can no one come up with a commercial detergent HE that does not have the silicone oil that can be bought off shelf??? Dont want to make my detergent. This is a real problem and must be changed detergent people!!

The funny thing is, I never had this problem until just the last couple of years.

Same old fashioned top loading washing machine, and have tried different detergents and fabric softeners. So I'm thinking, that this must be something new that is being added to these products.

Are all the problems from using liquid detergents? I have not seen that clarified in the above posts. I wouldn't think silicone could be added to a powder detergent, but I could be wrong. So, is everyone with this problem using liquid detergent? I'm curious, I always use powder and have never had an issue. DH white t-shirts are never spotted when coming out of the wash, though plenty of spots going in. I never pre-treat them either. Just 140f degree wash, TOL powder detergent, and STTP.

I think silicone is in pretty much all HE detergents now, liquid and powder. If its leaving oil marks its because undisolved detergent is on the clothes. I would make sure water is in the machine before adding detergent if your having this problem.

Carter...it would be a serious undertaking to make homemade *detergent and than you would still need to find a way of preventing oversudsing. If your talking about the online recipe called homemade laundry detergent... its not detergent. And within a few months you will have worse problems than you do now.

Does Sears detergent have silicone? Seems I remember it doesn't but I could be wrong.

Also I don't think Seventh Gen. Laundry Detergent uses silicone. I think it uses coconut oil as a anti foaming agent which could be true of the other more natural detergents, you could check some of those. BioKleen, planet, Ecover..just to name a few.

I've had this problem practically my whole adult life and I'm 42. I've had top and front loaders with the same problem. It's ruined alot of clothes. I'm going to try dry/powder detergent.. wrap it in a towel and put it in the bottom of the load in my top loader I currently have. By the time the water fills and it starts to agitate it shouldn't have a chance to settle on anything and cause stains. I'll post with results at some point.

Another six months have gone by now, since my last post. We do laundry loads 3-4 times a week. Still no issues with the machine or the home made detergent. No "over sudsing" or issues with spots on the t shirts.

I'm glad to hear that other people have had success with other methods of preventing the spots, such as pre-mixing the commercial detergent before adding it to the washer. The towel idea is interesting too. I'm not sure if that would prevent the clothing from getting clean though?

Oh, and in our original quest to find a detergent that wouldn't spot, we did try Seventh Generation and Mrs. Myers and I believe one other "green" detergent, but they all seemed to cause the issue. The only thing we didn't try, was to mix the detergent ahead of time, with hot water in a plastic container, for instance, and then pouring it in the drum of our Front Loader before putting in the clothing. I wonder if that might make a difference too. Might be worth trying, although to be honest, the homemade stuff seems to work just as well for spot removal, odors, etc.

Hello. I have been trying to figure this out for months now. I have a Samsung washer/dryer and use cold or warm water. I struggle with these stains, not on all clothes so trying to understand. They will not come out no matter what I do. Do any of you have a water softner? I wonder if the salt or soft water has anything to do with reacting to the detergent. We all use different methods of drying, detergents, and appliances. I also wonder If it is a chemical that is sprayed on the clothes unevenly??

Glad to know there are so many people looking at this.

Liz

ive noticed it no matter what type of machine i use- ive used the ones at the y then i moved and still happening - use a full cup of liquid soap and no softener- only seems to happen on my older t shirts-- but maybe its becasue im not letting the soap suds up before i put in the clothes-- idk-

A full cup of liquid detergent? ? What kind of washer and detergent are you using Alex?

Asked my daughter in law about the brown spots. She has had the same problem, and after a lenghty history on her machines, she has concluded that it is something inherent in HE machines.

I've been frustrated for years also by the oily spots that show up on my knit tops after laundering. Some very nice knit tunics have been ruined! I tried everything, including making my own laundry detergent. And I don't have an HE washing machine. Then somewhere I read that it comes from getting splashes of dish water on your clothes when washing dishes. That made sense to me since the spots are only on the front and right about a sink level. So, I started wearing aprons (or at least changing tops) when I do dishes and have had no more problems. Additionally, I've found a treatment for removing the oily spots from knit tops that were soiled in the past. Try to find some Lestoil cleaner https://www.amazon.com/Lestoil-Concentrated-Heavy-Cleaner-Ounces/dp/B00X4TEVJK/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1521393683&sr=83&keywords=lestoil+concentrated+heavy+duty+cleaner+28+fluid+ounces.  Put the Lestoil full strength on the oily spots, then gently rub in with a toothbrush. Let soak in overnight and then launder as usual. Sometimes it will take two treatments and laundering. Good luck!

On fabric softener containers it says if there’s a oily spots on your clothes then to use ivory soap to get out. So I need to start getting a bar of Ivory soap because I’m tired of re-washing my clothes and spraying them with shout. Also to keep blacks blacks don’t wash them in warm water wash them in Coldwater. Warm and hot water make blacks dingy and gray. Whoever made that comment about washing blacks in warm water I wouldn’t recommend that I’ve always use Coldwater I just don’t dry my blacks. Also they have detergent may just for black clothes. No me I only get that when I see it on sale I never buy at full price because I’m not going to pay full price for something like that. Now remember that Ivory soap will get the oil spots out just rub the soap on the area with some more warm water and it should come out.

Also do not use warm water to wash your black clothes please. No I’ve never tried the vinegar method but I buy detergent that is supposed to help make black stay longer and whites wider you know that mumbo-jumbo stuff they feed you. But I do not dry my black clothes I think drying with the washing is what makes the black clothes dingy. So I air dry my blacks.

This is my two cents. Same thing, splotches on only my white cotton t-shirts. And noticeable when held to the light just right. The wifey and I theorize that it could be a crappy dye job from the MFG. Most shirts are made in some third world country with no quality control. Cheap white dyes are used and the real color of the shirts are looking like splotches. The dye is washing out. Especially where the detergent is poured on. My theory only. To me, nothing else makes sense. I love white t-shirts ( I live in Arizona) and 80 percent of them are now splotchy. Dang it !

Spots only occur on the fronts of our t-shirts, never the backs or sides, so I think it has to do with getting grease on the front either from cooking or eating. Have you ever seen the spot a tiny crumb of potato or corn chip leaves on a brown paper sack overnight? My solution: pre-treat all visible spots with Stain Stick. Works most of the time, and seems to always work the second time around if there is a spot or two after the first wash. It's a pain, but compared to the trouble of making my own detergent, I'll continue doing it. I tried using spray pre-treatments, but once you spray you can't tell what spots are from the spray and which need to be treated. I have a top-loader and use Costco Free and Clear, but have tried Tide and other detergents, as well. Makes no difference. I use a dryer and fabric softener sheets. I tried no sheets and different brands--no difference. I typically pour the detergent down into the bottom of the tub so it goes into the area below the tub with the holes it, but don't wait to put clothes in until the bottom is covered with water, so it's possible some of the unmixed detergent is getting on the clothes. But as I started off with, if the spots were being caused by the detergent, they wouldn't be just on the fronts of the shirts.

I’m SO RELIEVED to find this post because I had invested in all new white cotton tshirts only to find them literally covered in those oily spots. I can’t tell you the level of frustration tho if you are experiencing this you know of what I speak. As I sit here and read all of these posts I’m inclined to go with the homemade soap tho recognize that there could be some damage to my washer which I also don’t need at this point. There’s one other thing that I’ve wondered if anyone else has considered as it seems like my son‘s t-shirts don’t get the same spots. Is it possible that the oily spots could come from an interaction with the deodorant that I use? I know that This sounds random but I use this “clinical strength” smooth solid antiperspirant/deodorant and feel like this may be part of the problem? My mom is a master at laundry and has a HE top loader and her “whites” are SO white whereas mine always seem to come out grayish which drives me completely CRAZY. Any thoughts on this? I’m hoping someone (esp. mwkBear and mamapinky0!) will read this quickly and weigh in as I would really like to solve this problem! Thanks all and hope you are all staying healthy amid this crazy COVID-19 time!

Sorry to say MamaPinky0 died of lung cancer last year. :-(

Same washer and dryer for over 20yrs. Always used Tide powdered detergent for 50 years. No dryer sheets or any other product ever. The problem is only with my LL Bean knit shirts. Grease like stains after dryer. Sometimes appearing after wearing. Can body heat bring out the stains??No contact with grease in any way. Problem has been in the last 2 years. The grease marks sometimes look like a splash. Other shirts washed with these shirts have no issue. I am slowly coming to the conclusion it may be the shirt material as it isnt happening on other clothing. Am going to buy some shirts from another manufacturer and see if I get the same results.

So relieved to hear I'm not alone. I have this issue with my more expensive white organic pima cotton shirts. Why only the good ones?! I don't use fabric softener, use top loading washer, no agitator. I was thinking my machine was leaking grease. I ran an empty sanitize cycle with bleach trying to clean my machine but no luck. My stains are in random places, fronts, backs, shoulders. Definitely not cooking oil or reactions from deodorant for me. I've tried re-washing with bleach but no luck. Had to throw shirts away. Thinking of switching detergents. My oily stains look like splatters too.

Wow. It appears i am not alone. Some of my favorite tees have suddenly had these weird splotch like stains on them. And it's only on my white tees. No other light colored clothes. I am beginning to think it is something in the manufacturing process for I am at a loss. I too have tried everything.

I've been having this issue for a few months. Changed detergent (went from liquid to powder), started separating my whites and blacks and now my landlady has actually replaced the machine but unfortunately, I just did my first wash with it and literally all of my tops just got stains on them!!

But the weird thing is, none of my boyfriend's stuff gets stains?

Does this happen to anyone else?? And has anyone ever solved their problem?

I am amazed how this problem has had such a long life on the forum here. As an update we haven't been able to completely prevent the problem, but we have managed to greatly reduce it at least so not every single cotton t-shirt we wash is covered with stains.

We have settled on a combination of the homemade detergent and Tide coldwater wash. Using the tide cold water in normal hot water wash and making sure that you use it sparingly and measure it carefully and making sure that it is mixing with water properly before it goes in the wash, seems to work well although it's not perfect.

The homemade detergent also seems to not leave a lot of spots and it is good at deodorizing the clothing but certain types of stains or dirt are better with the tide it seems. I tend to use the homemade detergent mostly on my dirty gym clothes it gets the nasty smells out. And no we have not noticed any issues with the washing machine and at this point we've been using the homemade detergent for what 3 years now almost every other day. It is critically important to measure carefully and not overdo it. I have a tablespoon measure from a baking set that I use to carefully measure the powder. Usually one tablespoon sometimes two depending on how dirty the laundry is and how large the load is.

Also we have switched to a clothesline for drying the t-shirts that seem to have the biggest spot problem I don't know if the heat from the dryer activates whatever is causing the problem but they seem to have fewer spots when they are line dried and not thrown in the clothes dryer. And no we have never used dryer softener sheets of any sort in our dryer and I don't think there's anything physical in the dryer I think it's probably the heat.

And one final note we do a cleaning cycle on the washer at least every other week you can either buy the commercial available washer cleaner stuff or it's just as easy to run it empty with a little bit of bleach and the sanitary hot water cycle.

I also really think it has something to do with the front load washer. My friends who still use old fashioned top load full fill washers don't seem to have the problem and my husband would dearly love us to switch back to one of those but I just feel like they are so wasteful of water.

Also I really do like the fact that I can wash just about anything in the front load whether it's a comforter from our bed or the dog blankets and whatnot.

After reading all of the comments listed. The only similarity I am seeing is the Front End Loader uses so much less water, the soap homemade or store bought is not mixing thoroughly with the water when entering the washer and this may be leaving spots?

I have noticed when the load being washed is larger the problem is more prevalent. I think this would be caused by the clothes on the outside of the load getting the majority of the soap and binding with the clothes they are on.

Yes experiments are fun. I washed three t-shirts with a tablespoon of A&H fragrance free and had no stains. I washed a full load with 1/3 cup of A&H fragrance free and found the stains. When wet the spots were hard to see but when they came out of the dryer they were very noticeable.

The repair man once told me less detergent is better. If you do not run the tub clean cycle soap free every month the hoses had a tendency to get full of crud.

If you find the spots soak in White Vinegar and wash with little to no soap the second time. Remember they are soap stains so there will be soap in it.

OMG I am so happy to have found this thread, if for no more than it makes me feel a little less crazy. I only ever find these oily looking spots on my 2 year old's clothing. She doesn't cook, or do dishes, or wear deodorant, so it is none of those things. I thought maybe it was from Oxiclean that I used to treat her clothes (as they do tend to need stain remover more than anyone else's), but I just pulled out a load that had no Oxiclean and still found the same frustrating spots. It's getting extremely frustrating to feel like I'm spending so much on clothes and then having to replace them and not knowing if the next load will ruin them or clean them.

I have been finding these stains for a while. We moved houses and switched from an old top loader to a HE front loader. I'm thinking it must be the soap. I am going to try soaking in white vinegar and washing without the soap as suggested. Fingers crossed.

A watertight seal has broken in your washer and oil is leaking into the wash cycle.

I have noticed that the stains only appear on T-shirts that have printed words or images on the front. The stains never appear on the back like they do on the front of the shirt. And when I lay them out I see the stains showing up on the back where you can see through the neck hole to the back. It’s almost like someone has sprayed some stuff on the front of the shirt before they put the printed images on and only what you can see from the front with it laid down gets these oily looking stains on it. I’m going to try some of the suggestions I found on this site. Particularly the one that said it worked when they used oxy clean stick on the stains first and then used warm water. We primarily use cold water in our house. it is strange that only the printed T-shirts get this problem in our house. we have a maytag front load washer and use 7 th generation free and clear detergent.

About the discussion on using soap to wash your clothes, I Dr Bronner soap to relieve my daughter’s eczema. After a few months my washer began to stink. i discovered washer cleaners and detergent with no parabens and i was fine until the spots started.

Good luck

So we have had a Maytag washer for over 25 years (made by Maytag) Used Tide powdered detergent and nothing else.. We lived in Aurora, Il. Never had the spotting problem. Now live in the California high desert. Use same Tide powdered detergent. Have the spotting problem which appears primarily on my LL Bean golf shirts. I think it has to do with the water. Can't prove it. No solution.

I dilute my detergent every time I wash. Use only softener/dryer sheets. Have an old Maytag Neptune washer and dryer, just gave to my son and daughter in law. Now i have to mix my detergent with water before adding to my new washer/dryer all in one unit. So far so good.

I have the same issues discussed in this thread---brownish oily-like blotches on the front of synthetic shirts, and the stains do not come out.

The repairman took a paper towel and wiped the inside of the washer and it came out with a brownish stain on it. He said it is from build-up inside the washer, probably from borax. Cleaning the inside of the washer helped, but 2 weeks later, the spots are back🙄. Next, I am going to use a washing machine cleaner, as suggested by the repairman.

I have the same issues discussed in this thread---brownish oily-like blotches on the front of synthetic shirts, and the stains do not come out!

The repairman took a paper towel and wiped the inside of the washer and it came out with a brownish stain on it. He said it is from build-up inside the washer, probably from borax. Cleaning the inside of the washer helped, but 2 weeks later, the spots are back🙄. Next, I am going to use a washing machine cleaner, as suggested by the repairman.

D M - Build up of something? Yes. Borax buildup? Ummm..... Borax is white, so I'm having a hard time believing that.

@D M, have you been adding borax to your washes?

Same issue here!! Doe anyone else's stains look like this??
It only shows up on two different sheet sets of mine, and usually closer to the edges. I just had a maintenance guy out to check my machine (an HE Whirlpool, top load, 3 years old) and he said it's not the washer as the stains would be darker and on everything (and he did remove the bottom agitator top to check). It drives me crazy every time I wash to see these stains, always on a different section, but always there! And they will pretty much come out if i wash them separately in the sink with detergent. 
I use all different types of detergent, so i don't think it's that per say. My best guess is how someone said it can stick to the holes in the side of the washer or something? But why only these sheets and not all my clothes?ὢD

Finding this post is a relief as I’m frustrated beyond measure. I use the detergent sheets and my old housemate gave us some natural liquid detergent as she was moving. I’ve been using that and we’ve now moved houses and the washer is a top loading old-school stacker. I’ve now noticed that three of my darker sweaters/shirts have grease looking stains on them. Unsure if it’s due to the liquid detergent or the washer. It definitely didn’t look like this before it went into the wash but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

My spots were different, more like little black grease spots. Solved this stopping use liquid detergent alltogether and only using powder, took some months.

can the spots be treated? its ruined two pieces of my kids clothing that they love. the spots look almost like they splashed in the mud but i know they didn’t. its hard to photograph but these are the stains on yellow pants.

Oily spots just on the front of shirts, could it be wiping excess shaving cream on your shirt ?. I mean if all other options are exhausted .

I’ve had this problem for a couple of years, and only on the fronts of Tshirts and tank tops… no other types of clothing, and no other places on the clothes. The stains look just like the ones in the two images posted just above in this thread.

I discovered that dabbing Tide liquid detergent on the stains and letting the clothes sit overnight before washing gets the stains out.

I don’t properly measure detergent when adding it to the wash, so maybe the problem is, as other posters have suggested, using too much HE detergent. I’ll try measuring correctly and using warm insteaf of cold water, and see if that helps prevent the stains in the first place.

Still the strange part is, why only on the front of shirts ?

My theory is that food or wash water splashes on my shirts as I cook/wash dishes, and—even if I wipe them off with a cloth and can no longer see them—something in these substances attracts or holds onto the oil in HD detergents.

Could the commom factor be washing machines without the old agitator?  When I visit family and use their top-loading machines without the old-fashioned agitator, my clothes come out dirtier than when they went in the wash.

I finally figured it out, it's 👽🛸

In the past, the best fabric for sportswear was recognized as cotton. It is also used in production but usually in combination with polyester. The fact is that cotton gets wet quickly from sweat and retains moisture on the surface of the fibers, so you can catch a cold after an intense workout. I work as a referee, so I carefully study the garment's composition every time before buying a ref shirt. This careful approach makes me very comfortable running, and sportswear lasts longer.

Ok, so this thread had been going for 13 years... what is the answer guys???!?!? I use a DROP of free and clear soap and still get stains. Idk what else to do!!

I use plenty of good, regular detergent. Currently Cheer powder, Persil liquid, and I have a small stash of Persil ProClean Power Pearls. Typically 1 to 2 oz of the liquid for a typical average to full load, a bit more for a mega-load. 3 to 7 tablespoons of Cheer powder depending on load size. I never have mystery spots on anything.

I've done a few repairs on a washer at one of my neighbor's rental properties. The tenant uses liquid. She once showed me a lavender-scented "natural" product of a brand I don't recall, praising how nice it smells. The washer is infested with mold and is gnasty. One of the problems was blockage of the pump trap ... a sock and other debris. Stinking moldy. She's constantly complaining about suspect-mold in the HVAC ducts causing allergies to her and her daughter. LOL, they're getting much more mold exposure from their "clean" clothes!

I'm going to repeat my post from two years ago, because nothing has changed, and my solution is still working. If you find spots only on the front of your solid-color t-shirts after washing them, this will take care of them. It's a pain, but pre-treating them faithfully with Stain Stick--I now have to order it from Amazon, as WalMart and Kroger stores have quit carrying it--but it relieves the frustration of finding spots on freshly washed clothes.

Spots only occur on the fronts of our t-shirts, never the backs or sides, so I think it has to do with getting grease on the front either from cooking or eating. Have you ever seen the spot a tiny crumb of potato or corn chip leaves on a brown paper sack overnight? My solution: pre-treat all visible spots with Stain Stick. Works most of the time, and seems to always work the second time around if there is a spot or two after the first wash. It's a pain, but compared to the trouble of making my own detergent, I'll continue doing it. I tried using spray pre-treatments, but once you spray you can't tell what spots are from the spray and which need to be treated. I have a top-loader and use Costco Free and Clear, but have tried Tide and other detergents, as well. Makes no difference. I use a dryer and fabric softener sheets. I tried no sheets and different brands--no difference. I typically pour the detergent down into the bottom of the tub so it goes into the area below the tub with the holes it, but don't wait to put clothes in until the bottom is covered with water, so it's possible some of the unmixed detergent is getting on the clothes. But as I started off with, if the spots were being caused by the detergent, they wouldn't be just on the fronts of the shirts.

Hey guys. I'm sure it's not all of your issues, but hard water is actually the cause of a lot of grease-looking stains. I had to start using 1.5xs the detergent and vinegar in each load. Hard water is god awful and a lot of the U.S. has it. Never had issues in a different state - where I had a newer HE machine. Now I'm in a state with really bad hard water and it happens so frequently. Edit to say there are water softener liquids to add to laundry, as well as filters for your whole house but obviously that's a whole other thing. Like I said, some of y'all probably have a totally different issue but it's worth looking into!

To the above user, what soad do you use amd how much vinegar? thanks!

Guyssss im having this same issue and its SO frustrating. i just read through all the comments and its even more frustrating that there doesnt seem to be a fixall answer 😭 i keep getting grease stains after washing! we use a cheap liquid HE detergent and fill the cup to the top. I seriously dont know what to do. ☹️☹️

I had written about this on my sheets back in 2021...what I've done since then is I use a washing machine cleaner tablet once a month (i think it's affresh brand) and I wash the sheets alone in cold water and minimal detergent as I read somewhere that too much detergent can be a reason as well. I will also clean out the bleach insert tray from time to time with a paper towel and grease/oil comes out on the paper towel! I don't get it, I don't even use the bleach tray honestly, but something is causing it to accumulate, so I don't ask questions and just wipe it out!🤣