@ all Fl-Owners: How do you keep your whites sparking white?

[lavamat78800]

Hey @ all:
I want to know how you keep your whites white.
I always wash whites seperate @ 40°-95°C, but they still get grey!
I tested some detergent: Ariel, Persil, Dalli, white giant ( german), Bold, mr.proper, etc. and all didn´t help.

Please tell me, how you wash your whites, my sister is already desperate, because her clothes for work (dentist) are havin a very bad look!

 

[lederstiefel1]

What kind of machine do you have? TL need more powder and maybe an extra of bleach (chlorine or oxygen) also I can advise the use of blueing in the wash-water from time to time. But here less is more! An over-doing will make the articles become grey!
If your white clothes are getting more and more yellow, iron from the pipes can be the reason, in which case you should wash only with phosphates whereas if not so powders with SaSil (non-phosphate-powders) are normally better for brighter whites. Another thing is optical-whiteners that are biult into the synthetic fibres which can be destroyed by chlorine bleach and can never be re-done again.
Best thing you can do if there's a lawn arround: bleach them on the lawn! Just lay them wet onto the lawn into full sun-light and keep them wet and turn them over after some hours. Later give them a hottest wash possible - boiling is fine for about 15 minutes. That should help!

Ralf

 

[westtexman]

I use a good bleach-containing detergent (such as Henkel Persil or UK Persil), some STPP and the hottest wash my machine will deliver. My LG only heats up to 70*C, so it's not quite a "boil wash", but gets the job done.

When using American Detergents (which I rarely do for whites), I add the detergent, STPP and either oxygen or liquid chlorine bleach.

My whites are always BLINDINGLY white!

Bryan

 

[lavamat78800]

hey Ralf,

I have an Lavamat 78800, Frontloader, 2 years old.
I don´t knwo where to get washblueing in Germany, and I thought that in Germany detergent with phosphate aren´t produced anymore.
What detergent with Sasil would you suggest me to buy?
And waht is STPP?is it the same as "DanKlorix"?

My mother told me, that washcycles under 95°C are bad for whites, really?

 

[peterh770]

Whitest whites in the Miele 1918:
Cottons 140 (60 C) cycle reprogrammed for high water level rinses.
Use the right dose of detergent, whether that be prescribed by the product or your own experience.
If the detergent does not have a bleach built in, use an all-fabric bleach (OxyClean).
Be very light handed with the liquid softener.

When I first got my Miele, I did not notice improved whitening until I used the Delicate cycle for the whites. It is like they needed to be "shocked" back into being white. The very high water level and the brisk wash action was what my whites needed to flush out and remove all residual dirt and chemical buildup. Once they went through that cycle, they have been dazzling white ever since.

If your regular Cotton cycle doesn't have high water level rinses, see if there is a way to program the higher level, or add a rinse, or use a "sensitive" option feature to see if it helps.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Must say I never once used bleach in my life! Mommy & dad always warned me against it (and they own a professional laundy). I usually get whiter than white with a standard 60°C wash in my old-crappy front loader that was already here in my flat when I moved for the university. If you have trouble with the whitening just add sodium perborate, it's a wonder! Or use a cleaning powder with optical brightener, in Italy my favourite is Dash (from procter & gamble) and as the motto says "lava più bianco del bianco" meaning "washes whiter than white" ad it is true but it can be twice as expensive than other powders.

 

[brisnat81]

My weekly whites load, I use a high quality Detergent, the 50minute cycle and a 50degC temp washload, with a half dose of fabric softener.

One load in four, I will do the same, but choose a 2hour extended wash. Our business shirts stay dazzling white, and the grime on the collars just washes away.

If the shirts have a Nylon component, dont wash them with anything other than pure whites. White nylon picks up other colours easily and should only be washed with whites. (No Greys, Blues, Pastels etc)

 

[lavamat78800]

Hey,
I don´t have a Miele ( not yet ) so I can´t programme the high water level.
Next time I wash whites i´ll add 2 extra rinses.
I always only put whites in the machine, no grey.I also do 2 differnet boil washs, one for whites and one for other boil-able clothes.
I think my clothes get grey, because my washer only takes 41 l for a 60° cycle, so the dirt can´t be flooded out and stays in the fibre.

 

[foraloysius]

I don't think you need a higher water level for getting whites white. As a matter of fact it cushions the washing action so you get less of the mechanical component of the wash cycle. This mechanical action has a positive effect on the whiteness as research in the past has shown. Ofcourse you also need the other components (time, temperature and chemicals). For whites I got the best results with Ariel but you always have to use the right amount of detergent. You need to find out about the right amount through trial and error. You have to use enough to make the water feel slippery/silky but not much more unless your laundry is dirty.

If you want to restore the whiteness of your laundry try soaking them in an oxygen bleach. Make sure the oxygen bleach is dissolved in hot water to activate the bleach. If you want to soak in less hot water add cold water later, but you really need to dissolve the oxygen bleach in hot water.

Since some detergents also contain oxygen bleach you can soak in detergent too. The best results I got with soaking overnight in a concentrated Ariel solution. The whites became even a bit blueish, but after a few regular washes I had the whitest whites of the whole neighbourhood!

Good luck!

Louis

 

[christfr]

ha ha i took apart my neptune and did a little adj on the water level control to get a little more water in there.. but i love good old clorox and clorox 2 always works for me