About Ring-Around-the-Collar

Ring around the collar is common on dress shirts that are worn snug around the neck. This type of ring also appears at the edges of T-shirts and in the back of blouse necks. It doesn't matter how clean somebody's neck is. Natural oils from the skin and hair, along with perspiration, create an organic oily stain that can be hard to remove.

Considerations

Numerous solutions are available to eliminate ring around the collar. You may get lucky with the first one you try, or you may have to try a number of products before one works. Everybody seems to have different experiences and it may depend on how bad the stain is, how long it has been there before washing, whether the stain has been set through drying and the type of fabric.

History

Many people remember those television commercials from the 1960s where you could hear a chorus of obnoxious children taunting "Ring around the collar!" These commercials were for Wisk liquid laundry detergent and the commercial advised pouring some Wisk directly on the ring and then washing as usual (see Resources). The ads were annoying, but the campaign is listed as one of the top 100 ad campaigns of all time. If you don't have Wisk on hand, go ahead and try your favorite detergent first. Letting the soap soak into the stain for at least half an hour can help.

Potential

Several other types of soaps are worth a try. Murphy's Oil Soap works sometimes, and so does shampoo that is formulated for oily hair. Any type of lanolin soap that mechanics use to get grease off their hands has potential. Stain removers such as Spray 'n Wash or Shout, sprayed on and allowed to soak in for at least half an hour, often eliminate the ring. Any of the Oxy detergent boosters also might solve the problem. These are in powder form, so the collar needs to be soaked in a solution of Oxy dissolved in a small amount of water. Soaking with an Oxy product or one of the stain removers also is a great prevention method.

Sunscreen

Sunscreen can now create ring around the collar because some formulas have begun including a chemical called avobenzone, which reacts with iron in water. It can be bewildering to not have ring around the collar before washing and then have the stain turn up once the shirt is clean. People with significant iron content in their water will probably need to avoid wearing sunscreen with avobenzone unless it won't get on their clothes.

Caution

If necessary, try scrubbing soap into the stain with a wet toothbrush or other brush, but do not scrub too hard, because that can damage the fabric. Some ring around the collar stains become set after heat-drying and are much harder to remove. Avoid using harsh cleansers like Comet, because they may bleach light spots into the shirt. Also, don't use bleach unless the shirt is white and you have been unable to remove the stain no matter what you've tried. Putting a thin line of bleach onto the stain should remove it immediately, but it will almost certainly bleach that line white.

Resources

• Wisk television commercial