Getting poly cotton scool polo shirts white

Penny_Farthing_2

Loocyloo I will try that overnight Saturday night. What's the betting that'll be the first frost free night for weeks!!
Will let you know whether it works.

dawnybabes

Yes it works even in winter, works on food stains too ! IN winter sometimes it takes a couple of days. My HV suggested it - I also thought she was joking :-)

Twig

Haven't tried this but an old lady in our village once told me that the best way to get stuff white again is to leave it to dry in moon light - apparently better than sun light???

Twig

apples1

The vanish powder for whites - in white cylinder shaped tub does make things white. it uses optical brighteners to do so though. if you don't mind clothes covered in chemicals this would work

I would refuse to send my child in poly cotton, writing a letter to explain it iritates skin and she needs to therefore wear natural fibres.

skylight

Its the sunlight that "bleaches" the whites.

And I refuse to buy my kids the logo'd polos too. At £5.99 per logoed polo or £2 for a pack of 2 at Asda, its a no-brainer.

larmy16

I don't know if this is of help to anyone, but I was once complaining about socks not staying white. The person I was complaining too happened to be a research scientist who works on ta da - washing powders! (Among other things)

Anyways, she told me that it was a good idea to wash any new white items prior to wear as the biological powder then created a barrier to any stains.

It would be interesting for any of you who have to use white polo shirts and socks to try out this theory. My ds has long since left school.

Penny_Farthing_2

I was thinking that if frost gets things white then maybe putting stuff in the freezer would do the job! Then I told myself to get a grip!

lazy_daisy

Thanks everyone for these ideas, I am having the same problem with DD's white polo shirts. I bought some Vanish stuff in a pink tub and that worked quite well but it has run out now and I'm too tight to buy some more.
I will try the 'frosting' technique tonight and see what happens.
Thanks all xx

minimoneyme

If none of those ideas work, (but there was certainly enough frost around last night! -10 here) then buy the cheepo shirts from asda/tesco/wherever, cut out the logo from an old shirt, and stitch on to the new shirt. Can be repeated whenever the shirts get too grotty/small. Our school sells off old lost property at the end of the year, which could be another source for old logos.

debtfreein4years

minimoneyme thats what my mum used to do with our school sweatshirts so that we could always have a nice new one. does help if you are handy with a needle and thread though.