White sadle is stained!! Help :o(

[Skierchickie]

Last fall my cheapo Champion tights bled onto my white leather Fizik Arione over the course of a 120 mile ride. I noticed it looking quite dirty at the first food stop, at maybe 15 or 20 miles. It looked horrible by the end. I tried Magic Eraser, a bleach pen, saddle soap, Oops!, Simple Green, an Oxy-something something,.... The only thing that worked was Shout gel. It took repeated applications. I'd slather it on, wait overnight, clean it off, and start over. Sometimes I'd let it dry out thoroughly for a couple of days, because it was fall and cool out and not the greatest drying weather. It helped A LOT. However, I stopped short of really really white, because it started to raise the grain of the saddle, and I was afraid it was starting to lift the white off the saddle. So it looks a little dirty, but MUCH better than before.

I think the problem is that it is dye, and not just dirt. Now I'm afraid to wear anything on that bike that I haven't worn on it before.

Good luck! Personally, I'd go straight to the Shout, but your saddle may vary. Is it leather?

[spokewench]

Got to say this! Get rid of the white seat and buy a black one!

[duffiegrl]

Skierchickie,
Thank you so much, I tried the simple green magic eraser and goo gone after my earlier post and it faded it but didn't really remove it. I am gonna give the shout gel a whirl like you said. It is synthetic leather, the bontrager wsd rl inform.
Like you at my first stop about 17 miles in I noticed it but thought it would wash off. Hahaha, no such luck. My husband has a similiar seat and has never had a problem. Learned my lesson with cheap clothes..never again.

Thanks to everyone else for the ideas!

[duffiegrl]

Got to say this! Get rid of the white seat and buy a black one!

I know i know i know

[IGGY]

I'm definitely showing my age here. My mom used to use white shoe polish on our baby shoes every night, the kind nurses used to use with the sponge on top of the bottle?
What about that? It's made for leather? You could spot test it first.

I'd try the magic eraser. I haven't found anything that my kids can ruin with that around.

Or...now I'm really going crazy. They have stuff at drugstores that takes out hair dye. You could spot test that also. Since you use it on your head it must be safe for leather.

[Irulan]

Other than the "looks cool" effect, why would one put a white saddle on a bike? Just curious.

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Other than the "looks cool" effect, why would one put a white saddle on a bike? Just curious.

Isn't that the ONLY reason? :-)

(I have a white saddle AND white bar tape)

[ilima]

Isn't that the ONLY reason? :-)

(I have a white saddle AND white bar tape)

Yep. I'm rocking the white saddle and bar tape combo myself. And it does, indeed, look cool.

[Andrea]

...the "looks cool" effect...

This.

[Cataboo]

Other than the "looks cool" effect, why would one put a white saddle on a bike? Just curious.

Because when I wanted a specialized jet 155mm, the cheapest I could find was white. So I deal with it.

[tantrumbean]

Well, I picked up a tip from work, which so far, has brought everything white back to white where oxi, etc failed (although I haven't tried it on a saddle yet). Good old dishwasher tablets...let one dissolve in a bowl of hot water, pop in whatever you want whitening and leave for a few hours. Obviously this might be more difficult with a saddle, not sure if just wiping it with the solution will work, but maybe leave a cloth soaked in it on the saddle for a while? Might be worth a try!

[AnnieBikes]

Well, my bike CAME with white bar tape and white seat. I rode the seat for 350 miles and could not get used to it...ended up with a black seat...

As for the tape, I used degreaser on them for the first time last week, after checking on this forum for solutions to the problem and it worked like a charm. They are good as new and I have 900 miles on the bike now.