How to Remove Pit Stains from Your Dirndl Blouse

It's a common problem that us ladies don't like to talk about, but Oma's love to try and solve... yellow dirndl blouse armpit stains. Picture it... you've had your brat sandwich, you have your beer in your hand and a lovely gentleman in Lederhosen asks you to polka and you'd love to say "Why yes, Mr. Handsome, I'd love to," but then you remember that when you lift that right arm to dance with him... dun dun dun. It's the pits! You have pit stains on your favorite most perfect blouse. But, you are not alone in this battle...  

I came across a fabulous blog "The Art of Manliness" about the same topic and so I thought I'd share some of the best information with you. (the following is from http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/04/03/how-to-remove-yellow-armpit-stains/)

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not your sweat itself that causes yellow stains on your white dirndl blouses. Most experts agree that the culprit behind your yellow pits is the aluminum used in antiperspirants combined with your sweat. Can you believe that? The very substance that keeps your pits nice and dry also wreaks havoc on your shirts and dirndl blouses. This presents a bit of a Catch-22. While foregoing antiperspirants can eliminate the risk of yellow stains later on, you’ll have to manage the wet semi-circles due to excessive sweating in the short-term.

Bleach

Don’t even try this on your dirndl blouses. I didn’t try using bleach, but I thought I should mention this method first. The natural response to fighting yellow stains is to just use lots of bleach. Don’t do it. It will actually make your pit stains even more yellow. Plus this can seriously deteriorate the fabric on your traditional blouse.

Ammonia+Dishwashing Soap

Result:

Fail I had high hopes for this method, but alas, I was disappointed. The yellow stain on my  traditional blouse didn’t diminish at all. In fact, it started to look even worse than before. I don’t recommend this method.

OxiClean

Result:

Success! Because my experiment shirt still had yellow pit stains, I used it in the OxiClean experiment. I followed the directions on the box. The one thing I did differently was actually rub a thick mixture of OxiClean and water on the stain before putting it in the more diluted mixture. Why? I don’t know. It seemed like it would do something. Six years of yellow pit stains on my  dirndl blouses were blasted away with just a scoop of OxiClean and a little help from the ghost of Billy Mays’ beard.

Raise Yellow Stain Remover

Result:

Success There are a few products on the market that are specifically formulated to remove yellow pit stains. I ordered a bottle of one these products. It’s called Raise. A 12 ounce bottle costs $12.50 plus shipping. To use it, you simply lay your shirt on a towel and apply a bit of Raise on the armpit stains, brush the stain a bit, and then let sit for 15-20 minutes. Finish everything off by laundering as usual. I followed the directions on the bottle. When I took my shirt out of the wash, the stain had faded but was still a little visible.

Final Recommendation: OxiClean 

OxiClean works. It’s simple, cheaper than Raise, and can take care of the gnarliest armpit stains. Plus, you can use it to clean a million other things.

This is very exciting news!! I'm going to get some OxiClean asap. But if you are wondering how to prevent those dirndl blouse stains from even appearing, here are my 2 recommendations.

Stop using aluminum antiperspirants:

Check the ingredient list before you buy and make sure that you are aluminum free! I've switched and it's been about 2 years. The first 2 months were weird because I was really sweaty, when I was previously under the impression that I "wasn't a very sweaty person"... but then it got much better as my body got used to the switch. I would recommend making the switch in the cooler months. Here is the one I use ->  https://amzn.to/2U7v0z4

Wash your dirndl blouse right after wearing it: 

Washing your blouse asap is a good way to prevent pit stains, but it's also a great way to shorten the life of your blouse. Much to everyone's dismay, fabrics are not meant to be vigorously tossed about in the washing machine over and over and over. It slowly deteriorates the fabric and eventually will start to thin and rip. Lace dirndl blouses are even more delicate and you NEVER want to use bleach with a lace dirndl blouse. Hand washing and hanging to dry is your best bet to get the longest life out of your dirndl blouse.

Should you simply want a new blouse... I have the cure!

Check out our entire selection of dirndl blouses on the website.

Do you/Oma have any other techniques for ousting those wicked pit stains? Share them in the comments below and help a schwester out! 

Looking for more Dirndl Style tips & tricks? Click the link to get access to our official style guide! >> https://bit.ly/dirndlstyle

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