The One Thing To Do For Sweat Stains

When dreaded yellow-tinged pit stains start showing up on your favorite shirt, you might feel totally doomed. Though standard detergent can't really help, the one thing to do for sweat stains on shirts is fast, easy, cheap, and most importantly, effective. With a little DIY effort, your shirt will be good to go and pit stain-free in no time.

So why does this whole "yellowish" sweat stain thing happen in the first place? Huffington Post explained, "Our sweat contains a compound called urea, which causes the sweat to yellow on our clothing." Thanks, science. As for deodorant to stop stains before they start, the site added, "While deodorants obviously help, many also contain aluminum, which mixes with the sweat and causes those white stains on dark clothing." Basically your sweat and deodorant work together to create those pesky stains. Awesome.

Luckily, getting rid of them ain't no thang when you know what to do! To remove sweat stains, Top Cleaning Secrets (and my grandmother) shared how the one thing you need to do is whip up a stain removing paste with baking soda.

I've broken down the simple steps below so you can get those annoying stains out right freaking now.

1. Make A Paste

Pure Baking Soda, $7, Amazon

First, mix together 1/4 cup baking soda with lukewarm water into a spreadable paste.

2. Coat The Stains And Let Sit

Clear Tupperware Bowls (Set of 2), $35, Amazon

Rub the paste over your pit stains, and leave the shirt in a clean, dry place for an hour. I normally toss mine into a piece of tupperware like the one above.

3. Rinse And Wash

After an hour, rinse off the baking soda and toss your shirt in with a load of laundry and whatever detergent you normally use. When you pull it out to dry, the stain should be gone!

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Images: Drew Angerer/Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty Images; Courtesy of Brands