How Do You Get The "Whitest" Whites?

[launderess]

Why with Bleachette bluing of course!

The latest (and final for awhile), addition to my stash arrived today. A case of vintage Bleachette bluing. Actually it is a vintage display box/case, which one supposes would have been set up in a store for ladies to help themselves.

 

[launderess]

Another snap

Close up

 

[foraloysius]

Another snap

I don't see a thing! Are you showing us the emperor's clothes? LOL

Now go ahead and slap me!

 

[launderess]

Oh, Bother

Let us try that again.

 

[launderess]

One more time, for the punters in the back row.

 

[foraloysius]

Oh, that looks very vintage. Actually I seldom use bluing. IMHO it makes whites a little greyish instead of really white. But I have used it succesfully on older linens that had become a little yellowish over the years.

 

[launderess]

Too much bluing and or leaving items in the bluing rinse for too long can result in "gray" looking whites. This is why one prefers to blue in the final rinse, instead of wash cycle.

L.

 

[mickeyd]

Hello beautiful

Wish you'd snap a pic of your face.

To answer your Q: i swear by hot soaks in
tide with bleach-- over night, if need be; or Tide HE and
clorox.

 

[sudsdudeshane]

whitest whites!

I find that now that I have a front loader with a Sanitary cycle, my white clothes are much cleaner than before. I use Tide or Gain with Bleach powder,Borax and a 1/2 cup of LCR in the dispenser. Since its a front loader and suds are a concern, I use about 1/8 of a cup of each.

 

[frigilux]

That's cool, Launderess! Is Bleachette a powder or some sort of solid? How do you use it?

My Mom always put a few drops of bluing in the rinse cycle when washing whites. It was a blue bottle with a woman on it. Mrs. Someone-or-others Bluing.

Hi Mickeyd!

 

[pulsatron]

Hot water wash+??

A good dose of detergent and a capful of pre-wash soaking agent eg Fiesta etc, although at the moment I am using Coles Supermarkets generic brand soaker,it is called "You'll Love Coles" antibacterial nappy wash and soaker, and guess what? I do love it as it works quite well and is very reasonably priced.
I give whites a 12 minute wash on standard wash and then let them soak in the soaker/detergent solution for about 30 minutes.
Final result-beautiful white whites which my neighbours are a little bit envious of.
I try to tell them that cold water washing will not get you whiter whites, but they just will not believe me.
Cheers folks.
Steve.

 

[maytagbear]

That, Eugene,

would be Mrs. Stewart, of Mrs. Stewart's Bluing.

I always think that the poor old dear's husband ran off with some floozie from Ladies' Aid, leaving our hera with 6 children, a pile of debt, but a new Whirlpool washer and dryer set. Before you could say "Perma-Prest," she was out of debt, had an established laundry-dry cleaning-dyeing business!

(No, I am stone cold Sober. Just a little nutzo).

Lawrence/Maytagbear

Nice find, too, Laundress!

 

[launderess]

Bleachette Is a Dolly Blue

Or commonly known as "bag blue",meaning the bluing comes wrapped in a little bag. One swishes the bag in rinse water until the desired blue tint is reached, then proceed to rinse/blue laundry.

L.

 

[oxydolfan1]

Pulsatron...I just can't bring myself to soak anything in the washer.

I have the feeling that all the dirt and bacteria, etc. is just under the lid, in that still water, festering.

I can't even take a bath unless there's a whirlpool-sort-of-gadget in the tub, stirring things up...I'm strictly a shower kind of guy....

Would it have the same effect if I were to just run three hot-water cycles consecutively, so as not to have the wash water stagnating?

When you say "soaker", do you mean a dry powder like our Oxi-Clean?

I'd be willing to try this, but I'm worried I'd FEEL funny in my skivvies and such....

 

[frigilux]

Launderess: That's an interesting format for bluing; Kinda like making tea. And at the risk of incurring the wrath of mickeyd (who is definitely a candidate for AW Nice Guy of The Year), I'm going to encourage you not to post a picture of yourself. Don't get me wrong, it's been fun to see pics of so many AW regulars, but I actually enjoy that a few of us remain 'of the smoke'. The mystery is part of the fun.

Lawrence-- Holy cow, did you glean all that from her innocent little picture on the bottle?! Or do you have some juicy inside dirt on this vintage celebrity, LOL? I left a little message at your iPod thread, too. Forgot to talk about battery life, but that depends on the model. Will have more info for you when you do the reveal.

 

[exploder321]

I have never used blueing... Would like to try it, but i would be afarid of dying the wash tub in dads machiene and not sure if you could use it in our F/L...BTW, we hardly have anything white

 

[maytagbear]

Frigilux--

Just my overheated imagination.

Spinning out a possible scenario.

Thank you.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[frigilux]

Chad-- I don't think the bluing will dye the plastic washer tub. I seem to remember dyeing some black jeans in my '86 Frigidaire--which had a plastic tub--and it didn't affect that. You don't want the water to be THAT blue, at any rate. Your clothes will turn blue. You want the water a nice light blue. And only use it on white loads.

I have a LOT of white---all my undershirts/shorts/ankle-length socks/kitchen towels and cloths/bath towels/hand towels/wash cloths/bed linens. All white.

The rest of my wardrobe is predominantly black (or gray), as is my car and brief case. I do have some dress shirts of other colors, of course...

Anyway, I'm a great candidate to use bluing since I do several white loads each week.

As soon as my old-school soap arrives----UPS: the REAL Santa----I'm going to wash my bath towels with that, so bluing will be of particular help in keeping them dazzling white.

 

[mickeyd]

Confession, Frigilux you mind reader! You outed me. You son

I was just being nice about L's pic. I prefer the fantasy too.

I guess you're all taking a breather from all the madness like I am and in a few minutes or so Peggy Woods is going to sing "Climb Every Mountain" on ABC which is showing "The Sound of Music" I can't wait . I will turn up the sound all the way, sing and dance around my living room and my eyes will get misty. That's way gayer than friggin'Veggie's tinsel tree.

Stay tuned.