How do I get my whites to stay white?

[Quiver0f10]

I have a front loader and our whites always start to look gray and icky after a few months. I use HE detergent with bleach and cold water. What am I doing wrong?

[Sahamamama]

Can you separate out your only-white whites and add a cup of full-strength bleach?

[Parrothead]

I'd use hot water and line dry them in the sun. If you want them soft after line drying them, toss them in the dryer with a damp towel for a bit.

[Bang!Zoom!]

You have to leave them to soak. When I know we are going somewhere, I pick out a bucket of white and leave them over the weekend.

 

Come home to whoopee bright clothes.

 

http://www.mrsstewart.com/pages/purpose.htm

[LaxMom]

I have taken to soaking whites in a knock-off of Amy Dacyczyn's stain solution:

 

1/2 c Cascade

1/2 c color safe bleach

1 scoop Oxyclean

 

I mix it all in hot, hot water in a plastic trash pail that used to be our diaper pail (maybe an 8-gal? Larger than 5, smaller than 13, anyway), then add all the whites that are dingy, have spots, are dirty enough to know they won't come out well after just washing (the boys' socks :ack2:). I soak them at least overnight, sometimes for more than a day.

 

When I'm ready to launder, I put the whites load on rinse-only to get rid of the soak solution residue, then wash on regular cycle with bleach. The whites come out beautiful, including the socks that come out of the boys' shoes looking like there's a combination of mud and newsprint in there.

Edited July 29, 2012 by MyCrazyHouse

[Beth in OH]

You have to leave them to soak.

 

:iagree: My first front loader was just great with whites. My current one isn't. :glare: Sadly I think it's just because my clothes are not getting all that clean. I'm all for water conservation, but I like clean clothes.

 

I have begun to pre-soak my whites in a laundry tub with hot water and Oxy-Clean. I also do it in two stages--socks and other really dirty clothes (my dh works outdoors), I soak separately from shirts and other mildly dirty clothes. It works, but I feel like I've turned back the clock on modern laundry convenience!

[kalanamak]

I use oxyclean soaks for white whites, and I sometimes do bluing, but I recall having no luck at all with my ex's part polyester white lab coats. None. I got those professionally done.

[Quiver0f10]

I have taken to soaking whites in a knock-off of Amy Dacyczyn's stain solution:

 

1/2 c Cascade

1/2 c color safe bleach

1 scoop Oxyclean

 

I mix it all in hot, hot water in a plastic trash pail that used to be our diaper pail (maybe an 8-gal? Larger than 5, smaller than 13, anyway), then add all the whites that are dingy, have spots, are dirty enough to know they won't come out well after just washing (the boys' socks :ack2:). I soak them at least overnight, sometimes for more than a day.

 

When I'm ready to launder, I put the whites load on rinse-only to get rid of the soak solution residue, then wash on regular cycle with bleach. The whites come out beautiful, including the socks that come out of the boys' shoes looking like there's a combination of mud and newsprint in there.

 

Thank you everyone. I will try soaking them. Question about the above recipe, does it have to be name brand cascade or will a store brand work?

[kalanamak]

Thank you everyone. I will try soaking them. Question about the above recipe, does it have to be name brand cascade or will a store brand work?

 

I haven't tried it for soaking clothes, but for soaking white sinks, the name brand is better. And for automatic DW. Cascade is one of the few name brands I do make sure hubby knows (he does the shopping).

[Susan C.]

I use Tide powder HE or liquid Tide HE, wash whites separately (maybe very light clothes added), and have a regular old fashioned top loader washer. The HE in the top loader helps clothes rinse better and no fabric softener is needed.

 

Bet its the Tide..... a LONG time ago, a neighbor commented about our white socks....

[ktgrok]

why are you using cold water for whites? I always do whites in hot water. That would be my first, and easiest suggestion to try.

[LaxMom]

Thank you everyone. I will try soaking them. Question about the above recipe, does it have to be name brand cascade or will a store brand work?

 

I really have no idea. I use Method dishwasher tablets in my dishwasher, and buy a box of regular, plain Cascade about once a year (when it goes on sale) for the soak.

 

I secretly wonder if I could substitute something like Biokleen for the enzymes. The soak and bleach wash are concessions I make while using environmentally friendly cleaners everywhere else.

[cin]

why are you using cold water for whites? I always do whites in hot water. That would be my first, and easiest suggestion to try.

 

This was my first thought. I use hot water for whites. I only use cold for delicates or new items that are brightly colored. Everything else gets warm, except for whites and towels. Those get hot.

[Mrs Mungo]

This was my first thought. I use hot water for whites. I only use cold for delicates or new items that are brightly colored. Everything else gets warm, except for whites and towels. Those get hot.

 

:iagree: I use a front-loader and HE detergent. I actually had someone ask one day why my whites are so white. Turned out that she washed everything together on cold. Separating them and washing the whites on hot helps, ime.

[Alessandra]

I wash whites in hot water with Tide (liquid), plus LOTS of regular bleach, plus OcyClean, and add blueing for the rinse cycle. (I have a top loader and use the high water level with less than a full load, if whites need extra cleaning)

 

If I soak things I use a plastic tub with some Tide, some Oxyclean and LOADS of bleach, all with boiling water. If needed, I do more than one soak. For spots, I can use a green scrubbie or a laundry scrub brush with bleach or OxyClean powder and/or soak the spot in undiluted bleach.

 

I also read that scrubboards are getting popular again. I'd like to get one:

 

http://www.columbuswashboard.com/

 

If you google 'washing church linens' you'll find lots more tips, like this:

 

http://www.almy.com/UI/Hotspots/Docs/linencare.pdf

[Ellie]

Hot water, not cold.

 

Wash whites separately: chlorine bleach with all-cotton, non-chlorine with blends, especially if there's polyester.

 

Or you could use Amway laundry products and Amway's dry non-chlorine bleach (still wash all-cotton whites separately, still with hot water). :D

[Lawana]

Make sure your front loader is clean. I mean the area under/behind the gasket that collects mold and gunk. My white washcloths were collecting brownish/greyish streaks until I cleaned the washer.

 

Also, if you are on well water it may be a loosing battle.

[Mandylubug]

just wanted to throw out there that if you have hard water, the calcium deposits on your whites will discolor with chlorine bleach.

[Perry]

Once a month I soak dh's white work shirts overnight in OxyClean. I have a top loader, so I just fill it with enough water to cover the shirts, add the OxyClean and stir so it's all dissolved, and put the shirts in. The next morning I finish the cycle to rinse, then do a cycle with laundry detergent.

[Tarreymere]

Bluing helps. I use Mrs. Stewart's. http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Stewarts-Bluing-8oz/dp/B001NEMV3Q

[Quiver0f10]

why are you using cold water for whites? I always do whites in hot water. That would be my first, and easiest suggestion to try.

 

I always used to use hot but then I read that hot sets the stains and I should use cold? I switched to cold @ 6 months ago but the problem with the yucky looking whites has been forever it seems.

 

We do sort our laundry so that isn't an issue.

Edited July 29, 2012 by Quiver0f10