How White are Your Whites?

[kqkenmore]

probably smells twice as bad, judging from the looks of tho

I hope that she dosent use the same method to clean her hoochie coo or they will be saying where is the rotten fish.That is just plain embarrising.I would set those kitchen linens on fire.

 

[mrb627]

Soak?

You mean a 20 minute soak in bleach and dishwasher powder? That would certainly eat the scrud off. LOL

Malcolm

 

[gyrafoam]

My '63 Kenmo has a solenoid activated bleach dispenser that drops the bleach in around the last four minutes of the cycle.
So I find a hot wash with some VIVA and Clorox do a beautiful job. Lots of spray-rinses and a deep-rinse flush away all the chlorine very well. Yellowing is never a problem.

 

[dirtybuck]

I Love It!

"Laundry snot"! LOL!

 

[danmantn]

She might want to use some of the "BOROX" as she called it, to clean out the mold from the fabric softener dispenser.

 

[blondie]

I have never seen anything like this. How bizarre. I agree with all of you. It can't be good for the fabric. I wonder what made her come up with this.

 

[launderess]

But Seriously Folks

Using pure soap for washing *can* be done if one goes about it properly. One says this as a person who has more cases of vintage soaps lying about than an old laundry.

Indeed all over Europe one can purchase all manner of soaps for laundry, and some washing machines even have special cycles for those using pure soap.

Things to keep in mind when using pure soap is that the thing requires plenty of soft water (hot or at least warm), and that certain stains and soils will not shift as with modern enzyme containing detergents.

Best way to soften soaking, washing and rinse water when using soap is with phosphates. Soap itself can soften water by binding minerals, but not only is this a huge waste of soap, it can lead to scum. Water should be softened *before* soap is introduced, this way all the soap can go towards cleaning and not dealing with keeping minerals at bay.

Laundry should be pre-washed or pre-soaked to remove much loose soil, and rinsing (first of several) should be in hot or warm water.

Personally use an old French method for making liquid soap, but will use my "goo" along with liquid laundry detergents to get the best of both worlds.

 

[MrX]

You should try Tide Powder with Bleach. As far as I am aware, it's a similar formula to the universal (non colour specific) European Ariel, Daz or Persil etc i.e. it contains an activated oxygen bleaching compound.

Use a fairly long wash in a front loader, or allow to soak in a top loader, and use reasonably warm water.

Should remove dingy stains from anything.

Alternatively, use your usual powder detergent and a large dose of active oxygen bleaching powder. Not entirely sure what brands that sells under in the US.

 

[MrX]

I had a look at the Tide website and the HE detergents are nothing like Ariel or Persil. They don't contain oxygen bleach and they also don't contain anything like the range of enzymes that are in TOL European products.

They seem to only have protease.

Where as Persil has Protease (protein stains), Amylase (Starches), Lipase (Fats) and Mannanase (Guar gums etc).

Persil Colour adds cellulase to that blend too which deals with pilling on fabrics by dissolving stray fibres.

 

[whirlpolf]

what's the big deal?

let her mix her own magic potion, I've got mine:

2 cups Texaco 5-20 motor oil
3 cups of grease cutter (to counterbalance the Texaco)
3 tsp. Tabasco
1 dash of vanilla (to counteract the tang of the tabasco)
2 scoops of shaving foam (to get a real nice froth, regular detergents cannot compete with Texacobasco....)
1 ink well (for blueing)
3 toads (to keep troll blood off of my posting)
5 raven claws and half an anthill (to keep pH level ok, detergents are too basic, so I need some acitidy)
0 scoops of detergent (won't work anyhow)
12 sheets of mildew-rotten library tear-outs from old books (to get the freshness back)

here's how to go:
1. mix everything with a wooden spatula using this non-effective, but possibly appetizing "stroking&caressing" yogurt stirring movement from TV ads
2. dump clothes in kitty litter and soak with mixture. turn over with a shovel to get a nice crust.
3. feed clothes through an insinkerator using a plunger (will be WAY better than a regular agitator)
4. strain and wear. done! *g*

 

[launderess]

Tide Powders

Contain oxygen bleach, the liquids do not. OTHO liquid versions of Tide contain a much more advanced system of enzymes than powders. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

P&G seems to putting more and more R&D into it's liquid detergents than powders, which is natural as powders seem to be vanishing from store shelves these days, at least in our area. Indeed most local shops here only have three or four powders, the remaining shelf space (much of it quite large)is filled by liquids.

 

[hoovermatic]

I thought modern laundry detergents and equipment were supposed to have eliminated this 'hubble bubble' approach to washing clothes. I didn't SEE her add any gravy browning but there is obviously some in there,

She sounds like some of those inept Judge Judy litigants.

 

[launderess]

Well There Is A Segment of the Population

That simply prefers to use soap. Be it out of "green" issues, or cost savings, or what have you.

Whether one knows it or not, many laundry detergents on both sides of the pond contain soap anyway. Versions of Tide, Persil, Ariel, et all all contain "soap" or "Savon de Marseilles", "Marsigla" or whatever one wants to call it.

As P&G puts it on their website for Tide (content list), soap is best for certain soils/oils. Indeed soap is great for oily stains and soils (and it is also cheap)

 

[sudsmaster]

Now, Launderess...

I agree, it is gross, just just because her (synthetic) undies are so fetid.

Powdered laundry detergent is very alkaline, just as much as dishwasher detergent. Modern US powders are mostly sodium carbonate (washing soda or soda ash) which has a pH of about 10.

STPP is milder, with a pH of about 9. Plus it buffers the alkalinity.

Most powders also contain about 10% sodium silicate, which is even more alkaline that washing soda, but since the amount is relatively small it doesn't affect things all that much.

Her homemade laundry detergent, Fels Naptha, washing soda, and Borax (not "BorOx", lol) seems like a fairly common mixture that housewives used to use back in the wringer washer days, no? The Borax is a good thing, since it does help prevent some precipitate/soap scum.

The worst thing this gal does is use that soap mixture with cold water. Yeech. No wonder her undies get so dingy and stinky.

I got pretty good results just grating Ivory soap and using it about 50/50 with STPP (with 10% sodium silicate). Even in a front loader. But I always used hot water with it. It left bath towels clean and soft and nice smelling. But I did notice that when I used it for whites, they gradually got more and more yellowed. So I switched back to Sears Ultra Plus with STPP. No more yellowing.

I'm not so outraged by her use of a spoon... it's just silly. Like Louis says, what's the agitator for anyway? Reminds me again of early washing days, when various plunger type hand implements were used in a bucket to "spoon" the laundry.

I will say one thing: at least this gal is trying. Most I've seen just toss in too little of the cheapest possible detergent, over stuff the washer, set it on cold, slam the lid down, and walk away.

 

[sudsmaster]

Whirlpolf...

NOW THAT'S FUNNY!

 

[mrcleanjeans]

Launderess, what does OTHO stand for?

 

[launderess]

My Bad

Should have been "OTOH" (On The Other Hand)

 

[mrcleanjeans]

Thanks Launderess!

 

[mrcleanjeans]

I am surprised that some detergents have soap in them. I thought they were not chemically compatable. Years ago, CU criticized Fels Detergent powder for having soap and detergent in it for that reason. This was in the 70s.

 

[launderess]

"Detergents" Containing Soap

Early surfactants probably weren't a good mix with early detergents which probably were heavy on borax and washing soda, and later phospahtes for water softening (and other purposes), but modern surfactants seem to be fine with the mix.

Long since lost the link as to what exactly soap brings to the party in modern "detergents" (am using quotes because anything which cleans is a detergent, soap is made from natural substances, while others from petrol/man made chemicals), but seem to recall something about soap's dramatic ability to deal with oil.

Some soaps are good as foam control agents,and can deal with "dust" in the wash.

Yellowing of laundry washed in pure soaps:

This occurs because soap truly is never rinsed away, and slowly builds up in fabrics. It is the oils/fats in soap that beging to go "off" and turn yellow. This will happen quite fast if laundry is exposed to high heat as with ironing or machine drying.

For this reason bluing agents were long a staple of wash day, to counteract the yellowing caused by soaps. However proper rinsing with plenty of soft (and preferably hot or warm) water was the first line of defense. Next would be the "sour" rinse with a mild acid such as white vinegar or adding a few lemons (or juice thereof) to a hot or warm rinse. Since citric acid contains salts, the later had to be followed by good rinsing as well.

Boiling laundry, actually was the second or third step in wash day and helped in removing soap because under heat textile fibers opened, releasing trapped dirt, soils and residues.

On both sides of the pond many persons perfer soap because of it being thought of as "natural" and better for cleaning. This is often true when thinking of baby's laundry and or other delicate items including those for persons with sensitive skin.

Finally such persons consider soap a more "eco-friendly" alternative to petrol based detergents. Huge amounts of Savon de Marseille are sold all over France and other parts of Europe for doing laundry. Go figure.