Message: I have looked through all the questions but there isn't a specific one related to sweat and deoderant stains. My friend asked me to dye his (expensive) shirt olive green for him as it was a faded light brown. I did so with a Dylon machine dye as this had worked well for his shorts, but where he had used deoderant and sweated it stayed white after it had dried and the areas around the neck also remained a lighter colour. Do you have any suggestions on how to get an even colour across these problem areas? Thanks

No, I'm sorry, but any foreign matter, including antiperspirant stains and perspiration stains, must be removed from clothing before it is dyed. Now that the stains on the shirt have acted as a resist against the dye that you applied, there is probably no way to get the color completely smooth, though you could try using Rit Color Remover or Dylon Fabric Colour Stripper to see if you can remove the dye you used.

As a general rule, once a stain has penetrated fabric, it might not be possible to remove it completely enough that there will be no problem afterwards in dyeing. Next time, if this situation occurs again, you should prepare for dyeing by trying whatever cleaning remedy is recommended by Heloise or another housecleaning advisor, but it is possible that there will still be enough residue to cause some difference in color. If you overdye a worn shirt again in the future, follow the instructions Heloise gives for removing these stains first. Afterwards, scour your garment to prepare for dyeing, by washing in the hottest water it will tolerate, along with detergent and some extra soda ash or washing soda for added cleaning power.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)