ASA Shirt stains

[NCASAUmp]

That's "shirt" with an "r," fellas!

I forget if I brought it up here, but last year, I had some troubles with my newer ASA shirts suddenly getting black stains around the white bands on the sleeves. I could never figure out if it was my washer machine or something that was being washed with the shirts. My wife and I tried washing them over and over again with different detergents, but nothing could get these stains out. The shirts have sat in my closet for almost a year.

Anyway, I figured these 4 stained shirts were potentially a lost cause, so I didn't have much to lose. I bought some Shout Advanced Stain gel and poured a metric crapload of it onto the stains and rubbed it in with the included brush. My wife took the shirts, put them in a bucket with Oxi Clean in it, and left them overnight.

Looked at the shirts the next day, and the stains had turned GREEN! I thought these shirts were done for, but I threw 'em in the wash one last time.

Lo and behold, those stains are GONE. Not a trace. Zip. None.

Pristine.

I just saved myself over $100 in new shirts.

Don't know if any of you have had troubles with black stains on your shirts, but that's how you get 'em out. Save yourself some money and get the Shout Advanced Stain gel stuff. It's only $5, and well worth the money.

[Stu Clary]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

metric crapload

That's a lot of gel.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Stu Clary

That's a lot of gel.

Indeed. Thank god it wasn't an English/standard crapload.

[Andy]

Dave - thanks for the advice.

I'm now trying to figure out exactly how much a "metric crapload" is and how to accurately measure it.

[JefferMC]

I know what you mean. The store that sells the crapload measures around here has adamantly refused to go metric.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Andy

Dave - thanks for the advice.

No problem! I figured I had nothing to lose. I don't wear dirty shirts on the field, regardless of whether it's league or a National. I'd rather retire the shirt than disrespect the uniform, the association, the players and, finally, myself. And if my advice helps another umpire save money, even better!

The bottle was only $5, and it worked on 4 shirts with noticeable stains. There were very faint stains in some of the other shirts that I hadn't noticed, and I used it on those, too. I still have about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottle left.

Originally Posted by Andy

I'm now trying to figure out exactly how much a "metric crapload" is and how to accurately measure it.

I could make a joke here, but I'll just keep quiet instead.

[umpirebob71]

I really don't like the ASA shirts the way their manufactued. The fabric does not breathe at all, they fit poorly (I always have to buy a larger size for proper fit.), they stain easily, and once in awhile, you get the infamous pink buttons.

[Stu Clary]

The buttons on two of my shirts turned pink a couple or three years ago. I called ASA and the customer service rep could not have been nicer or more apologetic. They not only sent me a couple of new sets of buttons, but also asked when I was working again and if I needed them overnighted.

[MichaelVA2000]

Since ASA has just about died out in my area over the past few years, the only stains on my shirts are the letters ASA.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by MichaelVA2000

Since ASA has just about died out in my area over the past few years, the only stains on my shirts are the letters ASA.

BBOOOOO ! ! (not batting out of order)

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

That's "shirt" with an "r," fellas!

I forget if I brought it up here, but last year, I had some troubles with my newer ASA shirts suddenly getting black stains around the white bands on the sleeves.

Maybe you should stop using shirts to clean your shoes.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by CecilOne

Maybe you should stop using shirts to clean your shoes.

Well, my thought was that perhaps my shoe polish was getting rubbed off by my pant legs, then somehow getting transferred to my shirts in the wash. But all of the stains typically appear in the same location: the white band at the end of the sleeves.

Maybe it's color bleed? I have no idea. I should have taken some pictures first. I might have an older shirt in the closet that has these stains.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

Well, my thought was that perhaps my shoe polish was getting rubbed off by my pant legs, then somehow getting transferred to my shirts in the wash. But all of the stains typically appear in the same location: the white band at the end of the sleeves.

Maybe it's color bleed? I have no idea. I should have taken some pictures first. I might have an older shirt in the closet that has these stains.

Oh, good, a serious answer to a nonsense post.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by CecilOne

Oh, good, a serious answer to a nonsense post.

No, seriously, that's something that ran through my mind. "Could it be shoe polish?"

But since the stains are almost always in the EXACT same place...

[Welpe]

Quit using your shirts as gun rags and that won't be a problem.

Another good stain remove I've found is soilove. It gets stains out of my white football knickers and socks quite well.