
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 18, 1993                   TAG: 9312030375
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SOME CLOTHES ARE BETTER SUITED FOR SWEAT THAN OTHERS

For stains: ``The worst that we find is silk, really,'' says Mario Capone, owner of Mario's Cleaners in Dade. Sweat can cause its fiber or dye to deteriorate. Very fine cotton shirts also stain.

``It's not just perspiration you get the stains from - it's also from deodorant,'' says Capone. You can reduce stains if you allow deodorants or antiperspirants to dry fully before putting the garment on.

To clean, always follow label instructions. For sweat stains on washable fabrics, says the American Apparel Manufacturers Association's ``Consumer's Care Guide to Apparel Products,'' soak the garment in cool water. Rub liquid detergent or laundry bar soap onto the stain, then wash with detergent.

The best fabrics for not staining: wool and ``believe it or not, the good old polyester,'' Capone says.

For odor: Heavy cottons, heavy wools and sweaters are among the worst offenders to the nose, Capone says.

Also watch out for rayon, says Dr. Paula Stewart of the Broward County Cooperative Extension Service. ``Body chemistries can certainly be a factor on that, but also a factor is how porous the material is. [Rayon] looks like silk, it feels cool, but it is porous and therefore it does what's called bonding. A perspiration odor can bond with that fiber itself. This can happen in cotton, too, and even to silk. And then that odor becomes as permanent as possible.''

Polyester may hide perspiration stains, but it doesn't hide odor, she says. ``When you perspire underneath it, it's trapped in there and so is the odor.''

\ KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE

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