ninja dog

My whites and light colored laundry often yellow for some reason. I have a front-loading washer, so can't add bluing, and I'm wary of bleach. Any suggestions?

TIA

Spider

Yellowing usually happens from too much bleaching or rust in the water. I was going to suggest bluing, you can't add it through the bleach attachment or with the detergent? What about with a downey ball or directly in the fabric softener holder

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ninja dog

Maybe I can try it that way. I'm nervous about using any liquids because my washer has a million warnings about only adding liquids in tiny amounts, due to the strong sudsing action it provides.

Would it need to go in at a certain stage of washing? You mentioned adding it with the detergent.....

Thanks!

mrspoppers

My washer doesn't have a bleach dispenser either. I'm really not sold on this whole front-loading business, and it's been 2 1/2 years.

Have you tried Oxyclean? You can pour it directly on clothes, so it should be safe if you throw it in the washer. Use extra--I remember needing something like 12 scoops for soaking. Since you can't really soak in a front loader, maybe put it on an extra long agitation cycle or run the pre-wash function.

Another option might be soaking them with bleach and oxyclean in the bathtub or utility sink.

ninja dog

I've got a load in with bluing added now; next up: Oxyclean!

Thanks!

mrspoppers

If your clothes are yellowish and you add blueing, won't your clothes turn green?

* Willow *

Ummm....... what's blueing?

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ninja dog

Well, green is my favorite color........

Willow, bluing is a laundry additive that supposedly brightens whites. It usually comes in a blue plastic bottle, with a picture of a mean old lady on the front label. (Like a fat-style Miss Grundy from the Archies.) Somehow, if there's a blue tinge to whites, they seem less dingy, but too much blue, and.....well, they look blue instead of white!

RedCatWaves

Sounds like the OP has a water problem...too much iron in the water means rust, which yellows white clothing. OR, if you've overused bleach, it will start to turn whites yellow.

I have a high iron content in my water, even with using an iron-removing salt in my water treatment system. It turns my bathtubs and toilets orange-y. But my white laundry seems to stay white. I use hot water for washing whites, and use a hot-soak cycle every few washings. I don't use bleach...at all...ever. I have a front-loader washing machine, and I use bluing occasionally. It has little cups that automatically dispense. I put the bluing in the softener dispenser, so it gets released in the rinse cycle.

I can soak with my front loader...it has several different soak settings, from 30 minutes, to a 4 hour super hot soak/wash cycle.

RedCatWaves

There are shampoos for gray hair that have that same bluing ingredient. They do make gray hair look nice, more silvery than gray...but if you use too much, you get blue hair. That's how the little-old-lady set got the name "blue hair".

KorynCC

try iron out rust and stain remover. says on the bottle how much to mix with a load of laundry. i believe it is 1/2 a cup. works for me

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ninja dog

Great advice, KorynCC. Is this a hardware store item or a laundry item?

Nutkin

Ditto on the Iron Out. Works great. In Canada I've only seen it at Sobeys which is a grocery store.

Speckla

Iron Out works great but you have to be careful not too use too much because it'll weaken or even eat fabrics. They sell it at hardware stores, walmart, and groceries stores.

ninja dog

It's on my shopping list.

Thank you!