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Meet the $3 Laundry Rescue to Save Your Once-White Shirts From a Life Sentence of Pinkness

Kells McPhillips

April 1, 2019

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Photo: Getty Images/Jessica Peterson

Laundry day is a weekly crapshoot. If all goes well, you end up with a freshly washed leggings collection and a replenished underwear drawer. But if things don't go so swimmingly in that sudsy, sock-stealing machine, you somehow end up with an entire millennial pink wardrobe. (And by "somehow," I mean that rogue red bra made it's way into the load.) Should the worst happen, however, there's a $3 solve to SOS—save our shirts.

Rit Dye Color Remover—which you can buy in bulk on Amazon for repeat laundry 911s—is designed specifically to return once-pristine tees to their former glory. According to the product description, the stain-fighter is best used on cotton, wool, ramie, linen, and rayon. It's also a non-chlorine, meaning, it's less stringent than bleach. Once you've (temporarily) ruined a load of laundry, all you need to do is throw the pastel-hued garments back into wash, set the machine to piping hot, and apply the appropriate amount of Rit.

For every packet of Color Remover, mix in four cups of water. A small load requires two packets, while a larger load may need three, according to the website. Start the cycle, remove the detergent cup from the tray, and pour the mixture into the dispenser. Then, pour four more cups of hot water down the tray. When the cycle is over, run the clothes through once more. (Note: If you have a top washer, you'll want to add the entire solution before tossing in the your once-white-clothes.)

The Spruce reports that while the product works wonders on plain fabrics, applying it to patterned clothing may wash out your stars, polka dots, or stripes—so beware. As an added bonus, the whole process also doubles as a pre-treatment for dying your clothes. So if you find yourself uninspired by your crisp, monochrome wardrobe, you can tie-dye your heart out...or not.

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