I WANT MY G'S WHITE DANG IT!!!


Returninghome
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Does anyone have a magic tip on how to keep garments from turning a dingy gray?  I know they are dyed white to begin with so bleaching them isn't an option as that will dinge them up faster.  But does anyone have any awesome tips?  I absolutely cannot stand gray/dingy garments.  I just started wearing mine again (which reminds me I should update my other post on here :)) and in the past I would buy new ones every 3-4 months because the dingy gray they turn drives me nuts and I can't handle them seeming dirty (even though I know they're not-clean freak much... yep!).  

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40 minutes ago, Returninghome said:

Does anyone have a magic tip on how to keep garments from turning a dingy gray?  I know they are dyed white to begin with so bleaching them isn't an option as that will dinge them up faster.  But does anyone have any awesome tips?  I absolutely cannot stand gray/dingy garments.  I just started wearing mine again (which reminds me I should update my other post on here :)) and in the past I would buy new ones every 3-4 months because the dingy gray they turn drives me nuts and I can't handle them seeming dirty (even though I know they're not-clean freak much... yep!).  

Not sure how you run your wash, but this is what I do, and my garments is over 10 years old and still white:  Don't wash anything else with your garments.  Garments go into the wash separate from any other clothes.  My kids wear white undershirts and boxers - I consider them garments - they go in with the garments.  I don't even put white socks in there because my kids have this strange habit of getting their socks super dirty so I soak them first.  I know it feels wasteful to run the wash when it's not full.  It's garments.  They are worth their own wash cycle.  Usually, when clothes come out of the wash dingy, that means you didn't put enough detergent or the water is too cold.  It's best to follow the instructions on the detergent label on how much to put in there.  If you put too little, you get dingy laundry, if you put too much, you get eeky feel and sometimes streaky laundry.  I use the Tide plus Bleach Alternative detergent for garments.  Sometimes I use regular Tide and put Oxyclean.  I use the warm cycle for garments - I use hot cycle for white socks and towels.  Just a general advice for laundry - it's best to not fill up the machine too much.  I have a high-efficiency washing machine and I only fill it up about halfway to 3/4s full.  Gives the clothes a lot of room to "tumble" and get the dirt rinsed all the way out.

So, as a solution to your garments that have turned off-white - blue makes white white.  Yep.  Look into bluing rinse agents.  The one I have used before is Mrs. Stewarts.  Follow instructions carefully.  This can stain your clothes if not used properly.  This gets added to the rinse cycle.  It may not become sparkly white on first rinse.  But it should start to become whiter in succeeding washes.  Hope this helps!


8103Sz3rIWL._SY679_.jpg

 

Edited by anatess2
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So, just sharing this story since we're on the subject:

I grew up in the Philippines and so we didn't have a washing machine.  At one time, I was in-charge of hand-washing all the laundry for a family of 6... my momma taught me to wash the whites separate, use Perla soap (it is whitening soap like the tide with bleach alternative), and before rinsing it, squeeze calamansi juice on the soapy water,  then lay the clothes out on the corrugated metal table in our laundry area and let the sun shine on it.  Then the next day, rinse the clothes with Aniel (bluing agent), then line dry on the sunniest part of the line.  I tell ya... it's a lot of work doing laundry in the Philippines but I've always had our white clothes white like my momma wanted!   They didn't have fabric softener in the Philippines yet.  :D

 

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Hard water and too much detergent can cause whites to become dingy. Hubby wears the 100% cotton garments. I put 1/2 Cup of OUT White Brite and 3/4 of a scoop of Oxi Clean White Revive. For the 100% cotton I use HOT water for the wash. I dissolve them first, then add the garments. Let agitate for 5 to 10 minutes, then turn the machine OFF. Let it sit for 30-45 minutes, then turn back on. Let it go through the complete cycle. Now reset the machine to Whites or 30 minute total cycle. Add 1/4th the amount of detergent you have been using, add Oxi Clean and if you want a half scoop of all fabric powdered bleach. After it has completed the full cycle, reset for one final rinse. This is when you can add the diluted Mrs. Whites AFTER the machine has filled with water. Add it to the clothes at the agitator.

I wear DriSilque. They get washed in HOT water with the Oxi Clean White Revive, 1/2 scoop powdered All Fabric Bleach and 1 coffee scoop of my homemade laundry soap. I also rinse my garments twice - with NO bluing. No matter how diluted I make it, it gives me a rash. My machine does a cold only rinse, and only one of them - so I have to reset it.

Want to know if you are using too much store bought detergent ~ take ALL of your wash cloths & enough hand towels for a small load. Turn it on using a warm wash. Let it agitate for 5 minutes, then using a clean glass container (measuring cup, glass, etc.) scoop up some water. Smell it away from the machine - like go outside. Does it smell like your detergent? Pour some in your hand and feel it - could you wash your hands with it 'cause it is that soapy? Now reset your machine past the washing cycle and the beginning of the rinse. You want it to drain, then fill with the rinse water. Let it agitate about 3 minutes, stop and repeat the smell and feel test.

Clean clothes should be devoid of dirty body smell and have just a hint of detergent & dryer sheet smells. Would you want the dishes you eat off of to smell like the soap you cleaned it in??? Same goes for your clothes. Also, if you overload your machine, then the clothes will come out not only still dirty, but the seams will start to give. Too much tough friction against them.

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@Returninghome do your other clothes feel heavy after they are laundered and dry? Could be you have hard water. To counter that  add 1/2 cup laundry borax to each load. Borax provides water softening by producing a soluble calcium complex (forming a chelate with the minerals so that they are no longer available for reactions) and boosts surfactant performance by preventing precipitation of a calcium/surfactant complex. 

Or you could get a whole home water softener system. There are many you can get depending on what you can afford. Softening water before it goes into the hot water heater will  prolong the life of the heater.

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On 8/2/2018 at 11:25 AM, anatess2 said:

Not sure how you run your wash, but this is what I do, and my garments is over 10 years old and still white:  Don't wash anything else with your garments.  Garments go into the wash separate from any other clothes.  My kids wear white undershirts and boxers - I consider them garments - they go in with the garments.  I don't even put white socks in there because my kids have this strange habit of getting their socks super dirty so I soak them first.  I know it feels wasteful to run the wash when it's not full.  It's garments.  They are worth their own wash cycle.  Usually, when clothes come out of the wash dingy, that means you didn't put enough detergent or the water is too cold.  It's best to follow the instructions on the detergent label on how much to put in there.  If you put too little, you get dingy laundry, if you put too much, you get eeky feel and sometimes streaky laundry.  I use the Tide plus Bleach Alternative detergent for garments.  Sometimes I use regular Tide and put Oxyclean.  I use the warm cycle for garments - I use hot cycle for white socks and towels.  Just a general advice for laundry - it's best to not fill up the machine too much.  I have a high-efficiency washing machine and I only fill it up about halfway to 3/4s full.  Gives the clothes a lot of room to "tumble" and get the dirt rinsed all the way out.

So, as a solution to your garments that have turned off-white - blue makes white white.  Yep.  Look into bluing rinse agents.  The one I have used before is Mrs. Stewarts.  Follow instructions carefully.  This can stain your clothes if not used properly.  This gets added to the rinse cycle.  It may not become sparkly white on first rinse.  But it should start to become whiter in succeeding washes.  Hope this helps!


8103Sz3rIWL._SY679_.jpg

 

I wash my garments in a load on their own.  I wish I was able to control the amount of water that goes into my machine but, I can't.  It has weird settings and doesn't allow me to control much.  I will try the bluing agent to get my grey G's back to white (hopefully) thanks for your advice!

 

 

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On 8/2/2018 at 12:04 PM, Iggy said:

Hard water and too much detergent can cause whites to become dingy. Hubby wears the 100% cotton garments. I put 1/2 Cup of OUT White Brite and 3/4 of a scoop of Oxi Clean White Revive. For the 100% cotton I use HOT water for the wash. I dissolve them first, then add the garments. Let agitate for 5 to 10 minutes, then turn the machine OFF. Let it sit for 30-45 minutes, then turn back on. Let it go through the complete cycle. Now reset the machine to Whites or 30 minute total cycle. Add 1/4th the amount of detergent you have been using, add Oxi Clean and if you want a half scoop of all fabric powdered bleach. After it has completed the full cycle, reset for one final rinse. This is when you can add the diluted Mrs. Whites AFTER the machine has filled with water. Add it to the clothes at the agitator.

I wear DriSilque. They get washed in HOT water with the Oxi Clean White Revive, 1/2 scoop powdered All Fabric Bleach and 1 coffee scoop of my homemade laundry soap. I also rinse my garments twice - with NO bluing. No matter how diluted I make it, it gives me a rash. My machine does a cold only rinse, and only one of them - so I have to reset it.

Want to know if you are using too much store bought detergent ~ take ALL of your wash cloths & enough hand towels for a small load. Turn it on using a warm wash. Let it agitate for 5 minutes, then using a clean glass container (measuring cup, glass, etc.) scoop up some water. Smell it away from the machine - like go outside. Does it smell like your detergent? Pour some in your hand and feel it - could you wash your hands with it 'cause it is that soapy? Now reset your machine past the washing cycle and the beginning of the rinse. You want it to drain, then fill with the rinse water. Let it agitate about 3 minutes, stop and repeat the smell and feel test.

Clean clothes should be devoid of dirty body smell and have just a hint of detergent & dryer sheet smells. Would you want the dishes you eat off of to smell like the soap you cleaned it in??? Same goes for your clothes. Also, if you overload your machine, then the clothes will come out not only still dirty, but the seams will start to give. Too much tough friction against them.

My machine doesn't allow me to stop it and check the water mid wash.  It has weird (read: stupid) settings and I can control virtually nothing.  Just the preset settings the machine came with.  When this machine kicks the bucket we'll be getting the old style that I can soak my whites if need be, adjust the water level etc. Thanks!

 

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I have heard that* soaking your underwear in a bucket of water with a lot of hydrogen peroxide added will whiten them up.

*These first four words guarantee that you can believe me, almost as much as "I read somewhere that..."

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Straight hydrogen peroxide will get blood out of clothes. Done this, even to dried in, never washed piece pf clothing that has blood on it. Works. Just keep putting the peroxide on, rub a bit, repeat until it is all gone. Hubby learned this from a nurse. He had his little brother's blood all over his dress white's when he was in the Navy. It was a nurse at the hospital who told him how to get it out. His little brother is 15 years younger than him and had slammed against a brick wall while riding his bicycle. Split his lip and broke his nose.

Hubby has been utilizing this laundry trick ever since. Me, I used it to get roast beef blood off my PJ's. They were brand new and I really didn't relegate them to the Only Wear On Cleaning Days pile. That peroxide trick works like a charm. I did wring them out, so I cold add more peroxide. Then tossed them in the machine with the rest of the lightly colored load and washed on cold wash, cold rinse. No More Blood!

Now days Hubby is on blood thinners, so every little scratch ends up to be nearly a major bleed out. I have stocked up on bottles of peroxide.

Edited by Iggy
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