OS way to brighter whites?

System

You can buy it at Asda and Tesco and it costs £1.69 a box (approx). Brings my whites up a treat and with repeated use in the whites wash, it keeps things white.

SaverSarah_2

Fab, thanks Judi. Just phoned OH to ask him to pick up a box in his lunch hour!

mamaoba

OK here's what you can do in descending order of fabric delicacy.

Sunlight!

Leaving whites out on the line for a few days (esp when it's been raining on and off like it has) brightens them no end even in winter - catch the frost . It also fades out stains. I do this occasionally on DS's nappies as I'm too tight to buy bleach very often. It gets rid of the worst stains. I also do it with sheets when I'm bringing the cotton ones out of storage (in winter i like good ol' flannelette) They go from grey to white in a couple of days. I also do it with last summers T-shirts every year. I have no idea why things go seem to go grey in storage but they do.

For delicate stuff (anything containing lycra or elastic) ecover bleach is lovely. I soak stuff in it when i'm feeling flush for a day or 2 (laziness makes it this long!). Did that with a couple of old tops recently. Nappies & garments with elastic should be soaked in this NOT napisan.

napisan is fantastic stuff. It gets a lot of criticism cos it's not eco-friendly but I swear by it for bedding etc if my bubs is ill as it's germicidal (I use terry squares if it looks like he might have a tummy bug - only 1 layer of cloth means they are more likely to get cleaned through properly and having no elastic I can use napisan on em.). My parents used to saok all our nappies in it and use it for soaking our bedding if we were sick. No nappies got boiled in our house lol! I still remember my little sisters sparkling terries on the line. My Mums sheets are always pristine white too as she soaks them once a year as a rountine. A little also goes a long way. You can either soak stuff using it or add it to the washing machine but you get better results if you soak. Don't use on anything with elastic or lycra as it eats it. 4 hours makes a massive difference.

last but not least you may want to soak your stuff in value thin bleach and water to bleach anything white again. Only do this on "tough ol' fabrics", and don't do it too often as it's really bad for the life of the fabric. 12- 24 hours is reasonable.

Sorry for all the references to nappies, but t-shirts, nappies and sheets are the only white items in our hose nowadays (mucky toddler syndrome lol!)

SaverSarah_2

That's so helpful, thanks! I'm a huge ecover fan, plus all my vest tops have lycra in, so I've phoned OH to change my order!! I'll also try hanging things on the line.

Brilliant!

Rachie_B

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=661645#post661645

judekazama

hello everyone

any idea how to get whites really white...i tried bleach but didn't seem to work...not sure if i was doing it right tho...any ideas please:j

Nile

Hello judekazama

I keep my whites white by washing them in Persil automatic powder and no fabric softener.

There may be less expensive options that the 'Old Style' experts will suggest..........so I'll move your thread over.;)

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

judekazama

hello thank you for your help maybe that's were i'm going wrong...i'm using fabric conditioner

does anybody know how to get previously white things white again

swampytiggaa

i get my babies nappies sparkly white by sticking them in some sunshine [when we get any :rotfl:] I use one tablet of washing powder - no fabric conditioner and stick em on the line [i only wash at 40 too]

if it works on yellow poo stains it should work on anything :rotfl:

Sarahsaver

OH swears by this method for his nightmare cricket whites.
Soak in a solution of detergent for a WEEK (yep)
Hot wash.
Hey presto! Clean;)