Treating stains on white shirts - a review of the Clorox Bleach Pen

photo by Uniform Mom

Recently, my daughter came home from school wearing her sweater buttoned up. She's rarely cold so as the intuitive type, I asked her if she spilled something on her shirt at school that day. Sure enough, the puréed prunes that had been packed in her lunch that morning were smeared across the chest of her white long sleeve polo shirt down the sleeve and dried in.

"Okay no problem", I reacted, knowing I had a secret weapon in my laundry arsenal - the Clorox bleach pen. I love this thing! 


I first tried one a few years ago that I received as a freebie in a kit. The pen is dual tipped. One side is fat with a plastic bristled applicator that you can use to rub the gel product on larger stains. The other side is a thin tip which you can use to treat a small spot.  And I much prefer a gel bleach product rather than a liquid that could splash on me or my clothes.

With my daughter's white polo, I first pre-treated it in the sink using water and plain hand soap to wash out what I could of the fruit stain. Then I used the fat side if the bleach pen to rub bleach on the stained areas. I then rubbed the fabric together before putting it in the wash in hot water.  At the end of the wash cycle, there was no sign remaining of the stains.  Have you ever had a product get funky after you bleached?  I guess I could describe it as almost brittle. With this bleach pen, there is no visible wear or funkiness on the polo shirt where the bleach was applied.  The bleach pen is a few bucks at the grocery store or other box store where they carry laundry products. It is well worth it to extend the life of your white t-shirts and polo shirts.