wash your whites with new blue jeans! I think your sis is fing with you...

Probably the same idea as the blue jeans. Google it

I don't know enough about it yet to try it.

Actually, at this point, I'd rather buy new teeshirts, socks, chones, and towels than mess with my relatively new washer.

It's something to look into, though. I'll ask around.

Thanks again!

Bleach weakens the fibers of the cloth and the garments won't last as long.

If it IS minerals in the water, I wonder what the fix would be.

I'll ask the neighbors if it's happened to them and, if so, what'd they do about it.

Thank you!

You probably have high iron in your water. A water softener will fix that. It did for me.

Iron will stain clothes, bathtubs, your washer, etc and possibly build up in your pipes if it's not filtered out somehow. A water softener can do quite a bit to decrease that.

Works very well.

pinkish in the winter time.

I bleached some white tee shirts and they all got tiny holes. Google throwing regular aspirin in your wash...
Supposed to whiten them up without bleach.

Aspirin, though, huh?

Looks like I've got more googling to do.

Thank you!

Last edited Sat Apr 7, 2018, 07:05 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm happy with the results. I'm sure that it does reduce the lifetime of the clothes somewhat, but that's an acceptable tradeoff for me. Avoid using more than the recommended amount. If you don't want to use regular chlorine bleach (e.g., Clorox), you could try oxygen bleach instead. I don't think it's as effective at removing stains, but I think it carries less potential risk for damaging clothing.

I have tried blueing and it does counteract yellowing, but it'a bit of a pain. If you try it, be very careful to get it completely diluted before bringing your clothes anywhere near it. Ask me how I know that.

The aspirin is probably being partially hydrolyzed to salicylic acid, which complexes with iron and similar metals. You can buy citric acid for ~$3 a pound, though (canning supplies at the grocer's), and a teaspoonful per load should be plenty. Citric acid will also go after calcium (lime) and magnesium deposits. That's why it's bad for your teeth. (Don't chew your wet laundry.)

a bit of bleach in it. Might spruce them up a bit.

I know automatic dishwater soap with a bit of bleach will remove mildew from clothing. I've been thinking about running my whites through a wash with it, using the same amount my machine calls for of regular liquid clothes soap and see what happens
It's low sudsing so it shouldn't make a mess in your machine.

Last edited Sat Apr 7, 2018, 07:10 PM - Edit history (1)

hang them out to dry in the sun.

Blue and orange are complimentary and your eyes tend to mute both when added together. Adding blue dye to whites won't restore them to like-new condition, but can improve the perception of off-coloring in some situations.

and they started to look dingy, I would use Rit's dye remover on them. They would look brand new when done. Their whitener and brightener works, just not as good. IMO

Thanks!

Which is how I found out the Rit dye remover works so well. I figured all my whites were ruined anyhow, so give it a try it won't hurt them.

and a couple drops in my dish water, it helps keep down germs

that can put you down for the count.

I remember doing this as a kid.

(There may be better instructions/videos out there; I didn't spend much time looking. Try Googling charcoal crystal garden.)

I'd forgotten all about that! I certainly do remember that though. Blast from the past. Whew!

the instructions.

worked for me