Laundry Stripping

Have you heard about this new cleaning trend going around out there called laundry stripping? I’ve been seeing it everywhere. The premise is that to get super clean whites, or any super clean laundry for that matter, you need to strip your laundry. Stripping your laundry will supposedly remove, detergent residue, fabric softener, hard water minerals and body oils. To do this you are supposed to soak your laundry in extremely hot water and several different powdered cleaning agents.

I thought I would give it a try and see what all the hype is about. I love white sheets on our bed. They just seem so luxurious. Just like sleeping in a hotel! Even though everyone says white sheets are the best because you just need to bleach them to keep them clean and white eventually they just seem to be dingy no matter how many times you bleach them. Not to seem gross but the pillow cases start to get a little yellow too. Enter laundry stripping.

The Recipe

After some extensive research otherwise known as a google search I found the recommended laundry stripping recipe:

1/2 cup of tide powdered laundry detergent

1/4 cup of washing soda

1/4 cup of borax

What is This Laundry Stripping Stuff?

Powdered laundry detergent is hard to come by these days. It has slowly been taken over by liquid laundry detergents. I have recently gone back to powdered tide and LOVE it. It has made such a big difference in my laundry.

Next ingredient is washing soda. What is washing soda you ask? Well I had to do some research to find out. Washing soda is sodium carbonate. Don’t confuse it with sodium bicarbonate. Washing soda helps to soften hard water. The minerals in the water stick to it. This helps the actual detergent to really get into the fabrics and remove the dirt and suspend it in the water ready to be rinsed away.

The next ingredient is Borax or sodium borate or sodium tetraborate. I have used borax before in my laundry and for other cleaning in my home. It works very much like washing soda by increasing the PH of the water (washing soda has an even higher PH) allowing the detergent to break up stains easier.

Whew, didn’t think I was going to give a science lesson!

Laundry Stripping in Action

I gathered up about 3 sets of white sheets to do this experiment on. Then I filled my tub with water as hot as I could get it. Then I swished around the mixture of powders into the hot water until it was dissolved and dumped in my pile of white sheets.

I used a long broom handle to mix up my sheet soup. The instructions say this mixture is suppose to soak for 4 to 6 hours stirring every so often. I think I left my laundry to soak for about 4 hours. The water did look a little dirty as you can see in the picture. Nothing like the pictures that I saw online though. My main concern was that the water didn’t really stay hot for long. The sheets were definitely cleaner but I thought I could do better.

My Washing Machine

Since the water didn’t stay hot for very long I started thinking about how I can soak the laundry in really hot water. Enter my washing machine. I figure I would check out my machine and see what it could really do. There are tons of setting to explore! Get out your manual and  check out what your machine can do. I have an LG top loading washing machine. I discovered that my washing machine has a sanitary setting. This setting runs for 3 hours! I also discovered that it uses really hot water heated by the heating element in my washing machine. What? There is a heating element in my washing machine, who knew? Maybe I’ve been living under a rock but I didn’t know washing machines had heating elements. A big plus to using a washing machine to strip your laundry is that it is constantly swishing your laundry around for you.

The Verdict on Laundry Stripping

The sheets that came out of my bathtub were definitely cleaner than if I had just run them through the regular wash cycle that I normally use for my sheets. The pillow cases still had a little bit of a yellow tinge. I was a little disappointed because from all accounts they should have been super duper white. I was much more impressed with how they looked after they went through the sanitary cycle of my washing machine. My pillow cases were nice and bright white! I will definitely use my machine to laundry strip my sheets when they are in need of it again.

Well I hope this help you understand what laundry stripping is. I would definitely recommend doing it even if you use the bath tub method. If your washing machine has a sanitary cycle or something similar that is approximately 3 plus hours long and uses hot water I would suggest using that method over the bathtub method. Whatever way you choose to laundry strip your laundry it does actually work and I will definitely do it again when needed.

Happy cleaning everyone!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Karla

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