We’ve all reached for our favorite worn-out shirt before, only to find that the armpits have those nasty yellow stains. Luckily, a laundry expert on TikTok shared her incredible method for getting your shirt as clean as new again.

The shovel

Laura de Barra (@lauradebarra) is a fabric care expert who shares tips and tricks on TikTok and Instagram. She even wrote a book on the subject. In a clip that has received almost 50,000 likes, she explains her foolproof method for removing stubborn underarm stains.

@lauradebarra So many white t-shirts are thrown away because of armpit stains. Let’s solve the problem! #stain #stainremover #stainremoval #armpitstains #yellowarmpitstainremoval #sweatstains #whitet-shirt #whitet-shirt #laundry #washingmachine #laundryhack #laundryhack #ecocleaning #slowfashion #slowfashiontiktok #stains #whiteclothes #laundrytips ♬ Original sound – LauradeBarra

In the video, Laura says all you need is her “holy trinity”: dish soap, baking soda and distilled vinegar. First, turn your shirt inside out. Then, using cold water, work some dish soap into the stain – “to remove any products like body lotion, oils or deodorants,” she says. The inventor explains that these stains occur because the sweat under our arms is richer in oil.

The next step is to rinse off the soap and soak the stain in two parts water and one part vinegar for about an hour. Once the stain has soaked for the specified time, rinse again.

To really dissolve those oils, Laura recommends viewers make a paste with water and baking soda that’s the consistency of a “nice face mask” and apply it to the stain. She lets the paste sit for an hour and a half, but says, “The worse the stain, the longer you need to leave it in.”

Finally, use the same vinegar mixture as before in the cleaning process and use the chemical reaction of vinegar and baking soda to dissolve any remaining residue from your shirt.

You may need to scrub it again if there are still stains, but you should see a noticeable difference in the discoloration of the armpits. Rinse everything off and throw it in with the rest of your laundry, and you should have a stain-free shirt.

How it works

Cleaning tips like these are just another reason to keep the powerful cleaning ingredients above on hand. With baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap, you can clean virtually anything in your home, from baking sheets to bathtubs.

The best thing about this “holy trinity” is its affordability. Large containers usually cost less than $10 and last for several months. These cheap ingredients can save you nearly $100 a year on cleaning supplies.

In addition, many conventional cleaning products can have negative effects on your health and the environment. The EPA explains, “Certain ingredients in cleaning products may be hazardous to affected populations (e.g., skin and eye irritation in workers) or toxic to aquatic life in waterways that receive inadequately treated wastewater.”

Avoiding dangerous chemicals and saving money? What’s not to like?

What our users say

People on TikTok liked this cleaning tip.

“This is great, thanks for the tip! I’ll try this, I have so many white shirts with this problem,” said one commenter.

Another person simply said: “This is incredible!”

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