All of us have encountered ring around the collar.
The reality is you can't just go sprinkling Oxi into your washing machine and expect miracles. OxiClean (and Amaze, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda and Borax) are laundry boosters, which means that they'll help to brighten up dull laundry. The boosters can also be used as stain removers, but they have to be applied directly to the stain and allowed some time to work their magic. (This is true of all stains, not just ring around the collar.)
What causes ring around the collar. Most people attribute collar staining to sweat, which is right partially correct. Ring around the collar is caused by a combination of sweat, dead skin, and hair product buildup. Sweat can't be helped, but if the dreaded ring is a persistent problem for you, try to pay a little extra attention to your neck right at the end of your shower. Doing so will help to remove dead skin, as well as any residue your shampoo, conditioner and/or soap have left behind. If you use a lot of hair products, you may also want to give your neck a quick wiping off after you've done your hair but before you put on your shirt.
Pretreat the ring around the collar using your preferred product, but be ready for the possibility that it might not work as well as you want. DO NOT DESPAIR if that happens. It does not mean the shirt is a goner. It just means you need to try a different product. What works on one person's stained shirt may not work on another person's stained shirt. Spraying an absurd amount of OxiClean's spray stain treatment on a collar itself before washing.
Sprays: Spray stain treatments are probably the easiest of the bunch to apply. Just spritz spritz spritz, and then work the product into the stained area by rubbing the shirt's material against itself. You can also use an old toothbrush or a laundry brush to help work the product in. In the spray category, some brands to look out for are:
- OxiClean
- Zout
- Shout
- Resolve* (Resolve used to be sold under the name Spray 'n Wash)
- Charlie's Soap
Bars: Using a laundry bar will take a bit more effort than a spray—though really only a bit more. The upside is that the force of rubbing the bar into your stained collar will obviate the need to rub the shirt's fabric against itself. In the laundry bar category, some brands to look out for are:
- Fels Naptha
- Zote
- Dr. Bronner's
Smears: This is a name I just made up for products that you need to sort of smear onto a stain using your hands. In the smear category, some brands and products to look out for are:
- Goop
- Mom's Goop
- Liquid laundry detergent (remember that Wisk ad?)
- Dish soap
When in doubt, reach for the dish soap.
Other kinds of soap will work too—liquid laundry detergent, hand soap, bar soap—but dish soap is one of those things that's almost always on hand and is also my go-to whenever anything gets spilled in my house. Splashed some coffee on the duvet? Dish soap. Dropped a piece of dressed lettuce on your pants? Dish soap. Have a mystery stain? Dish soap.
The thing is about dish soap is that it's mild, so the worst thing that will happen is that it doesn't work. I bet with a small amount of dish soap and a sponge, that stain will come right up.
If the worst happens and the dish soap doesn't remove the stain, head for one of your stain pretreatment products. Again, the use of a stain treatment isn't going to hurt the situation, though of course it may not help.
Q: What do you get if you cross a telephone and a shirt?
A: ring around the collar
Sorry to put you on the SPOT.
For more on this subject, please take a look at this article:
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert and advice columnist. She’ll answer your filthiest questions. http://deadspin.com/what-can-i-do-about-this-ring-around-the-collar-1506592147
