What is causing these stains????

[bright_eyes]

Every single time I wash laundry I always end up with a few shirts that have 'grease stains' on them. They are little spots that look wet but aren't. It is beyond frustrating as I have no idea what they're caused by and it is such a pain trying to get them out, not to mention not being able to wear a shirt that you've just washed. They go into the wash without the stains and come out with them. Sometimes, almost all of our shirts come out with a few spots on them.

I've been dealing with this for years and years. It doesn't seem to matter what detergent I use. I've even washed my machine out with baking soda/vinegar thinking maybe it's caused by a build up of detergent but that hasn't made a difference. I use all natural laundry detergent. I don't use any fabric softer/dryer sheets. I do use Shout as it is the only thing that gets the stains out, so maybe it's the Shout that is causing it?

Does anyone struggle with this problem? Anyone know what it is caused by?????

[katiesk]

if you pour detergent or fabric softener directly onto the clothes they will sometimes get stains like that. or maybe the soap is not getting diluted enough in your washer and is getting onto the clothes while still concentrated.

[mouso]

This happens to DH's shirts too. Has for years, would love to hear ideas!
It doesn't happen to mine so I've always wondered if it's invisible stains that "appear" after being set by the washing/drying.

[Owen'nZoe]

I had this problem for over a year. Recently it seems to have gone away, and I think it is because we started using 1/2 the recommended amt of laundry detergent, but I am not certain that is the reason.

DH was able to get most of the stains out by treating them with shampoo before laundering the next time.

[soccermama]

That has happened more to my shirts than DS or DH's...... Maybe we should cut back on the amount of detergant as well and see if that works. We use powered OXY clean, though.... Interesting thread. Thanks for starting!!

[bright_eyes]

I was thinking about this today and how it's often just mine and ds's shirts that this happens to and wondering if it's just from being in the kitchen and get food on our shirts that isn't visible. For example, me just cooking and maybe get a little of something on my shirt but not enough to notice and try and spot remove it. Or ds spilling a bit of milk or oatmeal on his shirt, and then I wipe up it off with a cloth, but maybe don't actually get the food right out of the shirt. Kind of like an invisible food stain that sets after washing, like you mentioned, mouso.

So now I'm wondering what I can add to my wash that would maybe get rid of it before I go through the whole process of washing/drying than discovering it. I want to start making my own laundry detergent and wonder what I could add that would help. Any ideas?

[russsk]

It could be grease from your washer. I've had this problem; it only happened when I used cold water, however.

[hibana]

Use less detergent. I use about a tablespoon of liquid for a large load.