So I finally purchased some Oxyclean because you all are always suggesting it.
For my business I wear white cotton shirts/blouses. But because it is soo hot down here, I cannot wear the shirts more than once.I sweat in them and they look messy. In the cooler months I can wear them a few times no problem.
There are also times, when I get splattered by food. BBQ, Hot sauce, fresh fruit. Those stains can be a real problem, even with the shout wipes or those Tide sticks. Today it was Black beans and Queso!
So my question is, do you all start off with HOT water while soaking, or will room temperature work?
Any hints about stubburn areas, like the neck area? Any other washing secrets I need to know about? Is it safe enough for under garments?
Thanks Ladies
Wow, it worked great! I actually think the shirts are whiter than when I first purchased them!
I soaked the shirts in the recommended amount in a bucket of cold water, ended up adding a white bra also. The soaking was for about 16 hours because I was just so busy. The water in the bucket was gray!
I washed all of it in cold water and I always hang these shirts to dry,
I know it is the dryer that wears out clothing the most.
I feel like I have saved myself a lot of money, because I will not have to purchase new blouses!
FYI, I only purchase the blouses if they are 100% cotton. I am so warm nature, I die in synthetic fabrics!
I am amazed. I printed out all of your suggestions so I can refer to them. Thank you very much!
Hot water will set a lot of stains, so you probably should use warm. I would think Oxyclean would be enough, but on a white shirt, if you don't want to bleach the whole shirt, for tougher stains I mix 1/2 bleach with 1/2 water and dip a Q-tip in and rub it on the spot until the stain is gone. Then wash.
My son, when he was working at one restaurant, (he is a cook/chef) told me that the workers there said to use Zote soap. It is a pink bar soap, and it is a true soap, not a detergent.
I think he would dampen the clothes and rub the zote on the stain. It seemed to work well for grease stains.
It was in the laundry area, in a white wrapper, with pink lettering.
(Apparently all the Zote is the same, whether it is pink or blue. )
http://www.zote.com.mx/english/about.htm
We used the Zote on a white chef's jacket, on a black grease stain, and it got it out nicely.
make sure there is never any actual food residue when you put it in the washer. the shout wipes and tide sticks are not as good imo as the sprays. spray shout and scratch the stain with your fingernail.
for oxyclean I don't know if I would use it every time. why not start off by using spray shout, then adding the oxyclean in the washer. dilute it in hot water before adding it as a mixed liquid. try washing clothes in cold water as hot water sets in a stain making it impossible to ever come out.
heres the trick, organic stains like foods (nothing like inks or dyes) usually will come out after you wash if you leave them out in the sun for a few hours to dry. the sun can bleach out things like tomatoe and carrot stains.
I use a bar of Zote on my daughter's whites. I take it and rub it on the shirt like you would wash your hands with a bar of soap. Once it is all lathered up, I SCRUB. I squeeze the excess water and grime out of them and then start a rinse and squeeze process until all the brown water goes away.
Then I throw it in the wash with a mix of Borax and Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. The clothes are white every time! Sometimes I skip the washing machine if it is one pair of socks she will need the next day.
The process stinks, but her clothes are white.
I never use hot water. My husband wears a lot of white t-shirts at home and gets soup that is made with dried peppers on his shirts. And my son is horrible with his white socks. When I have stubborn stains, I wash first to see how bad it is, then I will either soak the clothes in the washer if I have a lot or soak in a dish washing tub with a scoop of Oxy. When it is really bad, I actually put a little Oxy right on the stain--have done this with some of my 2 yr olds clothes and others--, wet it and leave it for a day or so. The only thing I have had a problem with is stain from paint.
One of my girls is a runner and using it this way has gotten put stains out.
I use hot water and bleach. But that only works on cotton or perma press stuff.
If your shirts are those modern styles with Lycra and Spandex woven into them then your Oxiclean might do well on them.
When I use a laundry additive for stains I make up a large plastic mixing bowl with warm water and additive. Then I put the garment in and get it soaking wet.
I let it sit for a few hours and when every I walk by I grab the garment and rub the stain a bit. When it looks clean I take the whole mess and dump it into the washer with other whites/lights and wash like normal only adding detergent and fabric softener.
I never wash in hot water. Cold wash, cold rinse.
And hot water will actually set many food stains.
For any organic material stain (food, bodily fluids, grass), I keep a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the laundry room. (Make sure it's opaque - H2O2 is light-sensitive - that's why it comes in a brown bottle). I spray it directly on the stain, saturating it, let it bubble, then wash in cold water.
For collars, I scrub with dishwashing liquid. That works well on oil.
I wouldn't wash the shirts I wear for work with all the other whites, like linens. That's too rough. I would wash them in room temperature water with a pre-soak and a little bleach. (I rarely use HOT water in my laundry.) If I had to wash them all the time like you do, I would use a gentle setting.
I keep hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle (for scrapes on the go), and I sometimes use it for pre-treating stains.
Great suggestions below. Just an additional idea. Consider washing the shirts or washing out the stains each night. Even soaking in a basin overnight is better than nothing. I often just run water slowly through stain spot. The action of the water removes so many stains. And try to air dry. The heat of dryers set in any remaining (though almost invisible) stains.
