What would cause this?

[Only me]

We are having a mysterious problem with dd's t-shirts. The inside of the back neck area keeps on getting bleached. I occasionally find it in a few spots elsewhere on the shirt but most of it is contained to the inside of the back collar area. She is a big Cub's fan and mostly wears blue Cub's t-shirts. Her little brother has identical t-shirts that are washed in the same way and worn just as much but his are fine. (I don't use any kind of bleach) My dd uses the same shampoo, conditioner and body wash as her older sister. She doesn't use any body lotion or other hair products. The only other thing she uses is acne cream on her face but applies it when she is wearing pajamas. I would also think if that was causing the problem then it would show up on the inside front instead of the back. What is also strange is that our towels seem to get bleached out spots and there is a strange bleached out area on her sheet about 8 inches across in the rough shape of a circle toward the top of her bed. It's almost completely bleached out so if it was just the face cream I would think it would be more spotty. I'm not sure if the two are related.

 

We're all frustrated because she is tired of her shirts getting ruined and I'm tired of having to buy new shirts and towels. She is really careful about toothpaste, etc. but I still don't think that would be on the back of her shirt.

 

Any ideas?

[blessedwith7]

Does she wear them after swimming? Could it be from chlorine?

[Jami]

Does she use any acne medicines that contain benzoyl peroxide? Oxy makes one. So does Clearasil. Dh has used those products over the years and they discolor his t-shirt collars and my colored towels. He's supposed to only use it and wash with white towels now.

 

I see that you did mention the acne medicine. That would be my guess, since I know it does discolor things here, even though dh is very careful.

[JFSinIL]

I vote for the acne med, too - is she treating pimples on her upper back? Teens can get them there, too.

[Only me]

Her sister uses it too. She only uses it on a few spots on her face, not on her back or neck at all. It's really strange because it's not spotty, except for on the towels but that may be caused from something else. It almost seems like it is her sweat causing it. It's all along the area that would touch the back of her neck but she doesn't use anything on her back that she doesn't use on the rest of her body. She doesn't swim so it's not chlorine.

[Kim in Appalachia]

Their sweat will bleach and even eat away at their clothes. Certain colors are worse than others, but everything is affected, including sheets.

 

Because of this both of them need to avoid turtlenecks, or mock turtlenecks. I also don't bother buying them expensive tops. It's not worth it.

[Only me]

I did a little quick research online and it seems that it's possible that her sweat is more acidic than usual. Could this somehow be related to her insomnia. We still haven't figured that one out either.

[amyco]

My dd is having this problem too! And I have no idea where it is coming from...little white bleach spots on one or two of her t-shirts in the back collar. I just noticed it this week. At first I assumed acne med, but she washes her face with the pre-moistened wipes, no other stuff used. Weird!