The most likely culprits for yellow clothing stains are body secretions called apocrine sweat and sebum, the oily secretion of the sebaceous glands.
Deodorants and antiperspirants may also play a role.
The sebaceous glands are usually associated with hair follicles. Cells filled with fatty droplets die and burst, providing lubrication for the skin and hair.
When the oils are exposed to air, they oxidize, turning yellowish, and if not quickly removed by thorough laundering, they can permanently yellow clothing. Sebaceous glands at the back of the neck cause “ring around the collar.”
The underarms and groin are rich in apocrine sweat glands, which produce secretions that are milky and usually odorless until acted on by bacteria. Apocrine sweat contains many chemicals, including the acidic substances that produce the characteristic underarm odor.
The most copious human sweat, the kind produced by widely distributed sweat glands called eccrine glands, is probably not a big stain producer unless the skin or clothing is already soiled. This kind of sweat is the body’s chief means of temperature regulation, providing for cooling by evaporation.
It is about 99 percent water, with only about 1 percent of it consisting of salt, urea, ammonia, and uric acid.
Related Posts
-
What was a sweat lodge and What was a sweat lodge used for?
A sweat lodge was a small dome-shaped structure made out of bent poles covered with hides. Men gathered in these structures as part of a religious ceremony. In the center of the sweat…
-
What Is Turmeric, Why Does Turmeric Stain Everything, and What Is the Best Way To Remove Turmeric Stains?
Turmeric is the powdered rhizome of Curcuma longa; and paprika, which is obtained from the fruits of sweet peppers, Capsicum annuum, are examples of spices used in cooking as much for their color…
-
Do People Sweat When They Swim and Why Does the Body Perspire When the Temperature Is In the 90s?
The body may sweat during swimming, with the moisture dissipating unnoticed in the water. You do not necessarily sweat when you swim, but if you swim long enough and hard enough so that…
-
What Color is a Hippo’s Sweat and Why is it Often Mistaken As Blood?
Hippos do not sweat blood, but it's an understandable misconception based on a glandular condition of the Nile hippo. This aquatic beast has a mucous gland that, when its owner is startled, nervous,…
-
Where does the expression “to sweat blood” come from and What does it mean?
The phrase "to sweat blood" means to perform such arduous toil or to be in such physical agony that the sweat in which one is bathed seems to be one's blood draining away.…
-
Where does the saying “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” come from and What does it mean?
Winston Churchill had just been appointed prime minister. The war against Germany had been going badly; an attempt to overcome the German invasion of Norway had met with severe losses, and British morale…
