A new thing that I’ve started incorporating into my laundry routine is laundry stripping. Basically, it is a deep clean of laundry that pulls out dirt, grime and detergent that a normal wash doesn’t.
I’ve stripped linens, towels, school uniform khaki pants, and whites. Noticing the best results from towels and linens. My towels were fluffier and they smelled great! When stripping, you will want to strip like-colors with like-colors. I’d start off with the category that needs it the most.
To laundry strip: it’s best to block off half a day at home in order to stir it hourly. I have definitely ran errands and continued on with my stripping. But it’s easy to forget. So, I suggest being at home for the time.
Next, fill a bathtub half-full of hot water. Add in 1/4 cup borax, 1/4 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup your normal powdered laundry detergent and stir with a wooden spoon. I use Molly’s Sud’s Original detergent. It’s an “A” on EWG, meaning it has low hazard. I keep a wooden spoon just for laundry and use this for my stripping.
Then I just toss in what I’m stripping that day. All white towels, or colored sheets, or all whites. When choosing laundry, be sure the items are clean. I stir everything up. Then I set the timer for an hour and do a good stir each hour, for four hours.
At the end of the four hours, I drain the tub. Usually I do another small task while it drains. Then and come back when the water is gone to wring out the laundry by hand. I use a medium plastic bucket to move my wet, heavy laundry to the washing machine. Next, I run the machine on a normal setting with an additional rinse cycle. No additional detergent needed at this time.
I dry as normal and enjoy the deeply cleaned laundry!
I’m planning on hitting each category of laundry (whites, towels, khaki’s, linens) 1-2 times a year. I’m very curious how my towels will hold up with adding this next level wash!
Directions:
- Fill a bathtub half way with hot water
- Add 1/4 cup borax, 1/4 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup your normal powdered laundry detergent
- Stir well
- Add like-colored laundry to strip
- Stir the laundry every hour for four hours
- Drain and put laundry in the washing machine
- Run a normal wash with an extra rinse cycle and dry as usual
There you have it! Laundry stripping. I hope that you all can incorporate this deep cleaning into your laundry routine.
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