Q: My sweat stains all the armpits of my shirts. Why does it do that?
A: It's actually quite common for people to look like they've used a can of WD-40 for deodorant. It's highly individual—we all react to sweat the way we react to an Eminem lyric. Some of us agree with it, some of us don't. That's because sweat cannot only cause discoloration of material, but it can also milk the color out of clothing. A buildup of sweat in the armpit and collar areas exposes the fabric to a mixture of acids, body oils, salts, ammonia, enzymes, and bacteria that can affect the dyes in dark-colored fabric, or turn light-colored fabric various shades of yellow, orange and even green. If your perspiration has a tendency to stain fabrics, your deodorants or antiperspirants may worsen this, as can the consumption of certain foods. |
