Our hack for pesky sunscreen stains

A white shirt with rust-colored stains all around the collar and Bar Keepers Friend.

Have you ever pulled a piece of clothing or bedding out of your washing machine and found rust-colored stains all over? Unfortunately, the culprit might be your sunscreen.

Some sunscreens and lotions include an ingredient called Avobenzone, which reacts with the iron in your water and causes orange stains to appear in the wash. But fear not, we have a secret weapon! The next time this happens, reach for some Bar Keepers Friend.

While Bar Keepers Friend might not be a laundry product, in our experience, it works incredibly well to save t-shirts like the one pictured here (and we've saved a ton!). Bar Keepers Friend contains oxalic acid—found in many vegetables like rhubarb and spinach—and is a true enemy of rust.

Bar Keepers friend sprinkled over the collar of a shirt

👉🏾 How to use:

Put gloves on and generously sprinkle Bar Keepers Friend over the affected areas. Add water to create a paste, then let it sit for 10-15 minutes. You'll notice the orange rust stains start to lift almost immediately. Afterwards, wash normally with detergent.

⚠️ Some things to note:

  1. It might look worse before it gets better. If you pull your shirt out of the wash and find what looks like more rust stains in different spots, don't panic. As long as there's still sunscreen residue within the fibers, the stains will continue to appear in the wash, so REPEAT the Bar Keepers Friend step and KEEP WASHING until the garment shows no more traces of rust.

  2. If your item is one-of-a-kind or has sentimental value, always spot check in a less noticeable area first (as you would do with any product).

  3. Do not use bleach on your sunscreen stains. It will make things worse!
A stain-free wet t-shirt next to a container of Bar Keepers Friend

To see our process step-by-step, watch this reel. To watch Celsious co-founder Corinna Williams share her thoughts on sunscreen stains, go here.

And last but not least, avoid these stains from happening in the first place by choosing sunscreen without Avobenzone, allowing your sunscreen to fully dry before putting on clothes, and rinsing off before bed.


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Words by Team Clean
Photos by Corinna Williams

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