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Monday, July 28, 2008

I Might Be a Laundry-Tard?

Ya know, I've been doing my own laundry for a long, long time. Never, have I ever been able to keep non-cotton whites white. Ya know, like shhhh... bras. (heh) I am washing them using the "whites" setting on the washing machine, with soap, and some added bleach (those new washing machines have that cute little space just for the bleach now, isn't that special). I tried not putting them in the dryer, I've tried just the bleach, I've tried them in warm water.

WTF am I missing?

I swear I just bought some things that are already a dull white after about a month. I'm going broke replacing things, internet... please help me out here, and tell me what you do to keep whites white, and specifically things not 100% cotton?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to give tips but all I can do is think about your underwear now.

Bar L. said...

Here's what you do to solve the bra issue:

Go out and buy some red, black, and beige bras.

I am trying to "teach" my son how to do laundry properly but I know he's getting my mom to do his for him.

Did you feel the earthquake up there?

Ken said...

Do you have a water softener? The water here is terrible and that is the main reason whites dull.

New White Keds said...

Try some OxyClean in your whites. I am a fan of the bleach, personally, but then again...

Good luck!

David said...

I wandered over here from Ken's blog. I totally have this same problem.

Ken- I don't think it's the hardness of the water. I had a fantastic water softener and home filtration unit in my old house, and whites still dulled as quickly. I tried different detergents, varying amount of bleach and OxyClean, and nothing seemed to stave the shift from white to a color resembling "bone."

I'm eager to see what other people suggest. :-)

Nik said...

If there's anybody who holds the secret to this, I think they'd rule the world. I'm convinced that white clothing only exists within store walls. Once whites get out of that store, it's game over. I'm weird about my socks, I can't stand wearing them if they're not totally white. I've tried several different products to keep them white, but I always end up just buying new ones.

Brad said...

In my experience, hot water is the key to blazing white whites. If your machine has an internal water heater, use the hottest cycle the machine offers.