Please help me achieve whiter whites

[hcj1440]

I have the Miele w1215. When I first got it I tried the boil wash with great anticipation. (I have a bunch of little wash clothes that are gray in the middle.) The gray faded a bit, but not much. I tried it again, this time adding a goodly amount of oxiclean in addition to Tide HE powder. Again, it made a small difference but did not come out stain-free.

What did I do wrong? Or am I expecting too much? Are these wash cloths doomed to dinginess? I have been dreaming about whites like my mother-in-law has with her old Miele in Sweden for 5 years, hope it is possible for me too...

 

[somonica]

whiter whites...

60C cotton wash + level 3 rinses + Persil megaperls white...

anything else are compromise!

 

[favorit]

Holly,
you did it right, boiling water is the only way, LCB is useless ... it's just that "old" body oils on terry towels, washcloths and pillowcases are the hardest soil to remove, it takes some boilwashes

Once I had to boil in a pot on the hob a old white pillowcase that had gone yellowed. I had boilwashed twice it with kitchen towels and tablecloths. These came out spotless, but the yellow shade was still on the pillowcase, but I was out of garments to boilwash so i cooked it "a la Persil" on the hob for about one hour. Finally it worked

 

[ultramatic52]

Whitest whites!!!

Hi. Add a cup of white vinegar to the main wash, this will help to remove all of the grey, use the longest cycle available, try not to use Tide. When I changed it for Purex there was a great difference, I don´t know why is it that Tide being one of the most popular and expensive detergents get clothes grey or yellowish. What I´ve also used here in Mexico is to boil a white bar of soap called Zote, and the water is what I also add to the wash. If using a front loader, I most use a very low quantity of soapy water since it will make lost of suds. I´ll describe what gives me excellent results every wash. I have a Samsung Silver Nano front loader. I use the sanitize Cycle with prewash, heavy soil, extra wash, hottest water seting and 2 rinses + silver nano ions option ON. This makes up to 2:38 hours for the cycle. In the prewash I use Ariel or Purex about 2 table spoons, then for the main wash 2 table spoons of Ariel or Purex + 2 table spoons of Vanish powder + Boiled Zote water 1/2 a cup (You put the bar in a cacerole and add some water just till it covers the bar, then put it to boil and as soon as it starts to boil turn fire off, and let it rest for about 5 min and you´ll get white water, this takes places, during the prewash, you keep the leftover for the next wash, the bar doesn´t have to finish in the first boil, I use it about 20 times before I need a knew one)and a cup of white vinegar. Sometime you´ll get too much suds at the beggining, but let the washer run and the suds get lower, and let the cycle finish. I get really white clothes after each wash.

I hope this works and it´s not too complicated.

 

[irishwashguy]

Hello there, I turn things white with a boil wash all of the

My first suggestion is not to use Tide anything for a boil wash. Tide is really hard on your washer and all of its components.Plus most American detergents are really not low sudsing enough for a Miele. If you use detergents of anykind, with a Miele, LESS IS MORE!
Second, What I use is A scoop, One/eighth of a cup of SA-8 Amway or Persil, Faks is a good inexpensive one. I have even done this with the Ecover, this is a European detergent made in Belgum made for Boil washing in a European washer. Take this with Calgon water softener one/eighth, and finally, 20 mule Team Borax one eighth. I would then set it at 190 soak, with sensative setting just for good measure. Sometimes when you have had clothes that have been washed mutiple times and then dryed, it is natural that it is going to take a few Boil washes for them to look perfect. I usually will start a soak like this before bed.When I get up, I put it in the dryer, and Whitest Whites. Remember, what you need more than anything, is time, temp, and mechanical action. If you set it on Sanitize/Soak/Extended/Sensative/, you will have a program that will say a little over four hours, this is what I would do for your setting. try it, and let me know how it goes.

 

[favorit]

vinegar during main wash is a NO NO

detergents are alkalins, vinegar is an acidic.
It weakens detergent action.
Not a case acids (eg peracetic acid) are used in commercial laundries **during rinses** to remove all the alkali
and many people use vinegar as a fabric softener

Ritchie, IMHO in this case the soak is just a waste of time, cause it is not a protein stain.

On the contrary I find the soak very helpful on kitchen towels and tablecloths: food stains are "softened" and made easy-to-remove by the soak). I usually run colorfast tablelinens and cloths on permapress 60°C with waterplus/sensitive and soak

 

[toggleswitch]

Always pre-wash whites first in coolish to warm water (100*F /38*C or below) to avoid setting the protein stains and to get rid of the bulk of the dirt.

THEN continue with a boil wash. For whites you MUST rinse the heck out of them or the detergents and chemicals will make them dingy.

And for TRULY clean cothes you will stop using waxy softener. Period. That stuff is just a coating of wax/grease/oil and stink that has to be removed in the next wash.

I do use some cheap watery softener (supermarket brand pink or yellow stuff in the gallon jug / i.e. 3.78L) in the FIRST rinse such that it will de-suds and get rinsed out by the end of the wash cycle/programme!

Vinegar after this is not a bad idea IF your machine does NOT have a porcelain tub/basket!

The last rinse (or last few) rinses should always be WATER ONLY, IMHO!

For a REAL clean add phosphates to the wash and pre-wash!
(NOTE: I believe this stuff fades bolds and brights; use on whites and pastels,IMHO)

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[toggleswitch]

I womder where the yellow went?

BTW phosphates over time helped me rescue yellowed and stained whites that now look like they were bought a week ago!

 

[bernina]

OP: do you use bodywash or liquid soap with these washcloths

It seems like some ingredient in these bath products causes grey stains that are very difficult to remove.

There has been a long discussion in Garden Web Laundry Room Forum on this topic, you may want to take a look.

Hope this helps!

help with washcloth centers turning dark gray

I have an Asko front loader and wash all my washcloths & towels on high heat. For over a year every washcloth soon ends up with a big dark gray center, worse when held up to a light. NOTE: I do not wear any makeup nor does anyone living/staying here. I do not use tooth whitener. I do not clean ...

ths.gardenweb.com

 

[irishwashguy]

Fav and Tog, you have a good point

That is not a bad suggestion. Pre wash does help a great deal.

 

[hcj1440]

Wow thanks for all the tips & what does Borax do?

I will try Irishwashguy's routine tonight -- but with Ecover and no Calgon (already have soft water). Actually, don't have Borax either but I could run to the market and get a box... what does Borax do?

Bernina -- indeed, we do use a shower gel on these wash cloths, I fold the cloth in quarters and squirt shower gel on, then scrub down my grubby toddlers. When I unfold the (clean/washed) wash cloth, the gray stain is in four patches -- one in each quadrant, exactly where the shower gel goes. Good to know the cause and honestly, I can live with the stains. It was just frustrating to see other people posting about their fantastic boil wash results and not having the same results for myself -- it is strangely comforting to know that these are a particularly difficult type of stain.

Pre-wash & soak: I have tried the soak and I always select pre-wash already.

Persil/not Tide: I have not bitten the bullet and bought Persil. I use Ecover on our clothes; I think I will try the towels with Ecover since I already have it on hand and can do it as soon as I get home tonight. I also think I just have to fork over the $75 and buy that giant box of Persil from my local fancy laundry appliance store, I must try it for myself one of these days despite my skepticism.

Softener: not part of my laundry routine -- mostly because I didn't feel any difference after using it. I tried the Ecover brand after seeing rave reviews for it on cloth diaper forums (where laundry is a frequent topic!).

Vinegar: I used it for a while (in my GE with stainless tub) but since getting the Miele have not used it. I'm afraid to hurt my baby (the Miele .

 

[eddy1210]

Persil

Once you use Persil Holly, you will be amazed. It's all I use in my Miele's.

 

[bernina]

Persil for under $75

I know, $75 is way too much for me to spend, on something I can't return. With my luck I'd be allergic and it would give end up giving me hives or something.

I just got a $30 Amazon gift card for filling out a supplier survey at work, so I used it yesterday to buy a box. yay! (I'd been wanting to try Persil for a l o n g time but I couldn't ever bring myself to pay even $45 for a box, so this was my *perfect* opportunity.)

With my gift card it was $13 (with free shipping) for a 45-load box of Megaperls. Should arrive Monday, and I can't wait to try it!

I did see a $19.99 (18-load) bag on Amazon. Here's a link to it.

Amazon.com

 

[toggleswitch]

IMHO one must always pre-wash BEFORE a soak!

Remember (American?) detergents can only hold soils in suspension for a about half an hour. One wants to flush as much dirt as possible down the drain BEFORE soaking, or the yuck/muck from the armpits and the crotch areas will end up on the clenaer parts of the clothes if not properly/ sufficiently suspended in the water/degergent mix.

 

[favorit]

>(American)"detergents can only hold soils in suspension for a about half an hour"

Toggles, that's why they buy Persil, no matter of that crazy price.
To have a clue the 25 load bag of Dixan Classic Gold regular powder here is 5.39 euro ( 7.35 USD )

As Dash/Ariel here aren't second to Persil/Dixan as for cleaning performance, I can't get why P&G doesn't upgrade Tide HE to its euro counterparts

 

[spankomatic]

I use Echo's free and clear HE. Then I add 1 Tide stain release booster packet. Nothing else. Hot water wash/warm rinse. The Tide stain release did make a difference.

Jim

 

[hcj1440]

Boil wash with Ecover results

I did a load of towels tonight with a healthy scoop (1/4 cup?) of Ecover -- soaked 2 hours and then on sanitize cycle at 95C. It's in the dryer now so I want to check it again when it comes out, but *preliminary* look coming out of the washer seems to have the shower gel stains mostly gone -- far more than previous attempts with Tide. Thanks for the tip on "not Tide" as I never considered that Tide wasn't formulated to work at the higher temperatures. I would never have guessed that Ecover would work better than Tide at stain removal (since Ecover doesn't do that well on protein stains for me in my general laundry).

Persil purchase: Thanks Bernina for the link! Never thought to look on amazon for detergent. I ordered a box of regular/"ultimate" powder and a color megaperls -- looking forward to trying them. I saved half my dingy gray wash cloths to wash with Persil to see how much better it is. Also, just want to add that I am feeling considerably less skeptical about Persil now that I saw Ecover working better than Tide.

Favorit: seeing the prices in Europe is making me consider just how crazy I would sound if I asked my sister-in-law to bring me detergent when she visits from Sweden later this year... but I guess it's not nice to take up room/weight in her suitcase to save me $20!

pre-wash before soak: wow did not know any of that. I don't soak often but when I did, I rarely soaked with *any* type of detergent -- I thought I was just loosening up the dirt. Good to know for future reference, thank you.

Tide stain release: haven't tried that product yet -- have always been so wary of Tide fading colors. Guess that wouldn't matter on whites!!

 

[bernina]

Good old fashioned "Biz" works really well, too, for

Has enzymes and activated oxygen bleach.

It does have optical brighteners so you shouldn't really use it on dark colors.

Biz Stain Fighter

PRODUCTS LIQUID POWDER BOOSTERS

bizstainfighter.com

 

[peterh770]

When I first got my Miele, I too was unimpressed. But one day I was in a rush and didn't want to wait 1:47 for the cotton program, so I used the 55 min fine/delicates program (high water level, regular speed tumbling). The results were noticeably brighter! Best I can figure is that my clothes needed the high water level wash to flush everything embedded out. Once everything went through this, it has been fine.