White is a color bound to get a stain while playing your favorite sport, regardless if it’s a baseball uniform or a soccer jersey. Blood, grass, dirt, or those yellow armpit sweat marks, nothing is more strenuous than removing these difficult stains from a white jersey.
The best and most effective cleaning method is to use some of the home ingredients together. Items like distilled white vinegar and baking soda are readily available in your kitchen and work best to give your jerseys a new milky white look.
Read on to know the exact steps and learn how to remove the toughest marks to make your white uniforms spotless.
General Jersey Stain Removal Guidelines
Before you get on to removing the rigid stains from white sportswear, here are a couple of things you should keep in mind:
- Most stains settle in fast, so it’s a race between time, stain, and your cleaning capabilities. The faster you act, the easier it is to pull out the stain.
- Always check the garment’s care label. It often has all the key points to help you remember which ones work well to get the stain out using dry clean, and other cleaning agents.
- Check whether you have oil, matte, or grease stains. If it is oily, you must apply some powder and dab it with a dry paper towel before washing it.
- Ensure you always wash white clothes separately, as washing them with regular colored clothes can lead to discoloration.
- After removing the stain, remember to turn your clothes inside out before putting them in the washer to protect the crests, wording, and digits.
- When working with bleach, take extra care, as most white clothes have colored patches that can become discolored with direct contact. Wear gloves to protect your skin.
Best Methods to Clean White Jerseys
There are plenty of cleaning techniques out there. But not all are worth risking your white jerseys for. Even worse than failing to remove the dirt stains, improper cleaning methods can cause your clothes to fray and fade.
Here are a few simple, tested methods keeping the potential risk-to-reward ratio in mind that help to effectively clean the patchy marks leaving your white clothes soft to the touch.
Bleach
If you’ve got some tough tea, coffee, and juice stains that are impossible to remove, try using oxygen bleach to eliminate them. Moreover, it can help to remove settled blood splotches. We prefer the oxygen variant over chlorine because oxygen ones are gentler on the polyester jersey material. Contrarily, the chlorine version is quite strong and weakens the fabric strands over time.
While bleaching is an effective method, it requires extra care and caution. If your fabric is delicate, try not to soak it in the mix for longer or overnight. Also, always dilute it with cold water and never use it with vinegar, as it can result in a lethal gas mixture that is harmful to breathe.
Washing Machine
A washer is an excellent cleaning method that is just as effective as a bleach soak. If you’re hesitant to try out any other option, rest assured that giving your jerseys a quick spin in the washer can help lighten tough marks and remove ketchup stains. It is pretty effective to eliminate deodorant marks or sweat stains that only require a normal wash after a pre-wash with detergent.
Be mindful of using a mild powdered laundry detergent, and ensure your machine is set to a low spin cycle. You can even fill the dispenser with a few drops of bleach to get a two-in-one benefit.
Home Ingredients
Vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice are not only used to prepare delicious treats but also help to mitigate blemishes. Whether it is a fresh blood splatter, a yellow sweat mark, or a red wine blot after that classic victory, these home ingredients can come to your rescue.
Vinegar not only helps to remove stains like tough grass and mud blotches, but it also deodorizes and leaves smoke, sweat, and other pungent smells behind. On the other hand, cleaning agents like hydrogen peroxide can help take off the chocolate and blood stains on your clothes.
Stain Removers
There are many specialized removers in the market, but we recommend OxiClean. This artificial stain remover is easy-to-use and works for various spot marks. It can help lift food stains and dissolve grease and oil marks. It also effectively targets spots like blood and tougher grass stains.
Dry Cleaning
If all else fails, hard stains that just won’t come off are better left in the hands of professional dry cleaners. Most dry cleaning services offer a stain pre-treatment that is carried out using particular substances. This stain removal method is handy for delicate clothes like your white sports jersey.
Common Stains on White Jerseys and How to Remove Them?
Your white garments are vulnerable to multiple types of stains. You might get pushed into the dirt, have a deep bleeding cut, or maybe you’ve been sweating profusely during that long football match. Here are the three most common types of stains and a quick step-by-step guide to remove them fast.
Grass Stains
Use stain removers and then rinse them in the washer.
Grass stains are typically hard to remove. This is because the grass contains a higher chlorophyll concentration, giving it a greenish hue. The chlorophyll can easily dye any fabric, and since the jerseys are white, the green color intensifies even more. But with a few spritzes, you can remove all rigid grass, dirt, and mud marks.
- Spray OxiClean cleaning solution directly on the stain until it becomes saturated.
- Let it sit for up to an hour or overnight, depending on the severity of the stain.
- Give the jersey a regular wash in the washing machine using mild powdered detergent and the highest temperature that’s marked as safe in the manufacturer’s tag of your jersey. Ensure to set your washer on a gentle spin cycle.
- Let it air dry.
Blood Stains
Use hydrogen peroxide to clear off the blood stains.
Getting a pushdown, hits, or bleeding cuts is all part of the game. And it’s likely, that your item of clothing may turn a bit red. Here is how to make it white again using hydrogen peroxide.
- Rinse or soak your stained white playwear in cool water. Avoid using hot water as it can firm up the stain.
- Scrub the stained fabric together for a minute or two to further lighten the mark.
- Apply a small quantity of hydrogen peroxide or ammonia onto the stained area.
- After a few minutes, use a clean cloth or dry towel to wipe it off.
- Gently rub the blemishes with a soft cotton cloth and rinse them under cold water.
Yellow Sweat Stains
Add lemon juice, white vinegar, or bleach to your normal wash.
Yellow stains are easiest to get and remove from your white clothes. Here is how to do it.
- Soak your jersey in a tub full of cold water.
- Add ½ cup of lemon juice into the tub.
- Alternatively, mix one tablespoon of vinegar or use bleach and apply it to the stain.
- Let it soak for 20-25 minutes, or soak overnight until the stain is gone.
- Rinse the stain and let it dry.
Tips to Properly Dry Your White Jersey
Take a look at the essential tips to dry your jersey the right way.
- Avoid using the dryer to dry your white garments, as it can cause your jerseys to shrink. (Unless that’s your goal, in that case follow our guide how to safely shrink basketball jerseys.)
- Keep your garment inside out while drying.
- To effectively dry your jersey, consider one of the following:
- Hang the jersey on a drying rack.
- Hang your jersey on a coat hanger to restore its shape
- Place your jersey flat in a warm area away from direct sun rays for 30 minutes or till it completely dries.
And if you need more information, this guide on how to dry jerseys correctly will surely have you covered.
