Getting "whites" WHITE...yeah, I'm serious!

Govtgirl

Govtgirl

Cathlete
I know I sound like a 1950's ad, but I can't get my white laundry WHITE, especially my white washcloths. They seem permanently stained with makeup and mascara. I've tried HOT water, bleach and detergent, but nothing really gets them white. What on earth do they do in restaurant with white tablecloths, and all the food spills?? If anyone has a sure-fire trick or recipe, please share! Thanks! :eek:
 
Govtgirl said:
I know I sound like a 1950's ad, but I can't get my white laundry WHITE, especially my white washcloths. They seem permanently stained with makeup and mascara. I've tried HOT water, bleach and detergent, but nothing really gets them white. What on earth do they do in restaurant with white tablecloths, and all the food spills?? If anyone has a sure-fire trick or recipe, please share! Thanks! :eek:
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I'm pretty sure that restaurants use a poly blend fabric that has a type of stain resist treatment to them so it is easier for them to keep their whites white. But I feel your pain. I use bare essentials make up and that stuff does not come off my terry cloth wash towels. I've literally just thrown in the towel and bought new towels. I use my stained towels for dusting and cleaning the house. The best thing that has worked for me is to get the stain right away and wash in cold not hot water. Set in stains are harder to get out. I use the Oxy stuff.
 
Borax

Have you tried Borax? I add that to my wash (listen to us!), along with Tide with Bleach Alternative (and sometimes Oxy-Clean).

But I've found that sometimes the white towels and washcloths are too stained to save... especially if they've been used to clean DH's car! :mad:
 
Oh it's not just you. My older white socks are GRAY next to the newer one's and I don't know what to do, especially since bleach often turns things yellow.

I remember reading about a product that's been around forever, in the laundry aisle, that allegedly whitens the heck out of everything. Naturally, I don't remember what it was called. But I'm thinking if you really look hard and start reading the labels on obscure whitening products you're bound to stumble upon it. I know I'D like to know because I'm in the same boat.

I wonder if Heloise can help? Seriously.
 
Pearlstrand said:
Have you tried Borax? I add that to my wash (listen to us!), along with Tide with Bleach Alternative (and sometimes Oxy-Clean).

But I've found that sometimes the white towels and washcloths are too stained to save... especially if they've been used to clean DH's car! :mad:
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Oh yeah, . .borax works great too! I second that. My husband likes to use our face towels to clean his muddy mountain bike. :(
 
I tried a pkg of whitener located where the rit dye stuff is and it seemed to help a little. I had a shirt that had yellow sweat stains in it and I soaked it in Hydrogen Peroxide and water and it really did whiten it up.
 
When I took out my older DD's baby clothes to use when my second DD was born, many had icky baby food stains that I swear were not there when I had stored them :eek: A lady who watched my DDs when they were babies and ran an at home day care center suggested that I wash them in a cup of Cascade (yes, the dishwasher soap) and a cup of Clorox in hot water. This did the trick and cleaned out those baby food stains as well as whitened the whites. We now have a front loader washing machine in which I can only use HE laundry detergent so I have not been able to use this mix :( HTH
 
Good Housekeeping magazine hints

Govtgirl said:
I know I sound like a 1950's ad, but I can't get my white laundry WHITE, especially my white washcloths. They seem permanently stained with makeup and mascara. I've tried HOT water, bleach and detergent, but nothing really gets them white. What on earth do they do in restaurant with white tablecloths, and all the food spills?? If anyone has a sure-fire trick or recipe, please share! Thanks! :eek:
Click to expand...

I did a search on Good Housekeeping & came up with this:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/heloise/cleaning/mom-cleaning-tips-dec05?click=main_sr
 
What is washing soda, cakebaker. Some of my work out clothes are old and kind of hold a faint smell that gets worse as I get warmed up so I would love to try that and can it be used in a front loader.?
Thanks
Rachel

Oh yeah I too have the whites problem. I worry if I wash my new whites with the old ones they will fade to off white faster.
 
Blueing helps. Also vinegar. If you have a clothes line, that will work too. I can't put one up in my neighborhood, been tempted though.
 
dingy whites

Hi,

My whites are dingy too. We have very hard water and I'm sure that is part of the problem. I tried a mixture of laudry detergent, liquid dish soap, and simple green yesterday and they didn't look quite as dull. Liquid dish soap gets lots of stains out for me. My solution is to buy very few white clothes!

Tracy
 
To keep whites bright I automatically add about a cup of baking soda to every load.... As far as stains? Well I havent found a superior product yet. Borax may be something I try....
 
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