Do you have hard water that even with a water softener and filters leaves your clothes gray or yellow looking? I used to fight this problem with everything from bleach to iron out. Then I happened upon a product that solved that forever!! Now my whites look like new every time I wash them. The product is called White Brite. It's available at most grocery stores, and at Walmart also. If you can't find it in the laundry aids section, look for it in the plumbing section. This product is safe for clothes. I not only use it on whites only, I use it on clothes that are mostly white but have some color print also. One word of advice to the ladies out there, anything with spandex, like bra's for instance, turns a pretty robin egg blue with this product. I haven't a clue why, but I like the color, so I don't worry about it :)
Here's how you do it: Using HOT water, sprinkle a generous amount of white brite into your washer while it is filling. The directions call for 1/2 cup per load, but I've learned that if you want your whites to look like new, you need more. After the white brite is disolved, start adding clothes. I always wait until I have a full load of whites - my husband's t-shirts & underware, socks, etc. After you've added the clothes and the washer has finished filling, let it agitate for a couple of minutes to mix everything up. Then, turn it off and let it stand for at lest 1/2 hour. The directions recommend 5 minutes, but again, I've found out that the longer you wait, the whiter the clothes will be. After waiting, look at the water. If it's reallly dirty, this means that the white brite has pulled out all the accumulated "gunk" out, and you'll need to repeat the process. Before doing that though, add your detergent (I don't use anything but Tide. After 33 years of wedded bliss, 5 children & 9 grandchildren, I've used every kind of laundry soap out there, and nothing beats or even comes close to Tide. Even though it has a higher price tag, it still out-cleans for less product than any other laundry soap). Turn the washing machine on again and let it run it's full cycle. If the water was just a little dull and dirty after you let the clothes soak in the white brite, then one washing is enough. Put your clothes in the dryer and enjoy the nice surprise when you take them out. If, however, the water was very dirty as I explained earlier, after adding your laundry soap, let the washer run it's cycle, then repeat the whole process, including the pre-soak in hot water with the white brite. You don't have to take the clothes out of the washer to add the white brite, just make sure that there is enough water in the washer before adding the white brite so that it disolves completely without resting on clothes. Repeat the start of the cycle to get the clothes and white brite mixed, then turn the machine off and wait. This time you will notice that the water is pretty clear, meaning that the white brite has done it's job, and after the waiting period, add your laundry soap and complete the cycle. Dry and enjoy the looks on your family's faces when they see how white their clothes are.
When my kids drop our grandkids off for a visit, I get a kick out of changing their clothes (I always have some on hand for each grandchild), and washing what they wore in white brite. One time I washed my granddaughter's coat (this was a silver color with pink inside) that was really dull looking. After washing with white brite and tide, it looked like new. My daughter wanted to know how I got it to look like that, so now she uses white brite also.
While I was staying with my two year old grandson while his 3 wk old brother was in intensive care with RSV pheumonia, I tried to get everything caught up for my son and daughter-in-law so they could come home and not have to worry about cleaning or laundry, etc. I bought them some tide and white brite and had a ball washing their clothes. My daughter-in-law asked me " what the heck did you do to get our clothes so white? I've been trying everything to get the gray out, but never could." She uses white brite and tide now too. While I was there, I even pulled out all their "clean" socks and stuff from their closet that was supposed to be white but was a dull gray instead and washed it and put it away. They were so surprised.
This discovery has been such a great money saver for our family, because not only does it cost less per load to do the laundry (tide is very concentrated), but the combination of white brite and tide actually helps the clothes last longer.
I hope this little tip helped some of you who've experienced the same problem I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment