Laundry Stripping…Does it REALLY Work?



Okay, we’ve all seen the laundry stripping trend everywhere, and after seeing tons of videos of people pulling out their laundry …

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46 Comments
  1. Reply
    Pillar of salt Saltiness March 18, 2021 at 7:18 pm

    Think was cloth dye more than any5hing else. BTW new clothes aren’t necessarily clean, since the fabric has been stored and transported for fabrication….

  2. Just goes to show you that these new washers without the agitators are absolutely no good a waste of time and money

  3. Reply
    Cookie_1896 [KoSC] April 4, 2021 at 7:12 am

    You like cleaning for fun? Can you like, brainwash me? 😅

  4. This process is needed because the water saving feature of new machines doesn’t allow enough water to wash the clothes thoroughly.

  5. You know when I wash my clothes in sink I let soak one tile all night. My water look black. I did use clorox 2 with laundry soap.

  6. They did look brighter and cleaner.

  7. I'd be interested in comparison shots at the very least, the clothes before and after. Black can leak out as brown which is why I'd like comparison shots. I wonder if it was the ick or the dye of the shirts?

  8. Oh, so laundry stripping is basically just presoaking clothes before washing them?

    We don't use hot water, Ma just soaks clothese overnight in detergent, rinse them and then wash as normal.

  9. I tried it on my white towels, they didn't really brighten too much more, and unfortunately they were not softer either.
    Also, unless your clothes are primarily polyester, it is not necessary to ever use fabric softener. Fabric softener became popular when fabrics were blended with polyester and static cling became an issue. I haven't used softener in over 30 years.

  10. That my friend is what they call dye. Not dirt..

  11. So laundry stripping is basically stripping the color/dye off your clothes. I guess I'll give it a pass.

  12. 4:35 "…workout pants seem a bit more stretchy…". Besides leaching out the dye from dark clothing, (like many have commented), a long soak in hot water is also going to lessen any elastic properties your garments may have- like in waistbands, spandex, etc. Heat weakens elasticity. Same thing will happen to elastics if machine dried on high heat. That's why your workout pants "seem more stretchy"…because they are. Lol

  13. ….that's freaking the dye bleeding

  14. I did this and my jeans didn't produce dirt?????????

  15. Reply
    Shaham Ahmad Real Estate July 27, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    7

  16. You get the same outcome when you wash towels separate and with no fabric softener

  17. Using all those products is what is making your clothing bleed and the hot water. If it stinks that it was really dirty

  18. Wow that’s awesome

  19. Reply
    Amy Van Drunen Fitness September 4, 2021 at 11:11 am

    A friend of mine froze her workout clothes to remove odour causing bacteria, she said it worked amazing.

  20. That tub is gorgeous

  21. she's had way too much botox

  22. You’re just bleeding the dye! Notice how nobody does videos stripping red clothes. The water would be red.

  23. Okay, so I did some research on this.
    1. DO NOT STRIP WORKOUT GEAR! Or anything with spandex. The pH of the borax and washing soda break down spandex over time.
    2. Yes, a lot of the dark color is the dye leaking out, but some of it is dirt! Borax and washing soda break down wax buildup from fabric softener and beads and sometimes dirt can get stuck in that soft wax buildup when you wash your clothes over and over, hence why the water on her workout pants was brown and not the blue/black of dye
    3. Hot-hot water is not good for clothes, so it's definitely not recommended to do this often at all, except maybe on towels and linens. My partner has some shirts that I know for a fact have a ton of buildup on them because I can feel it, so I may try stripping those in warm- not hot- water and see how it goes.

    Overall this, like any "viral hack" is an old technique that is good for some things, bad for others, and should probably actually be done in moderation.

  24. Waste of time. Smh. You have to do the math. Where would all of that “dirt” have come from?? Hmmm

  25. Any substitute for borax? It’s banned in the EU as it’s known to cause infertility.

  26. Most of that is dye from the fabric due to the Borax and washing soda leeching out the clothing dye

  27. This is the method you use on new clothes to quickly strip out the dyes from jeans and dark clothes. It definitely wears out the fabric quicker so I usually just use dish soap

  28. Most of that dark dirty color is your black color bled. I never ever use hot water on my colored clothes as the dye would come off. That's crazy.

  29. Laundry stripping:
    1) Use cold water
    2) Do not use any detergents or laundry boosters
    3) Soak for 30 minutes (1 hour max)
    4) Rinse and dry

  30. I strip my laundry with castile soap. Works every time. The issue is using too much laundry detergent. It doesn't wash out properly and holds on to some of the grime. Less detergent and a bit of pine sol and your clothes will be clean, residue-free, and fluffy. If I ever need to strip, I put the clothes in the washer with liquid castile soap and let it sit for a while, then wash without added detergent.

  31. Remember the towels wont be in contact with your body for a few hours… So will seem less dirty.

  32. I did this back in the 90s and it’s like a household urban legend BS.if you’re using borax and you’re stripping your clothes or whatever you call it, you could use arm and Hammer baking soda liquid detergent and get the same result . Most of that dirt that’s in there is the dye from the clothes.

  33. Hello I’m 59 years old next July I don’t buy this BS so if you need to get a life

  34. I'm wondering if the towels proved that it was a dye issue or that bleach was a factor… Thoughts???

  35. When I get my new washing machine I’m going to be doing it that way because I’m disabled to it’s nothing for me to run my clothes through the beginning of the wash cycle then stop my machine and let my clothes soak; I’ve been doing this for years but I know I need to strip my laundry because it’s never been done and I have very hard water.

  36. Dye does not equal dirt

  37. Just dye coming out in the hot waster. Use a long wash cycle, warm or hot water and always use extra rinse same results

  38. Do that with lighter clothing, black is notorious for bleeding color

  39. It would really help to conduct this experiment solely with white laundry. That way, we’d eliminate the chance that any of the color in the water was from fabric pigments. Well used clothing has probably discharged as much pigment as it’s going to. Still, for the sake of science…

  40. I find that two rinses give a markedly fresher, softer results to my laundry. A single rinse after detergent and additives really only dilutes. Not kidding. I So envy your washer that it has an extra wheels on the setting. Not available on my laundromats machines.

  41. Good to use washing soda on polyester fabric and heavier fabric like towels… delicates, shirts regular baking soda work great

  42. I just machine wash with detergent & a dash of blue Dawn (removes body oil). Add a splash of white vinegar – about 1/4 cup – to the rinse as it is antibacterial & helps keep the machine clean.

  43. Laundry stripping can work, but only if you are doing laundry wrong in the first place. To do laundry correct you need to know a couple ideas.
    1. Do you have hard water? If you don't know find out. It matters. If you do and you have a whole house water softener, that functions correctly, and is big enough for your water usage. Good. You are covered for that issue.

    If you have hard water and you are not treating it, you need to add an additive like washing soda to your laundry routine. The amounts depend on the level of your hard water. Check with someone like a county extension office for your area.

    The other reasons stripping works is if you regularly use too much detergent and / or laundry softener like Downey. Generally speaking the amount listed as needed on laundry detergent bottles is wrong. They are telling you an amount that is too much. That way you buy more. If you take one item of clothing and stick it in a sink with hot water after you washed it, if the water is cloudy, you are using too much detergent and /or liquid softener. Same if you get the same result after drying with dryer sheets.

    1. Test doing laundry with less detergent/softener.
    2. Use white vinegar as a rinse agent.

    Fabric softeners soften by coating the surface of a fabric with chemical compounds that are electrically charged, causing threads to "stand up" from the surface and thereby imparting a softer and fluffier texture.

    I used to have really hard water. I used to have a whole house water softener. Now its just a little bit, so I just add about 1/4 cup of washing soda. Some recommend anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 cup of washing soda.

    Plain white distilled vinegar with 5% acidity is a natural fabric softener. The acid helps remove detergent and soil that is left clinging to fabric fibers, which is what allows clothes and linens to come out feeling soft and clean.

  44. i have clothes rom 49 yrs ago still looking new cuz i never use soap on fabrics including the carpet & upholstery, i bypass the soaking overnight, also ammonia does more to clean whites than bleach but add baking soda w the ammonia..half cup amonia to 4tablespoons of soda does nicely. for a large load.

  45. fyi..tennis balls or an old clean gym shoe softens things nicely.

  46. Reply
    Random Acts of Video April 26, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    I guess that's one way to get the dye out of your fabrics.

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