Washing White Underwear in Hot Water

[washman]

Agree with eddie and martin

the cotton quality has really dropped over the years. I usually wear FOL because Hanes,well, they just aren't as comfortable as they used to be.

Either way, they don't last as long as they once did.

For tshirts, I have had good luck with Jockey and whoever supplies Lands End. I wear XLT and both of those brands seem to hold up rather well.

And yes,I use piping hot water and the appropriate amount of bleach along with A&H with enzymes.

 

[launderess]

I'd ditch the chlorine bleach

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...t/9201160393_1_elastic-chlorine-bleach-rubber

https://www.clorox.com/how-to/laund...bleach-myth-busting-101-fabric-safety-bleach/

https://www.clorox.com/how-to/fabric-cleaning/spandex/cleaning-white-spandex/

 

[iowabear]

Water Temp and Briefs

I didn't notice much difference going from hot water to warm water (which is 105 in my heated Neptune.)  I use Tide HE with Bleach, full dose, 25 minute wash period, no LCB.  Things still look clean to me.  It does not, however, seem to make much difference in how long the bands last.

 

I still do white towels and washcloths in hot water with LCB but this probably benefits keeping the machine clean as much as anything.

 

 

 

 

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Socks

A majority of my socks are Nike. Most of them are about 7 years old and are washed frequently. They have been washed in Hot every time. Bleach, sanitize cycles, and steam cycles have been used numerous times as well. I have only thrown two or three pairs away due to holes. For the most part they are still very white. Most of our underwear is colored in our household. However, any white pairs tend to wear down quicker likely due to bleach exposure and 'over washing'.

 

[philcobendixduo]

Thanks....

.....for all the discussion on this issue.

I do think that declining quality is a big factor in clothes wearing out sooner.
In reading reviews for Fruit of the Loom, Hanes, etc. one will see many comments about how the material is thinner, the stitching is poor, the fit is "baggy", etc. NOT like they used to be made, for sure.
BTW - I now noticed that I misspelled "Hanes" in my original post. OOPS!
I bought some Jockey brand full-rise Y-front briefs and will see how they hold up (pun intended).
No doubt that liquid chlorine bleach IS hard on fabric as evidenced by spilling a drop or two on my "wipe-up" rag and having holes appear in it after a few hours time.
My washer is also hard on clothes being the famous direct drive "shred-more" with the dual action agitator.
Perhaps a shorter wash time....

 

[good-shepherd]

Fruit of the Loom has deteriorated over the years

I live in tank tops in the summer.

A few years ago a purchased a 5 pack of Fruit of the Loom tanks at Walmart, size medium, they held up great though many, many washings.

Went back two years later to get another pack, also in medium, after one or two washings they promptly shrunk several inches. I had to return them and get another pack in large size which also quickly shrunk to a wearable medium size. Oh, and the price went up $2 to boot.

I noticed they had changed the place of manufacture from El Salvador to some other third world local but obviously their cotton quality had changed drastically as well.

Another example of Shrink-flation, in this case literally.

 

[jamiel]

I'm following this...my husband wears undershirts daily; was previously quite loyal to Stafford XLT from JCPenney, but during their swirl of the drain they changed brands to Foundry, which was not nearly as good. He wears generally cotton boxer briefs which don't seem to hold up that well. I wash almost everything in hot in a DD Kenmore (we have a water softener), use bleach about every 6th wash on whites, never tumble dry underpants/socks, and rotate detergents. I rarely wear undershirts, prefer synthetic underwear (Under Armour/Jockey Pouch) and have a variety of colors and ages...they seem to really hold up better (I wash in warm and don't tumble). I do have a pair of Zimmerli briefs (from Switzerland) which are about 20 years old and are just as good as new--they're the industrial strength European type with 90 degrees on their care label

 

[jerrod6]

I mostly wear white underwear and regularly wash them in 120F temperatures, which my washer calls very warm or warm+. Never tried them at 105 which is called warm. Once every 6 months I will do them at 140F and no higher than that. I found that 140F will make short lives of the elastic.

I also don't use chlorine bleach in any of my laundry. I use a detergent with oxygen bleach and only use that on whites. For colors I use a non bleach detergent. So far I seem to keep underwear for about 5 or more years.

So I agree with the others - ditch the chlorine bleach which overtime can turn white dingy and yellow causing the opposite of why we might have been using it in the first place.

 

[launderess]

Issues with chlorine bleach

One major drawback with using chlorine bleach is the stuff is *very* difficult to rinse from many fabrics. Cotton and linen in particular tend to hold onto and require several rinses. The single one on most top loading washing machines just isn't going to work. If you can still smell a whiff of chlorine bleach on wash, then it is still there and going to eventually work havoc on fabrics.

Commercial/industrial laundries use chlorine bleach in controlled amounts and cycle is followed by several rinses, and then use of an anti-chlor to ensure all remaining traces are neutralized.

For the record many have long warned against use or over use of chlorine bleach/eau de Javel. Housewives were told to only use the stuff in controlled amounts and to rinse, rinse, and rinse afterwards. Europeans as we know rarely use chlorine bleach for laundry due to the long held reputation that it "eats" textiles. For cleaning that is another matter; you can find "Javel water" in many French supermarkets, but in the housecleaning product section, not laundry.

 

[iowabear]

Smell of Bleach

I wonder if young people view this differently.

 

Just this afternoon I was talking to a younger guy (probably late 20s) at my gym.  We were talking about the various gyms in town and out of the blue he says one of his biggest complaints about his old gym was that their towels "always reeked of toxic bleach" and how he wouldn't use them and brought his own. 

 

I would feel 100% better about using a community gym towel that "reeked of toxic bleach" but I let that comment pass!

 

[appnut]

Out of the mouths of the generation who knows nothing but everything is toxic, causes climate change, evil.  Washes everything in cold water with some "green" detergent, all cleaning agents in his dwelling are 'green" and heaven help him if anything were a toxic disinfectant, and doesn't believe in using the dishwasher nor cooks anything at home. 

 

[fan-of-fans]

Tank tops

Are we talking about the ribbed tank top shirts? Because I always had issues with those shrinking, with either the Hanes or FTL ones. I finally just started getting one size bigger because every time I washed them they'd shrink down and finally stretch out enough. I think it must be the ribbed material. I don't usually wear those, usually I use a regular crew neck shirt.

 

[iowabear]

Ribbed Tank Tops

I never liked these but my ex wore them.  And yes they shrunk like crazy...seemed to go down one size right away, two sizes if they lasted long enough.  I always got blamed for over-drying them.  Which was probably true, at least in the days when we used apartment laundry.  Easier to insert an extra quarter than to make extra trips checking on the dryness...

 

[mrboilwash]

Spandex

or rubber bands wearing out quickly can have several reasons.

-Excessive heat
-Use of chlorine
-High pH in the wash (powders)
-Greasy deposits settling back on the fibers from using too little detergent and or too much FS
-A general oxidation and ageing process

One can get away with disrespecting one or two of the "don`ts" if the quality of the elastic is right and there are certainly huge differences quality wise.
Spandex is usually more forgiving than natural rubber.

I love American sport socks. Always stock up when in the US. Hanes and Gildan are my favorites since I couldn`t find the Wilson Brand at Walmart any longer.
Even the grey colored ones get washed at 95°C, they hardly shrink and the elastic doesn`t wear out before the first hole develops.
Hanes undies on the other hand were "hanging loose" right after the first wash. Will never buy again.
My favorites are black H&M cottons with 5% spandex. Care tag says 60°C but I know better after all it`s underwear and wash them at 75°C (165°F).
They hold up their shape and color beautifully for years. Excellent value for the money!

 

[good-shepherd]

Are we talking about the ribbed tank top shirts?

Yeah. I guess they're ribbed.

Anyway, something is seriously wrong with the cotton quality or processing when a garment shrinks a full size after a couple of washings.

 

[dermacie]

My mother was just saying the same thing about towels. Most of which were gifts purchased in 1965 for my parents wedding. They lasted many for nearly 25 plus years. They were better made.

When it comes to underwear I think Jockey are the best.

 

[yogitunes]

WHAT?.....no pictures!.....how can you have a thread of underwear without pics?

 

[gyrafoam]

I use hot water for almost everything. All white things get a generous dose of Regular Clorox LCB.
I expect the elastic to wear out eventually and tend to replace undergarments with regularity. I always try to find the Calvin Klein brand at the discount stores and have used that brand for years. All cotton and all white boxers, T's and wife-beaters all last very well.

I typically use a 10 minute wash and add the bleach towards the last 4 min. Or so.
I like to use my 63 Frigidaire or my 62 Norge as they are very thorough Rinsers.