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An unexpected hardware store staple is the key to eliminating these complex stains.
Sunscreen may be an essential part of maintaining healthy skin, but it is not without its drawbacks.
Credit: gmattrichard / Getty Images
Sunscreen stains are combination stains, which means they are comprised of more than one stain bang out.
Understanding the science behind these complicated stains is the key to knowing how to remove them.
What Makes Sunscreen Such a Complicated Stain?
Avobenzone, an ingredient found in most sunblock formulas, is the primary culprit.
Avobenzone is an oil-soluble dibenzoyl methane derivative that the FDA approved for use in sunblock formulas in 1988.
It works as a sunscreen agent by absorbing ultraviolet light.
It also has the propensity to oxidize in water causing deep orangish stains.
These may look like rust stains and, in a sense, they are.
Those stains need to be treated in the same way as you would treat a rust stain.
It’s worth noting two things.
Sunscreenstains on clothingand other fabrics should be treated in the same way as rust stains.
Applying a commercial rust stain remover to orangish sunscreen stains is one option.
A DIY approach is to treat sunscreen stains with a combination oflemon juiceand salt.
Time will remove dark orange stains from clothing and other textiles.
Prolonged exposure to water will make the stains worse.
The method you use is key to making these pantry staples pull double duty in the laundry room.
Work quickly, only exposing the stain to water for as long as it takes to saturate the area.
Then lay the garment on a flat surface where it can stay overnight.
Allow the lemon juice and salt to sit overnight, to penetrate and break down the stain.
In the morning, brush the salt into the sink or trash and launder the garment as usual.
