White Laundry Turning Gray Over Time

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Forum -> Household Management -> Cleaning & Laundry

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Does your white laundry turn gray-ish over time?

Yes

63%

[ 40 ]

30%

[ 19 ]

It used to, until I found a great solution!...

[ 4 ]

Total Votes : 63

amother

Teal

Sun, Oct 16 2016, 3:09 am

Does anyone have any advice or tips to prevent white shirts/undershirts from turning gray during the washing process? I've tried adding bleach, hanging to dry instead of the dryer, but so far over time I find that all my white laundry gets a gray tinge to it. Often I even find my white laundry come out of the wash with gray stains/streaks. It's making me feel really bad since I want the white stuff to stay white! Any tips will be appreciated!...

ra_mom

Sun, Oct 16 2016, 3:15 am

Make sure to:
-Wash pure whites together with only other pure whites
-Wash on warmest temperature setting advised by garment label
-Add Oxi Clean powder to each load to keep the whites brite

sky

Sun, Oct 16 2016, 7:37 am

- wash whites separately from all other colors (just shabbos shirts, white t-shirsts and undershirts, and underwear)
- soak for 1 hour with oxyclean
- wash on hot water
- Use Bleach with an extra rinse cycle
- I have a steam cycle I also use on my whites. It also helps with wrinkling.

I find cotton-poly materials eventually do take on grungy color, while cottons stay white longer.

amother

Powderblue

Sun, Oct 16 2016, 7:52 am

in general, I use less detergent than recommended. the clothes come out cleaner without all the accummulated residues. on your next wash try using much less detergent and add vinegar to the rinse water. the vinegar binds to the excess soap. you may have to do this a couple of times. and, always double rinse.

mima2

Sun, Oct 16 2016, 8:39 am

Make sure your not pouring the detergent directly onto the white clothing. Many times the detergent will leave streaks. Rather pour it into the water or a detergent dispenser if your washing machine has one.

amother

Lemon

Sun, Oct 16 2016, 8:44 am

Any advice on how to get rid of the yellowing of men's non iron dress shirts? (My washing machine is a front loader, if that makes a difference.)

ra_mom

Sun, Oct 16 2016, 10:29 am

amother wrote:

Any advice on how to get rid of the yellowing of men's non iron dress shirts? (My washing machine is a front loader, if that makes a difference.)

You'll need to soak them for quite a while in Oxi Clean dissolved in boiling water.
If you have a sanitize cycle that uses boiling hot water, you can put 2-3 scoops of Oxi directly into the machine with the shirts and let the machine run on sanitize. I don't know if non iron can handle such temperatures, maybe check first. And you may need to iron afterwards or fluff dry in the clothes dryer, as the cycle is very thorough.

imasinger

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 8:44 pm

I use a handful of baking soda (bought at Costco in a large bag) to brighten whites -- and colors.

cbg

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 9:04 pm

I'm not sure' but I think the blue color of detergents turn my white shells grey.
I'm going to try to use clear detergent and see if t makes a difference.

I can't let my clothes soak in a front loader

ra_mom

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 9:07 pm

They need to soak in a basin.

baschabad

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 9:18 pm

Add half a cup of washing soda, borax or a combination of the two.

I THINK it might be working...!

crystal

Wed, Oct 19 2016, 12:39 am

Bleach makes whites grey.

mother4

Wed, Oct 19 2016, 2:13 am

I heard that the stains are grease stains that set in and with hot water they emerge into gray stains that don't go away... I tried oxi and sanitize option..

ra_mom

Wed, Oct 19 2016, 2:15 am

Greace stains need to be taken out before washing. They come out very easily with dishsoap, which breaks down the grease. Just wet the stain, rub in a bit of dishsoap, brush out the stain, rinse out the soap. Then wash in machine as usual.

amother

Silver

Wed, Oct 19 2016, 4:59 pm

I wash whites with only other white or very light colors.

I add a scoop of oxiclean to every white load

I only use fabric softener that is white in color since I found that blue softener like downy stains clothing.

My whites stay sparkling white.

Miri1

Wed, Oct 19 2016, 10:43 pm

If you are seeing streaks, perhaps you need to run a clean cycle with Affresh (without clothing in it).

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