It’s no mystery that we wash our clothes to remove dirt and grime. But did you know that over time your clothes and linen buildup with minerals and oils? Things your normal wash just aren’t getting out. I am talking the dirty body oils and sweat and yucky bacteria. And when you have kiddos dragging blankets around who know what’s in them.
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I wanna introduce you to the magical world of deep cleaning your laundry and linens. It is as known as the laundry stripping recipe. It’s made up of one part borax, one part washing soda, and one part your favorite laundry detergent. With the help of some hot water, you will remove tons of nasty stuff.
The shocking results are enough to make you wanna grab everything you can and start to strip all your clothes. But be mindful not everything can be laundry stripped. Keep reading to understand more.
The first time you see the dark black water, it will convince and make you pause. What is also really cool is that if you have some of those deep stains, you can’t seem to get out of your kid’s clothes. This can be another great way to tackle them.
How do you deep clean your laundry?
Laundry stripping is very simple to do. The hardest part is the time it takes. But it is so worth it in the end.
In this post, I have included a video that shows me laundry stripping my husband’s office work shirts. Check it out to get a good view of the murky water left behind. It’s proof that deep cleaning your laundry is something you should consider.
STEP 1 – Clean out your bathtub
Clean out your bathtub to make sure there is no leftover residue from your showering or body products.
STEP 2 – Fill your bathtub with hot water
Once clean fill your bathtub with hot water about halfway full. You may need to adjust the water as you go. You want to be sure to have enough water to completely submerge all the clothes or linens.
STEP 3 – Create your laundry stripping recipe
The laundry stripping recipe is 1/4 cup of Borax, 1/4 cup of Laundry Booster, and 1/4 liquid or 1/2 cup powder of your laundry detergent. Mix this water well to dissolve all the powders and detergent. Be sure to use something to mix the water. The water is super hot and you don’t wanna touch it. After the mixture has fully dissolved. You will next add your clothes.
STEP 4 – Add your clothes and mix
It’s best to add previously washed clothes that are clean and dry. The same goes for towels and other items you may want to laundry strip. You are going to want to submerge all the clothes and then stir them around to be sure they get mixed. Usually within the first few minutes you can start to see the magic happening. The clear indicator is the water starting to change colors.
STEP 5 – Set a timer for 2 hours
Now that your clothes are fully submerged underwater. You will want to set a timer for two hours. Once the two hours are up, you are going to stir and mix up the clothes and linens. Be sure to move every piece and stir it well, You want the water to flow through each garment or linen. Then set another timer for two more hours. At this point the color of the water should definetly be dark or murky color. This is normal don’t worry about it as this is the stripping process.
STEP 6 – Final two hours
At about the 4 hour mark you should return to really dark yucky water. This is the final stage and now your clothes are ready to be removed. I like to give them one last stir. Then take each garment out one by one. I use a plastic laundry basket since everything will be wet. You will also need to take into consideration that the weight of the clothes will be heavy. So if your laundry room is located on another level or far. You may want to take small loads until everything is done.
Wring out each piece of clothing. Be mindful of the type of articles so you don’t damage buttons, zippers etc.
STEP 7 – Rinse & Dry
Now that everything has been rung out you will want to place everything in the washing machine. You are then going to set your washer to a rinse only setting. If you aren’t sure how to do this Google your machine to find information on how to do this.
The final step is to dry your clothes as you normally would according to their care instructions.
What items should not be laundry stripped
Not all garments can be laundry stripped especially delicate items. Laundry stripping can be harsh on certain items and most clothing that requires a cold wash really shouldn’t go into the strip process.
When in doubt read the tags and care instructions for your items. You don’t want the harshness of stripping to cause damage. You also should not laundry strip more than every two months. Doing the stripping will cause your clothes to age.
Laundry stripping pillows
One of the most overlooked items that people forget to wash or clean is their pillows. With pillows trapping in sweat and let’s be honest maybe a little drool. They are the perfect candidate for getting a deep clean.
You can do this in the tub as well. But I will have to note a soaking pillow is super heavy.
Warning though washing your pillows inside your washing machine can be a rough wash so be sure your machine can handle the load. Because when pillows are soaking wet they can be very heavy and you don’t want this to damage your machine’s agitator.
If this is not an option take your pillows to a local laundry mat made to handle large loads.
How to laundry strip inside your washing machine
If the thought of filling your bathtub grosses you out. There is a simple way to laundry strip inside your laundry machine
Using the soak option button or stopping the machine during the wash and letting it sit and then turn it on again. The best part of using the machine is that it will agitate the clothes for you. Plus you don’t have to clean the bath tub out when you are done.
This leads me to something though that I noticed when using my energy-efficient machine. These machines a meant to save water. So if you are wondering how to fix this keep reading below. I discovered a trick after buying my Ecoegg.
How to improve your clothes washing in your energy-efficient washing machine
Sometimes the laundry residue build-up can be an aftereffect of your washing machine and not sufficiently getting out dirt regularly. A few years ago my energy-efficient machine broke down. I called a repairman to fix it. And I asked him a few questions.
One of the questions was that I noticed my clothes sometimes didn’t come out washed. Like there wasn’t enough water. He explained how the washer settings were meant to save water and with less water, the clothes were lacking the proper agitation.
He recommended a different washer if I was looking for a different machine. So I did some research and started researching water levels. The washer the repairman recommended was the Queen machine. The video below was something that I found during my research and explained why he said this to me.
If you find that your clothes are coming out tangled together and find parts that are dry. You may want to use this trick I use for my energy-efficient washer. It has made a difference in my clothes.
I adjust the loads washing power by increasing the water levels. How I do this is using the heavy load, bulky bedding, towels, and sheets settings. These settings allowed the machine to dump more water into it.
Manipulating the levels was the trick. In addition for less soiled clothes, I will run them on the machine’s normal settings and have found success in using the energy-efficient option by ensuring I put less clothing in.
As you can see deep cleaning your laundry and linens is simple. It’s easy to add this to your spring cleaning checklist. Especially when you have kids running around. I hope you found these tips helpful especially how to fix the less water in your machine.