Interesting. What laundry powder did you use? I have some residue build up on black t-shirts and have been using this as a pre-treater with good success:

https://jet.com/product/detail/2b085672269945a3906df880a78b9bff?jcmp=pla:ggl:cwin_jd_home_garden_a3:household_supplies_laundry_supplies_a3_other:na:na:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&k_clickid=35f52a56-f3cf-4b19-9779-1691535427ec&abkId=403-871197&gclid=CJzw2eWzkMsCFQ6LaQodGwkK8g

Anti-perspirant residue I assume? What kind of anti-perspirant do you use?

I second suburbanmd's thoughts, since switching to non anti-perspirant deodourants there is no residue issue.

I would use caution with Acetone, not a good idea at all to put any clothing with flammable liquids on them in a washer. I totally understand loving a challenge..... but it might be cheaper in the long run to pick up some new t-shirts at Walmart and a lot safer. Sometimes we must accept defeat... lol

Problem would be more with the dryer..this stuff NEVER fully washes up than you throw it in the dryer.BOOM!!! This is 2016 chemical stain removers like this are not to be used in the home..

Even cooking oil on a rag can cause a dryer fire..matter of fact clothes taken out of a dryer and put in a basket can combust

Playing with flammables as stain removers can't be stressed enough..you wet washing and not trained in dry cleaning where they can get into dangerous things because they know what their doing...not trying to sound like a witch here, but flammables are dangerous in a laundry room.

But how do one get that deoderant out of the fabric?

I have the same problem, white t-shirts that my partner uses as undershirts for work and under the arms after washing with ggod detergent and 140 long wash, line drying, you can se build up. These are maybe 2 years old.

The deoderant is loreal men expert 96 hour support. Exellent deodorant. The only one that work for us.

Please help, I have thougt about doing a superwash in 205 water in my miele.

Yes, it's regular old antiperspirant/deodorant residue. Built up over many years. I've switched to the gel types and I believe it's mainly waxy buildup that never fully got removed.

Yes you have to be very careful with flammable stain removers and I didn't settle on Acetone lightly. It is the key ingredient in nail polish remover and most importantly evaporates cleanly with no residue (like Isopropyl Alcohol). I plan to use a method like is detailed here:

http://www.home-ec101.com/how-to-use-acetone-to-remove-grease-stains/

Basically blot it on the stain outside. Allow to evaporate until there is no smell and then launder regularly.

According to various sources Acetone is fine to use on this type of fabric - cotton and is a method of getting nail polish, grease, and other waxy-type stains out of clothes. ( http://home.howstuffworks.com/stain-removal-tools-ga3.htm )

You do have to be very careful with these types of procedures and if you are not able to do that then don't!!! You don't want to blow you or your family up. But as always proceed at your own risk.

Hi, I haven't posted in here before because I'm a renter and laundromat user. I do have a non-flammable way to get that gunk out. I have tried various deodorants. Not happy with any of them. I am a sweaty animal and need the anti-perspirant. I've been using Degree at just-below clinical strength.

I turn the shirt inside out, wet it, sprinkle the buildup with a bit of oxi powder (currently All Free and Clear) and scrub it in with a brush. Then another sprinkle and another scrub. Let it sit for half an hour or so, then wash on a normal hot setting with a normal load of laundry. I do this on colors as well as whites and repeat when it builds up again. So far I haven't had bleach damage.

I'm surprised to read the problems, because long and hot washes in a front-loader solved my problem of residue from roll-on anti-perspirant. Even long-term buildup on white undershirts, from my top-loader days, faded away with repeated washings at 140F. Nowadays I'm wearing colored tees, as undershirts in winter and only shirt in summer. Washed long but at only 105F to slow the fading (they come out fresh enough, though I'd prefer hotter), some of them show a little residue on close examination. Since they're colored it isn't obvious. I do use STPP, and maybe that helps.

I've read a lot of people have this issue, but I've never had this happen. Last spring my nephew and his girlfriend ask if I'd wash a few loads of their laundry, every one of the girls shirts had under arm stains, I wanted her to leave them with me to work on but she just wanted them washed, saying nothing would get them out, I doubt she ever tried. What causes this for some and not others?

The shirts with the residue may predate our front loaders with sanitary functions. I honestly don't know how old they are - just that they are old and the really bad ones are so stiff it's like cardboard. Most do not have any residue but there are a few that do. We've had a front loader since 2004 and even before that I used chlorine bleach in the whites.

And none on the non white t-shirts that I own that are just as old. The non-white ones are never worn with anything under them so it's just weird.

Guy, was it you that used to wash in cold, or have I confused you with someone else?

On second thought I think I did confuse you with someone else.

Mama, must have been someone else. I do all warm/hot/sanitary washes. :)

My husband's white t shirts get anti perspirant wax build up and I wash my whites at 140. Every so often I put them in a boil wash with a little blue dawn and an alkalinity booster then rewash as normal. I wear deoderant and don't get the same buildup. I'm guessing it has something to do with the wax and aluminum combo in antiperspirants?

Before we had a FL with sanitize washes, my ex would have to replace his white t-shirts every year due to buildup in the underarms from his aluminum chloride-based antiperspirant. After switching, we never had that problem again. I haven't made the switch to deodorant-only because I've always been a heavy perspirer, but it does make me worry what's getting into my system if it can do that kind of damage to cotton. :-/

Sweat is made up of many things, not just water, phosphates, salt, potassium, zinc, copper, iron...just to name a few..I think what happens is some people have more of something in their sweat that reacts with the ingredients in anti pers. And that causes the staining. Otherwise everyone using anti pers. Would have this issue, but not everyone does. I would think tthere's a fair amount of oil in this sweat so I would treat the sweaty anti pers stains as you would body oils..I would definitely not let shirts that are prone to this sit in the hamper until wash day, treat them pits as soon as you remove the shirt.