![]() ![]() If you can’t hand wash, do smaller loads on bigger sized settings so clothes actually get wet instead of just damp. I know this is impossible for those with families, but I’m single so I can time washes when I’m not using the sink for cooking. I live in an apartment and don’t have my own washing machine so I’ve begun hand washing all my clothes in the sink. Clothes are only dampened instead of soaked and sloshed so dirt doesn’t wash away. One of the problems in keeping whites bright, or any colors for that matter, is today’s low-water use washing machines. And while we’re on the subject of softeners, he says: “Ditch them: they gray whites, coat the fabric, and reduce absorbency-all the things we don’t want.” ![]() “So it’s released at the right time in your cycle,” says Richardson. The trick to getting bluing right, though, is to use only half the amount and in the slot where the fabric softener goes. Which, in the case of whites that have gone a bit yellow, is exactly what you want, because blue and yellow are opposite one another on the color perception wheel, so adding a bluing agent to something yellow will make it appear bright white to the eye." ![]() "It does exactly what it sounds like: It turns things blue. Stewart's Concentrated Liquid Bluing that I love-love-love for whites that have gone yellow," Kerr said. Luckily, Kerr had a handy trick for reversing the dinginess. Memorize This Handy Trick to Get Red Wine Out of ClothesĪs the owner of two sets of white linen, huge fluffy towels, and about 12 white t-shirts that have all, um, seen better days, I'm also interested in any advice that helps me reverse the damage that misuse, the passage of time, and my mistaken laundry habits have wreaked. Laundry detergent buildup will create that grey appearance in whites over time." Her picks? Tide Ultra Stain Release for detergent, and OxiClean White Revive or borax for boosters. Kerr suggests an alternate method for regular upkeep: " Use a good laundry detergent along with a whitening laundry booster, but be sure not to overdose your laundry products. It’s a blue dye that’s a brightening agent.” So, when you add bleach, he says, it’s leaching the dye from the item, draining it of what you think of as white, and making it appear “dingy”! “They’re not dingy, you’re just lifting the color off.” “Did you know,” he says, “that the bright-white color on your clothes is not a natural white-which is closer to an ecru shade. Richardson says there’s another reason why bleach will never work like you expect it to. According to Kerr, bleach actually has a chemical reaction with protein-aka, any lingering sweat on your T-shirts or bed sheets-that causes whites to yellow. Here’s what’s probably the most important lesson I learned: Absolutely nobody recommends chlorine bleach! "I encourage people to ditch chlorine bleach for laundry," wrote Jolie Kerr- The Times' cleaning guru and the expert behind the podcast Ask a Clean Person-in an e-mail to us. ![]()
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