happypamama Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 So after a lot of babies, many of my baby clothes are less than sparkly white. I think I can get the yellow stains out, but what can I do to make the whites brighter? I have cute little sleepers with colored prints but white backgrounds that I’ve had since my oldest was a baby, and I would really like to freshen them up a bit. I soaked them in hot water and a heavy concentration of OxiClean, washed them, then hung them outside in the sun. That all maybe helped a tiny bit, but they’re still dingy. I’m really hesitant to use actual bleach because I don’t want to ruin the colored prints. Any other ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Have you tried fabric bluing? I would research the safety on baby clothes first, but it will help to make whites appear brighter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 I sent some stuff off to dd. including a blessing gown I made for 1dd. I soaked it in a bucket of oxyclean. It came out wonderfully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 14, 2018 Author Share Posted September 14, 2018 46 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said: I sent some stuff off to dd. including a blessing gown I made for 1dd. I soaked it in a bucket of oxyclean. It came out wonderfully. I tried that. It didn't help much. I wonder what I did wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 10 minutes ago, happypamama said: I tried that. It didn't help much. I wonder what I did wrong. hot water and generous with the powdered oxyclean (which needs hot to dissolve). I left it there overnight. I think I may also soaked it with a good stain remover spray - so combination. washed with more oxyclean and bright white cycle on my front loader. what did you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 14, 2018 Author Share Posted September 14, 2018 Just now, gardenmom5 said: hot water and generous with the powdered oxyclean (which needs hot to dissolve). I left it there overnight. I think I may also soaked it with a good stain remover spray - so combination. washed with more oxyclean and bright white cycle on my front loader. what did you do? All of that! Overnight, hot water, a LOT of powdered Oxyclean, like a scoop per gallon of water. Then I threw the soaking water into the washer and used the whites cycle. I can't remember if I used more Oxyclean in the washer or not, but maybe I should try that. I didn't do the stain remover, but I don't know how that would work for all-over rather than just spots. Hmmm. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impatien Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Check the fabric content of the clothing. Anything with polyester or nylon, acrylic etc. can be bleached. Anything 100% cotton is not bleach-safe unless it’s white. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 14, 2018 Author Share Posted September 14, 2018 4 hours ago, Impatien said: Check the fabric content of the clothing. Anything with polyester or nylon, acrylic etc. can be bleached. Anything 100% cotton is not bleach-safe unless it’s white. Almost all of it, if not all, is 100% cotton. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 14, 2018 Author Share Posted September 14, 2018 58 minutes ago, kand said: Do you have hard water? Hard water deposits cause dinginess. In which case you might try something like RLR to remove them. I’m having things stay much whiter now that I use powdered detergents with water softening ingredients included. I’ll bet that’s it. We have very hard water. We have had a softener for about three years, but our (living) youngest is five, so all the baby clothes have been washed many times before we got the softener. Maybe RLR will help — thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 I think Borax is a water softener as well. I threw a scoop into each load when washing my stored baby clothes. I have also heard the liquid laundry detergent cleans better than powdered if you have hard water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted September 16, 2018 Share Posted September 16, 2018 Have you thought of dying them a different color? My ds has gotten into doing this with some of his clothes, and I can't get over how beautiful they turn out. He said he gets exact recipes for dye amounts through the Rit dye site. I'm not sure how that works with prints, but maybe they'd still stand out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernal2 Posted September 16, 2018 Share Posted September 16, 2018 Try soaking them in peroxide overnight. I use about half a bottle per load. I just pour it over in the washer as it’s filling and let it swish around a few times, then open the lid until the next day. It works wonders on DH’s T-shirt’s and socks, which are 100% cotton. Another day of hanging in the sun wouldn’t hurt either. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okra Posted September 16, 2018 Share Posted September 16, 2018 I haven't read the replies, but I had a friend who swore direct sunlight was the most amazing way she had gotten stains out. She dried them outside the old fashioned way on a clothesline. Don't know if it will help, but you could always try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted September 16, 2018 Share Posted September 16, 2018 Maybe try spraying them generously with Shout. Some detergents, but not all, contain "optical brighteners." When I did a search about that, a suggested Rit product came up (Whitener and Brightener). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted September 17, 2018 Share Posted September 17, 2018 (edited) Use a mainstream detergent, not a natural or green detergent. Our clothes looked dull and grayish when I was using a green detergent. When I switched back to mainstream detergent, the optical brighteners made our clothes bright again ! I like it. https://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/uniforms/laundry-detergents-for-use-with-the-acu-army-combat-uniform.shtml Edited September 17, 2018 by laundrycrisis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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