Removing Yellow Spots From a Chanel Cotton Knit Polo in Singapore

Item

Chanel polo, white knit with red wavy stripes, red CC logo, collar and button placket

Material

100% cotton, knitted; labelled dry clean only

Condition on arrival

Yellow spots on the white knit at the back, near the right shoulder; cause not recorded

Primary risk

Lifting the spots from the white without moving the red or changing the shape of the knit

Result

The yellow spots came out

What came in?

The customer sent in a Chanel polo with yellow spots. The polo is knitted in white cotton with rows of red wavy stripes, a plain white band across the upper front and back, a collar, a buttoned placket and a red CC logo on the chest. The spots were on the back, in the white band just below the collar, near the right shoulder.

The customer had first sent the polo to another cleaner, who could not remove the spots; that cleaner's tags were still on the collar when it arrived. The label reads 100% cotton and dry clean only. We do not know what caused the spots.

Why do white cotton clothes turn yellow?

Yellow spots on white cotton usually start with something left in the fibre: perspiration, skin oil, deodorant, perfume, or a small splash of food or drink. Most of these cannot be seen at first. They oxidise and turn yellow over time, and once they have bonded to the fibre they have to be lifted out of it rather than washed off.

Why is a cotton knit labelled dry clean only?

The fibre alone does not decide the care label. A knit can relax, shrink or lose its shape in water, and a strong red knitted next to white carries a risk of running into it. On this polo the spots were on the white band, a short way above the first red stripe.

How did Rosabelle treat the Chanel polo?

The colour came first

The spots sat on white knit close to the red. The work was chosen so that the red would stay in its own rows and the white would not pick up any colour.

The knit kept its shape

A knitted polo holds its size and drape through the knit itself. The spots were lifted with the method appropriate for a cotton knit, as the label permits.

What was the result?

The yellow spots came out of the knit at the right shoulder.

How do you stop white clothes yellowing?

• Have a garment cleaned before it is put away, even after a single wear, so nothing is left in the fibre to oxidise.
• If it will stay unworn for a long time, have it cleaned periodically.
• Keep it somewhere with low humidity. In Singapore a closed wardrobe stays humid unless something is drawing the moisture out.
• Keep it out of sunlight.

For spots and yellowing on any garment, see stain removal and restoration; for designer and delicate pieces, see couture garment care.

About these photographs

These are working shop records. The before frames were taken when the polo arrived, laid flat on the workbench; the after frames were taken once it was finished, on a hanger in the shop. The before close-up is cropped from the back photograph so that it shows the same shoulder as the after close-up. The front pair is there to show the whole polo; the spots were on the back only. Nothing was colour-corrected, and this page makes no claim about the colour of the knit, only about the spots.

The honest note

Can yellow spots always be removed from white cotton?

Not always. We do our best, but many factors will affect the outcome. Complete removal is possible on some garments but cannot be guaranteed. What caused the spots, how long they have been there, the fibre, the dye and what has been tried at home all change the work. Each garment is assessed before any work starts.

Sources & further reading

1. Canadian Conservation Institute — CCI Note 13/1, Textiles and the environment
2. Meteorological Service Singapore — Climate of Singapore