bleaching clothes / sheets

skim

I wouldn't bleach them because if you haven't got anything to neutralise the bleach then it'll still keep working after you've rinse it off.
It's important that you keep the pH above 9 if bleaching cotton otherwise Hydrocloric acid is released & this rots the cotton.
It's important to neutralise with something like sodium metabisulphite.

Much better to use Sodium dithionite (also known as sodium hydrosulphite) which I think you can get from a chemist. Makes a very good white if you boil it.

patchwork_cat

Even ACE bleach Skim? How could the bleach still work if you have rinsed it off? Admittedly bleach is hard to rinse off, but if you didn't make a particularly strong solution I can't see it being a problem. It is 20+ years since I did my Chemistry A level, but would have thought that you are going far too indepth for normal household laundry. I do regularly use a dilute solution of bleach on whites. A link here for the OP http://www.tipking.co.uk/tip/4409.html

r.mac_2

if you are going to have a go can you try a test patch or an old one? I bleached white undearwear once and it all turned a nasty yellow colour!

purpleivy

Bleach can make cottons go yellow! I used ariel with prewash with vanish powder the other day, 60 degree wash. I had to get my sunglasses before I could look at ds's rugby shorts!

sarah_elton

I have white cotton pillow cases and sheets that have gone a bit off-white over time from use. I use bio washing liquid for whites but it doesn't get them properly clean and white again.

Can bleach be added to a load of washing to whiten it up again? Is it safe (skin irritation wise) and if so, how do you do it (in the drawer?)?

Gingernutmeg

I wouldn't add ordinary bleach to a wash just because I've heard it's not good for washing machines, in that it can rot the rubber seals. Whenever I've needed to bleach anything I've used the Ecover oxygen bleach stuff, it's little granules that you add to the drawer. It seems to work fairly well.

Valli

Try a handful of washing soda...

ZCC72

Or Borax! Not sure on the environmentally friendliness of it*, but my sheets are whiter than white white white!!!

*scuttles off to find out*......

ETA: It's sold on Environmentally friendly cleaning product websites, so I guess it's ok - well, better than some others anyway!

greenbee

How much borax do you use, and do you adjust the washing powder quantities?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

i get old white cotton sheets and pillow cases in work, which have storage brown stains/ marks etc. an antique dealer buys them off me and bleaches and starches them, and folds them all pretty with ribbon etc and then sells them on...

I want to try this myself, but the olny place i put bleach ( once in a blue moon) is down the toilet:rotfl:

now i know in years ago bleach was the thing for everything......

so i was wondering what and how would i use it for the sheets...

also the only starch i have seen is the spray one, which i dont thiink would be any good for bedding....so there any other way i could buy starch and use it...


would really appreciate any help and advice on this...:beer: