I am used to clothes coming back from the laundry room as good as new back at home. I can live with the dingy look the dryer gives until we have our own place/machine, but the stains and the grayish shade of our whites are driving me insane. Until I moved here I was used to my mother's stark clean laundry and she'd have a heart attack if she sees some of the things I've folded and put to use.
The main issue is that we have coin-op shared machines, including a dryer, and no way to line dry, and clothes just come back less than clean. My husbands' white undershirts and towels are my biggest concern. Last week I decided to soak them in half water half vinegar for several hours, and it did absolutely nothing. I put them in the laundry anyway after that and they came back as dirty as usual. This week I soaked them in a bucket with water and bleach for a couple hours and they still look terrible. Right now I put them back to soak, this time in water and detergent, because they're just so dirty, planning to hand wash them and put them back with water and bleach, and repeat the whole process if it's not enough, before putting them through the normal washing cycle in the machine. I imagine that sooner or later this process will get me clean shirts.
However, I don't feel too thrilled about handwashing every week, so is there anything else I can try as a soak before washing them in the usual machine?, maybe I should soak overnight? I usually worry that the clothes will get rotten (my mother never let me soak overnight) I usually have lots of faith in chlorine bleach, so I feel quite disappointed right now.
The main issue is that we have coin-op shared machines, including a dryer, and no way to line dry, and clothes just come back less than clean. My husbands' white undershirts and towels are my biggest concern. Last week I decided to soak them in half water half vinegar for several hours, and it did absolutely nothing. I put them in the laundry anyway after that and they came back as dirty as usual. This week I soaked them in a bucket with water and bleach for a couple hours and they still look terrible. Right now I put them back to soak, this time in water and detergent, because they're just so dirty, planning to hand wash them and put them back with water and bleach, and repeat the whole process if it's not enough, before putting them through the normal washing cycle in the machine. I imagine that sooner or later this process will get me clean shirts.
However, I don't feel too thrilled about handwashing every week, so is there anything else I can try as a soak before washing them in the usual machine?, maybe I should soak overnight? I usually worry that the clothes will get rotten (my mother never let me soak overnight) I usually have lots of faith in chlorine bleach, so I feel quite disappointed right now.
