We moved and now have a new machine and it's still going on.

We don't use bleach and I have even called the detergent company, they said no way possible that it could be their detergent.

We have used different detergents and still going on.

Anyone else have this prolem?

Strange thing is,that it happens only to me and my husbands clothes

not the kids!

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Could be a number of things but my first guess would be some type of acne treatment. Do either of you use an oxy product or sulfur treatment for skin problems? There are also a lot of anti aging ingredients in some lotions these days that have various types of acid that could bleach clothes. I would think though that you would both be having to use this product for it to be affecting both of your clothes.

Answer 2

There could be a lot of alcohol in the deodorants or perfumes or after-shave lotion you and your husband are wearing that is mixing with the water & detergent to cause this fading.

That is all I can think of which might cause this effect.

Answer 3

I've had the same problem! We noticed these mysterious "bleach spots" on our nice new green hand towels and finally realized it was from the Crest Whitening Toothpaste we use. I.E. we would brush our teeth, rinse and then dry off on the hand towels....and the whitening agent was causing the spots.

So it's probably some chemical that's causing the faded spots in your laundry. Common culprits are Benzoyl peroxide (found in facial cleansers) and the chemicals in deodorant and whitening toothpastes.

It's also possible that you might have splashed something onto your towels, sheets or clothing and not realized it. Just the other day I sprayed a bleach cleaner on my kitchen counterop and while wiping and rinsing I leaned against the counter ever so slightly. A few hours later I looked down at my new shirt - it was covered with bleach spots!

Lemon juice, household cleaners and peroxide can all have a bleaching or lightening effect if they get splashed onto clothing by accident.

Answer 4

It's probably the deodorant that you use. It's the same thing that causes those white marks on your top (mainly in the underarm area). When you wash your clothes, this will mix through. I have blue-ish gray stains on a lot of my laundry, from this (well I think its this anyway, because the "sweat-stain-areas" on my white shirts are that colour). The best way to solve this is to handwash the affected clothes, and use a pre-was stain remover in these areas (yes, even if there's no stain) next time you wash.

Answer 5

First test is to hand wash one of your items and see if the fading  occurs.  If yes then definitely is some chemical you are using.  If no fading occurs try washing your garments seperate from husband's, use cold water.  Air dry the load and if no fading it could be the dryer running to hot.

Answer 6

Are you using a lotion or other product that could be getting on fabrics and coming out in the wash onto other clothing?  Benzoyl peroxide is an example, it's in face cleanser products like Proactiv and Clearasil.  Anything like that?

Answer 7

Two questions:

Do either of you have a job where you work with chemicals?

and

Do you wash your clothes separately from your children's?

Edit to add: and another question!

Are you using any kind of sunscreen or sunless tanner? Do you bleach your hair (anywhere)?