How do you clean white cycling shorts?

[ny biker]

Have you tried pre-treating them and/or soaking them in your regular detergent?

[kmehrzad]

I'm very cautious when it comes to my laundry, careful not to wash things in hot water or dry them on high heat for fear of shrinkage. However, when it comes to spots on white clothing, that's where I pull out all the stops and go for the bleach. I dilute it a lot w/water then take a Q-tip and just dab the diluted bleach onto the spot(s).

I did it this weekend on my daughter's nice white sweater. She had spilled tea on it and there was no getting out the stain. We tried hand washing it in gentle detergent, we tried non-chlorinated bleach to no avail. After dabbing on the solution the spots began to turn pink, I thought "uh oh, we've got a problem here" but I dipped the sweather immediately in a tub of cold water and the pink mark PLUS the tea stain were gone. The sweater was like new again.

I've used diluted bleach on other stains in the past (on white clothing) and have been happy with the results.