How should I boil wash?

[volvoguy87]

I've got a white cotton bathroom hand towel that has managed to get some painfully obvious patches of gray, right where people dry their hands. Since the hands are freshly washed, I hope it's soap residue. I've tried soaking it, using bluing, various additives (oxygen bleach), and even some swearing at it, but nothing's worked. I think I'll try something new.

I want to try a boil wash on the stove. Should I just boil it in a pot of water? Should I use any detergent or laundry soap? I've got new Fels Naptha, Zote, and Colgate Octogon soaps. For detergent, I've got the following powders: Tide Original, Tide Mountain Spring, Gain (previous formula) Cheer Original, Oxydol, Fresh Start, Sears Ultra Plus (orange box), Foca (with phosphates), and Bold. What should I use and for how long should I let it cook?

I'm new to boil washing, but I know others hare have done it with good success. How do I give it my best shot?
Dave

 

[launderess]

Launder The Items First

You'll need a large enough pot so items can float freely, if too crowded results won't be good.

Fill the pot about 3/4 full with cold water.

Dilute into one cup of cold or lukewarm water about 1-2 tablespoons of the Foca (it's the phosphates you want along with the detergent), and one half ounce of oxygen bleach powder. Stir until dissloved then add to pot with cold water and stir well.

Add the items you are wanting to boil and stir around to mix. Add more water if required to keep items immersed.

Ignite flame/heat under pot at a medium to medium high setting. You want the laundry to gradually come to a boil, not reach so at once.

As the water begins to heat items will start to "float" out of the water. Push down using a wooden spoon (BECAREFUL).

Once water reaches a boil (watch carefully) lower heat to prevent boiling over if required. Boil no longer than 10 to 15 minutes, stirring/poking down laundry as required to keep items under water as much as possible.

After the time is up you'll need to lift the wash out of the boiling water into rinse water. This water should be tap hot or at least warm at first to prevent shocking the textiles. I use laundry tongs but any set you happen to have will work long as they are clean.

If you have a top loading washing machine you can do warm then cold water rinsing there.

It is important you lift the wash out of the boiling water. The gunk removed from your textiles will remain there either sinking to the bottom or remaining suspended in water (especially if you used phosphates).

As the water starts heating you'll notice items will start to rise

 

[volvoguy87]

Thanks!

I'll try to give it a shot later today. I think I'll try washing the bathroom hand towel and kitchen towels. (It's also a great excuse to use the big laundry tongs. I knew I had them for a reason

Thanks Launderess,
Dave

 

[hotpointfan]

My boilwash techniques,

Load machine - generally white bath/hand towels/facecloths.

Close door, select 90 degrees on Cottons on the Bosch, Cottons 85 on the Dyson.

Detergent, full powder scoop of Persil Non Bio. Generally no softener.

Start.

After load into dryer for about 85 minutes, depending on load size.

Thats me

Jacob

 

[bernina]

thanks, guys, this is so timely

I was just ironing one of my favorite linen napkins and noticed a tan-ish spot that has been there the last two washings . . . I was *just* thinking: "maybe I should try boiling this out".

I think the spot may be a fruit-based stain, I know those can be nearly impossible to get out. So far I've washed this twice with enzyme detergent + phosphates + oxygen bleach, and it's lighter, but still there.

The napkin is natural flax color shot through with red lines so chlorine bleach is not an option.

Thanks, Laundress, for the excellent instructions, I may need to give boiling a whirl!

 

[launderess]

Do Not Boil Linen!

It will break down and quickly destroy the fibers. You can end up loosing 1/3 or more of the textile via boiling.

Instead heat the water to about 160F but no higher than 180F and not longer than five minutes of contact time.

Routine boiling of linen back in the days lead to holes and stuff that was quickly worn out. However most houswives/laundries valued *clean*,vermin free and the less rubbing that came from boil washing, even if it meant mending and or having to replace worn out items.

Stains that have survived several launderings and also been ironed over rarely come out easily. While boiling or other rough treatments may lighten the stain but at what cost to textile strength?

 

[dj-gabriele]

Do Boil Linen!

In my family we have endless sets of hand woven REAL LINEN bed sheets and table cloths and boiling them never made any kind of damage.
Indeed they're washed that way every year even not used only to keep them white and clean.
And some of them are more than 50 years old!

 

[launderess]

Fine, Go Ahead Boil Away

However strain the wash water as it drains down the sink and come back and tell me what you find. That isn't lint (linen does not produce much if any) going down the drain.

 

[jerrod6]

OMG.  All of this trouble to boil wash something?  

 

I guess I didn't appreciate having  an automatic  washer that could use near boiling temps and be finished  the wash and rinses in about 48 minutes.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Boil wash?

Do any machines in the U.S. EVEN do a boil wash? I've never in my life seen a boil wash.......Unless you do it manually I suppose as described above.

Honestly.......It would be cool to see a machine do that.

I know when I do sanitary on my Duet- the machine is HOT like the dryer is out the outside when drying clothes.....but still, that's about 50 degrees away from boiling.

 

[bernina]

well, I tried it!

(Before I read Laundress' next post I went ahead and boiled it)

. . . simmered it in a non-reactive pot on the stove for ~15 minutes with a tiny bit of detergent (no optical brighteners), STPP, and Ecover powdered non-chlorine bleach.

And it looks like the spot is gone! I'll need to check more closely in daylight, but it is a huge improvement.

I have been lucky and found a few real linen towels and napkins at estate and rummage sales over the years, but this was one I purchased new. The tag said wash hot 60° C and it actually said boil if needed to remove stains.

It looks none the worse for wear. I wouldn't do this more than is absolutely necessary, but in a pinch for a spot that had been ironed in, it worked great.

Thanks for your tip about rinsing in hottish water first.

 

[bernina]

sorry I didn't strain the water to check for lint

I didn't see your post until after my "experiment" was over.

I may sew a tiny stitch into the hem of this particular napkin to see if the boiling will cause it to wear any faster than its three "mates"

Honestly I've never had a real linen kitchen item show much wear at all. Even towels that are decades old. That's one of the things I love about it.

 

[launderess]

Am Glad It Worked Out For You.

Perhaps am in the minority but just don't see the point in boiling linen. This even though one has a French "lessiveuse" boiler and a Miele washer that will reach a temperature of 200F.

Every laundry manual one has from English to French to American tells to avoid boiling linen much less laundry if possible, and that the process is hard on textiles. Mayhaps simply boiling without the beating (washing machine and or by hand) is less damaging. Then there is what one is boiling the stuff in. The hotter the water equals more aggressive chemcial action of alkaline chemicals (soap, bleaches, etc...)

Personally rather simply soak any offending item overnight in warmish water (Hoover TT wash tubs are great for this)

@mark_wpduet:

No, Amercian domestic washing machines do not nor have not (to my knowledge) ever done boil washing. If one wanted items boiled you washed them first (by hand or whatever), then boiled.

American housewives and laundries vastly choose chlorine bleach over boiling which pretty much gives the same results (sanitising, stain removal, whitening, etc...) over boiling. Once semi and fully automatic washing machines came upon the scene there was less need of boiling if bleach was used.

Should like to point out that the only time "soiled" linen was boiled first is if the it was known to contain vermin (lice, bed bugs, etc..) or was used by a person known to have or had an infectious disease. Hot water not only sets stains but can actually *shock* textiles so the soil will not be removed totally.

By the time laundry reached the boiling pot it had been soaked, stains treated/removed and washed by hand. The purpose of boiling was to open up textile fibers to release any remaining trapped soap and soils. By giving up such stains were also removed as well. The process of course killed any vermin and gave a measure of santitation.

One has to remember that much of the "boiling" craze came because pure soaps were used for laundering. Depending upon several factors of how the stuff was made soap can be *very* difficult to remove from textiles. Some types of soap really require hot to boiling water in order to ensure not only good cleaning but that they leave as little residue as possible.

 

[foraloysius]

"If one wanted items boiled you washed them first (by hand or whatever), then boiled."

Interesting. I remember that my grandmother did it differently. She soaked overnight in lukewarm water, then the next morning brought the laundry to the boil and then put the boiling water and the laundry into her wringer washer and let it wash for a while. AFter that it was rinsed and spin out in a spindryer.

 

[launderess]

Each Woman/Launderess/Laundry

Had their own ways, but the proper thing was to discard the soaking water (or reuse it to soak another load), then make up a fresh wash and or boil water.

Rationale behind this was that during the soaking period soils and such would leech out of the texiles into the water which was what one wanted. However that having been done the water was "dirty" and spent.

It was important when using soap based laundry products that as much soils and filth were removed before the acutal washing process. Not only this this lessen the amount of soap required for washing, but it helped keep down scum in the wash but less chances of dirt redepositing on laundry.

Think of it this way; if one were really filthy and sat in a bath tub with soap, versus taking a shower first then sitting in the bath.

 

[foraloysius]

It's very possible that my grandmother changed the water too, but I don't remember that. I didn't see the whole wash process, but over some years watched parts of it. Not enough to draw conclusions. It makes sense though, in the Netherlands a special detergent (Biotex) was used for soaking and another for washing. It's possible that my grandmother did that too.

 

[launderess]

Remember Bio-Tex

Came along IIRC same time other enxyme pre-soak (with or without oxygen bleach) products such as Biz and Axion.

Think the stuff was just discontinued rather recently.

Anywho pre-soaking with an enzyme product was streets ahead of using washing soda or products heavy with the stuff. Soda is great for shifting oils (it combines with fats to form a type of soap thus more easily removed from fabrics), but didn't do much for most other types of stains including protein.

 

[glenfieldmathk1]

Might be wrong but..........

I think it is something to do with US electricity supply.
Here in the Uk we can have 95C washes, as we have 240V of electricity going to every home.
most washing machines here take in 220V of it, and this voltage allows the boiling hot temperatures. In the US, I am aware Electricity is only 110V??? this means there is less power, so the heater can't heat up much higher than 75C??
If not that, then I don't know why they don't have such hot washes available, and you have to do it manually.

Could it also be, most washers don't actually have heaters?

 

[launderess]

There Is A Post Somewhere Here In The Group

As to the why and how the United States went with 110v/120v for most household wiring (220v is available in many homes and indeed where electric is used for cooking and clothes dryers the connections are standard), but IIRC the story goes that on this side of the pond large supplies of natural resources made central heating of water cheap.

In most if not all parts of the United States power comes from the pole or underground cable at 220v/240v, it is then changed for some homes that do not have such service.

For instance there are many older homes and multi-family buildings that still have fuse boxes with perhaps 100amp 120v (if that) service. 220v doesn't even come into the fuse box. To change this often requires pulling new cables from the box/street into the building and up into the apartment.

Many parts of Europe OTHO had various mixtures of electrical service including 110v/120v service before the war, but as many places were bombed and or otherwise destroyed during the rebuild it was decided to go with 220v/240 as standard.

This makes sense as it's cheaper and easier in countries with little to no natural resources where electric is used for most all heating purposes. Well there is plenty of coal all over much of the UK and Europe but burning it domestically is sort of frowned upon! *LOL*

It is going to be interesting as many EU contries such as France and Germany freeze and or dismantle nuclear power.