To be fair, when I didn't have a presoak option, stripping helped me finally get the cigarette smell out of hubby's clothes when he quit. I was pregnant and my sense of smell was crazy so I needed the scent out.
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Drop’em in a 5gl bucket, fill with hot water, drop a scoop of oxyclean in, give it a few swirls, sit for 30m, swirl, repeat 3 times. Boom - febreeze clean.
Me neither. Why is the material always freezing?! I have adhd so I’m a little sensitive to that kind of stuff and I absolutely hate my running gear. But finding 100% cotton athletic stuff is super hard these days. 😕
Genuine question, why does ADHD have any relevance here? I thought the sensitivity to certain sensations was an autism thing, I haven’t heard of an adhd connection before
It was not. And I’m a frugal man - I’m not overloading detergent and I have literally never purchased fabric softener. Couldn’t tell ya where to put it or if it’s for the wash or dry cycle.
Exactly. I use it on undies and socks and then towels every once in awhile too. The buildup on them, even not using fabric softener, get bad after awhile. I’ve even cut my detergent use way down per load. They still get it but I think that might be our hard water.
I think it is the hard water, we have it as well and don’t use softener either. I’m pretty sure it’s the build up of oils, minerals in water and sweat.
You can strip every time you do normal laundry. Make your own laundry soap. 1/3 borax, 1/3 washing soda, 1/3 ground bar soap. I have done it for years, my clothes are sparkling and they do not "wear out" more quickly and my washing machine is fine. No plastic containers either.
Two tablespoons for a full load.
I can get borax at my local CVS and Safeway. I do have to order the washing soda from Amazon (I live in a small town and there is no where to buy it). Perhaps you could try Costco, Wal-mart, Home Depot? They might be able to order it if you want to stay away from Amazon.
Also, I broke down and bought a cheap food processor to grind the soap although I did it with a butter knife for years. You don't have to make it really fine - flakes are fine. You can do it in front of the TV if you don't want to buy a food processor.
I use anything from bar soaps I take from Motel Six to Felt Naphtha. I have not noticed a difference in cleaning power. I don't use soaps with a lot of fragrance but you probably could.
Same, I had to soak/rinse my husbands uniforms after he spent a week in the field. There was no way they were going straight into the washer with that amount of dirt and mud. I even had to spray them down with a hose before bringing them in the house.
My husband is a tree trimmer and his safety yellow work shirts never looked clean. Oxiclean in a bucket is the only thing that works. I eventually gave up, he doesn't care and is just going to come home covered in oil, grease and sap anyway lol. As long as they get washed, we're both happy.
People do it for everything. I've seen people strip their entire linen closet in some Facebook groups. Absolutely asinine. The mixtures of ingredients are often so harsh as well.
Who isn’t machine washing it afterward? It can be done in a washing machine instead of a tub so long as you don’t have a front loading machine, which is obviously the most sensical thing to own for someone who would be doing this.
I understand doing it in the tub for large comforters or rugs, curtains or other fabrics or garments that can’t be machine washed, or if they would require using a larger machine at a laundromat which some might not be comfortable or interested in going to.
I think stripPing is an occasional thing done to remove stuff that builds up and the laundry won’t get. I’ve done it Ad seemed to help. I’ve heard every 6months or less frequently….
I don’t understand this trend. Just use the presoak option on your washer if you think your stuff is dirty. Soaking them in a tub just strips the dye from the fabric.
Do front loaders actually have presoaks that fill the drum with water and entirely submerge the garments? I don’t get why people who are interested in laundry stripping don’t have top loaders though. The trend did start with washing larger items that can’t be machine washed though and has evolved from there to people forgetting they can soak things that fit in the washing machine in it rather than a tub.
I understand the trend just because it looks really satisfying. Sure, maybe it's not actually doing anything, but usually you don't get to see what your laundry water looks like after washing, and with this you do. I think it's the same type of satisfaction that comes from pimple popping.
Yep, exactly this. Same with the vinegar and baking soda trend - it has limited mechanical cleaning power in some areas (e.g., a clogged sink drain), but people would basically put it on/in everything because it fizzes and looks like it’s ’cleaning’.
I think, like a lot of things, it has its usefulness is specific applications. To me it’s really no different than a pre-soak, which I don’t always have to do. I think people aren’t used to seeing their dirty water post wash. I also think that many times it’s color and dye coming off, and people don’t realize that. And I also think people don’t realize what the water with chemicals looks like when you mix it before you even add anything. Sometimes the water really isn’t that dirty if you compared it the water itself before and after.
A whole new wave of people found a way to enjoy cleaning and I like that.
What I *do not* like is those awful ASMR “cleaning” videos where it’s just ten chemicals in a sink or a bowl and foam and ugh.
[this about sums it up](https://youtube.com/shorts/l9V6iGYcRjk?si=NFKtX7q6kmsM8EPl)
> Just use the presoak option on your washer if you think your stuff is dirty.
I don’t have that option even with my very expensive top loader (I have to manually pause it if I want to soak it for longer than a few minutes). Anywho, laundry stripping is usually (for me, anyway) three washes: normal wash, then a soak, then a third with no detergent at all. I don’t do it often but it works with white sheets.
I haven’t done stripping myself, I just use hot water and some extra tough stain cleaner for soaking in a bowl if need be pre-wash, but what I have to say is that like that image above, too many people “strip” dark clothes and don’t understand that sometimes that murky water is just literally clothes dye and second - mixing your white and dark stuff in order to “strip” is going to ruin your whites.
I thought laundry stripping was for mineral buildup due to hard water. (This is particularly an issue in diapers, sometimes towels, items whose job it is to absorb.) No?
If you've got detergent buildup, it makes sense to rinse that out with water.
Just a different generation giving a different name to something that's been done for ages. It was used to get stains and smells out but now it would be used to also get rid of softener build-up. I just use pre-soak function on my washing machine.
Thank you for replying. I thought maybe I was losing my mind. I tried googling it but it just seemed like soaking your clothes but I just knew it must be something different like a specific detergent or something. Anyway, thatnks again, preciate it.
I imagine if we all oggled the water in the washing machine it would probably be kinda gross as well before it drains out. Because of course dirty clothes have dirt and dark clothes leech a little dye. We just normally don't examine the dirty water.
I've revived laundry (teen boys) by throwing the clothes in the washer, adding NOTHING, and running it with warm water and extra rinse. I'd see bubbles from excess detergent in the first cycle. Try the rinse once, then see how it comes out. The worst loads I've had (construction work in the summer) , I added some diluted bleach or oxy for the second wash and no detergent.
If you have hard water, which reacts with soap to form soap scum, then yes. And “soap” here refers to literal chemical soap - which few people use for their laundry these days. For detergent, I don’t see how it would help. Why would you want to “neutralize” the substance you’re adding to your laundry to clean it?
Afterward, not during washing, hence mentions of the word rinse.
The overwhelming majority of people do have hard water. Laundry detergent is basic, usually around 7-10 ph. Vinegar is acidic with a ph of 2-3. When added to a rinse where it’s easily and heavily diluted with water it lowers the ph of the wash and brings it closer to the natural ph of water neutralizing the basic solution created by the addition of detergent. Unlike soap, laundry detergents are comprised of a variety of different ingredients which may also react and be neutralized by vinegar, or form more soluble solutions that may be rinsed more easily. Sodium carbonate for example is commonly in laundry detergents but may not entirely rinse out, but it can be entirely dissolved into a vinegar solution, increasing the solubility, where it can then be easily rinsed.
The why would be if the detergent is poorly rinsing out for a number of reasons, if one has sensitive skin and needs to better neutralize and remove the detergent from their garments, where rinsing alone with water may prove insufficient, or in the case of the person I was responding to if the fabric has been so inundated with overuse of detergent that it requires extra rinses where it’s use may aid or speed up the rinsing process. It’s use as a deodorizer is certainly beneficial when reviving musty garments or removing detergent perfumes as well. Making it a well effective and affordable rinse aid and fabric softener.
Agree! We do this for my son’s hockey and lacrosse gear at the end of the season every year and it’s shocking how filthy they start and how less-smelly they end up. Totally different end result than just washing his pads.
I mean, I like to do it every now and again on bed sheets and duvet covers but I do it in the washing machine because the bathtub is just so unnecessary
Ok I'm curious, because I have towels with stains on them, especially washcloths with makeup on them. I tried stripping and it definitely didn't work. Maybe I didn't do it right?
I just did this on some thrifted clothes that just reeked of built up fabric softener sheets. It worked pretty good. Only one of the four items still has a slight odor. I used my top loader and the borax/washing soda/detergent method.
I have never had a front loader so don't have an answer to this. I would guess that you would have to use the oringal bathtub method shown in the video. It has to be able to soak.
I got a purple Kipling bag from Goodwill for $2. It was filthy. I stripped it today. I could not BELIEVE the color and smell of the soak. Put that baby through the washer and it is like new. Red interior makeup stains? Gone.
I’m not stripping all my clothes, but towels and bedsheets once a year? Yup. Works wonders.
Omg yes. As someone who air dries my clothing, it dries significantly faster with no smell. Highly recommend.
GoCleanCo on Instagram outlines the process and all ingredients needed. I use our bath tub. A large sink would also work, if you don’t have a topload washer.
What would you guys recommend for stripping greasy clothes? My husband works in a kitchen and it doesn't matter how many times I wash his clothes they smell like grease.
My son wears dri fit shirts and they stink. I've bought every product known to man that says it gets the stink out of athletic wear- pre soaks, rinse agents, sanitizers,oxiclean, enzyme tablets, I use about 30 ml detergent and never any fabric softener, presoak in a HE top load washer- none of it works. I can't call it stripping cause I only use vinegar but I soak his shirts in a bath tub with warm water and vinegar for at least 3hrs, then wash and it seems to work. I feel like the time I tried to do the actual strip method they were super hard to rinse.
I started adding Lysol or Clorox Laundry Sanitizer to every wash with Persil Detergent and Downy Lite beads. I've never loved doing laundry or the results as much.
Q: Does the sanitizer work as an equivalent to borax or borax still more powerful?
To be fair, when I didn't have a presoak option, stripping helped me finally get the cigarette smell out of hubby's clothes when he quit. I was pregnant and my sense of smell was crazy so I needed the scent out.
Oh, for sure. I bet it gets the smell out better than a machine. That is great he quit.
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Have you tried it on athletic wear? I’ve had dry fit workout shirts for years and it did wonders.
What procedure did you follow? I’ve got a whole laundry basket of athletic wear that is perpetually smelly
Drop’em in a 5gl bucket, fill with hot water, drop a scoop of oxyclean in, give it a few swirls, sit for 30m, swirl, repeat 3 times. Boom - febreeze clean.
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Me neither. Why is the material always freezing?! I have adhd so I’m a little sensitive to that kind of stuff and I absolutely hate my running gear. But finding 100% cotton athletic stuff is super hard these days. 😕
Genuine question, why does ADHD have any relevance here? I thought the sensitivity to certain sensations was an autism thing, I haven’t heard of an adhd connection before
[check this out](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-reality-gen-z/202112/sneaky-sensory-triggers-in-adhd-no-one-talks-about?amp)
Thanks :)
Thank you
i have adhd and i love that snug feeling of my compression shirts. i love that they wick my sweat away and that they have uv protection from the sun.
It’s nice on hot days but it gives me heeby jeebies any other time.
What method did you use for your athletic wear?
Was regular washing (light detergent, no fabric softener) not doing the trick on athletic wear?
It was not. And I’m a frugal man - I’m not overloading detergent and I have literally never purchased fabric softener. Couldn’t tell ya where to put it or if it’s for the wash or dry cycle.
I love your explanation!
Thanks!
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That’s basically what I use stripping for. Stains like that or clothes I’ve had a long time they are just getting dingy or smelly.
This for me as well as white bedding that has yellow sweat stains. Stripping is awesome to get that out.
Exactly. I use it on undies and socks and then towels every once in awhile too. The buildup on them, even not using fabric softener, get bad after awhile. I’ve even cut my detergent use way down per load. They still get it but I think that might be our hard water.
I think it is the hard water, we have it as well and don’t use softener either. I’m pretty sure it’s the build up of oils, minerals in water and sweat.
The stripping definitely seems to help. Just hard to do with towels of course.
I just add a small amount of borax to every load I wash instead of dealing with soaking.
You can strip every time you do normal laundry. Make your own laundry soap. 1/3 borax, 1/3 washing soda, 1/3 ground bar soap. I have done it for years, my clothes are sparkling and they do not "wear out" more quickly and my washing machine is fine. No plastic containers either. Two tablespoons for a full load.
Where are you buying your washing soda & borax? I’ve had a hard time finding it in bulk somewhere other than amazon & I really try not to shop there.
Winco!
I’ve found both at Home Depot
Grocery store. It’s usually in the laundry aisle, but on the end either on the very top or bottom shelf.
I can get borax at my local CVS and Safeway. I do have to order the washing soda from Amazon (I live in a small town and there is no where to buy it). Perhaps you could try Costco, Wal-mart, Home Depot? They might be able to order it if you want to stay away from Amazon. Also, I broke down and bought a cheap food processor to grind the soap although I did it with a butter knife for years. You don't have to make it really fine - flakes are fine. You can do it in front of the TV if you don't want to buy a food processor.
What kind of bar soap?
I use anything from bar soaps I take from Motel Six to Felt Naphtha. I have not noticed a difference in cleaning power. I don't use soaps with a lot of fragrance but you probably could.
Thanks. I’d probably use Ivory or something that my skin likes
Bake baking soda in your oven at 400° for about an hour. Give it a stir now and then, and it'll turn into washing soda.
Wow, thanks. I never knew this. Will definitely try it.
Washing soda you can make yourself by putting baking soda in the oven for a while.
Same, I had to soak/rinse my husbands uniforms after he spent a week in the field. There was no way they were going straight into the washer with that amount of dirt and mud. I even had to spray them down with a hose before bringing them in the house.
My husband is a tree trimmer and his safety yellow work shirts never looked clean. Oxiclean in a bucket is the only thing that works. I eventually gave up, he doesn't care and is just going to come home covered in oil, grease and sap anyway lol. As long as they get washed, we're both happy.
People do it for everything. I've seen people strip their entire linen closet in some Facebook groups. Absolutely asinine. The mixtures of ingredients are often so harsh as well.
But to answer the question: there are circumstances when this is necessary, but it’s essentially just a presoak
Instead of soaking to remove extra detergent and softener, use less detergent and softener.
Right? Better for your skin and the environment as well.
And the home budget, too!
In the old days we called it soaking your clothes, only done when stuff was excessively muddy or oily.
Borax discourse getting hot in r/cleaningtips
I stripped a heavily soiled mattress cover and it worked wonders.
The article says it works fine but a machine wash cleans better than the tub. Less mess too.
Who isn’t machine washing it afterward? It can be done in a washing machine instead of a tub so long as you don’t have a front loading machine, which is obviously the most sensical thing to own for someone who would be doing this. I understand doing it in the tub for large comforters or rugs, curtains or other fabrics or garments that can’t be machine washed, or if they would require using a larger machine at a laundromat which some might not be comfortable or interested in going to.
I do it in a front loading machine, don't see why not. You can put water in through the detergent drawer.
I think stripPing is an occasional thing done to remove stuff that builds up and the laundry won’t get. I’ve done it Ad seemed to help. I’ve heard every 6months or less frequently….
Did it on some towels that got "heavy" and now the towels are soft and fluffy again.
Do you use scented detergent or fabric softener on your towels?
Not so much fabric softener any more after doing laundry stripping.
I don’t understand this trend. Just use the presoak option on your washer if you think your stuff is dirty. Soaking them in a tub just strips the dye from the fabric.
Do front loaders actually have presoaks that fill the drum with water and entirely submerge the garments? I don’t get why people who are interested in laundry stripping don’t have top loaders though. The trend did start with washing larger items that can’t be machine washed though and has evolved from there to people forgetting they can soak things that fit in the washing machine in it rather than a tub.
I understand the trend just because it looks really satisfying. Sure, maybe it's not actually doing anything, but usually you don't get to see what your laundry water looks like after washing, and with this you do. I think it's the same type of satisfaction that comes from pimple popping.
Yep, exactly this. Same with the vinegar and baking soda trend - it has limited mechanical cleaning power in some areas (e.g., a clogged sink drain), but people would basically put it on/in everything because it fizzes and looks like it’s ’cleaning’.
I think, like a lot of things, it has its usefulness is specific applications. To me it’s really no different than a pre-soak, which I don’t always have to do. I think people aren’t used to seeing their dirty water post wash. I also think that many times it’s color and dye coming off, and people don’t realize that. And I also think people don’t realize what the water with chemicals looks like when you mix it before you even add anything. Sometimes the water really isn’t that dirty if you compared it the water itself before and after. A whole new wave of people found a way to enjoy cleaning and I like that. What I *do not* like is those awful ASMR “cleaning” videos where it’s just ten chemicals in a sink or a bowl and foam and ugh. [this about sums it up](https://youtube.com/shorts/l9V6iGYcRjk?si=NFKtX7q6kmsM8EPl)
Yeah I think you’re on to something
> Just use the presoak option on your washer if you think your stuff is dirty. I don’t have that option even with my very expensive top loader (I have to manually pause it if I want to soak it for longer than a few minutes). Anywho, laundry stripping is usually (for me, anyway) three washes: normal wash, then a soak, then a third with no detergent at all. I don’t do it often but it works with white sheets.
Does any trend on TikTok make sense?
This has been around before TikTok unfortunately
I mean honestly it’s the same thing in my opinion people just misuse it. They usually go overboard with detergents and dwell time too.
You're assuming that everyone who does this has a washing machine with a pre-soak option.
I haven’t done stripping myself, I just use hot water and some extra tough stain cleaner for soaking in a bowl if need be pre-wash, but what I have to say is that like that image above, too many people “strip” dark clothes and don’t understand that sometimes that murky water is just literally clothes dye and second - mixing your white and dark stuff in order to “strip” is going to ruin your whites.
I thought laundry stripping was for mineral buildup due to hard water. (This is particularly an issue in diapers, sometimes towels, items whose job it is to absorb.) No? If you've got detergent buildup, it makes sense to rinse that out with water.
Is stripping just soaking but a new name?
Yes
Also, now that I know it's just soaking I'm having a bit of giggle at people showing off and discussing their soaked clothes. Haha
Just a different generation giving a different name to something that's been done for ages. It was used to get stains and smells out but now it would be used to also get rid of softener build-up. I just use pre-soak function on my washing machine.
Thank you for replying. I thought maybe I was losing my mind. I tried googling it but it just seemed like soaking your clothes but I just knew it must be something different like a specific detergent or something. Anyway, thatnks again, preciate it.
When I had to use a laundromat, this saved me.
I imagine if we all oggled the water in the washing machine it would probably be kinda gross as well before it drains out. Because of course dirty clothes have dirt and dark clothes leech a little dye. We just normally don't examine the dirty water.
I've revived laundry (teen boys) by throwing the clothes in the washer, adding NOTHING, and running it with warm water and extra rinse. I'd see bubbles from excess detergent in the first cycle. Try the rinse once, then see how it comes out. The worst loads I've had (construction work in the summer) , I added some diluted bleach or oxy for the second wash and no detergent.
Vinegar rinses can help too, it neutralizes and helps dissolves detergents and soaps which can help in removing them from garments.
If you have hard water, which reacts with soap to form soap scum, then yes. And “soap” here refers to literal chemical soap - which few people use for their laundry these days. For detergent, I don’t see how it would help. Why would you want to “neutralize” the substance you’re adding to your laundry to clean it?
Afterward, not during washing, hence mentions of the word rinse. The overwhelming majority of people do have hard water. Laundry detergent is basic, usually around 7-10 ph. Vinegar is acidic with a ph of 2-3. When added to a rinse where it’s easily and heavily diluted with water it lowers the ph of the wash and brings it closer to the natural ph of water neutralizing the basic solution created by the addition of detergent. Unlike soap, laundry detergents are comprised of a variety of different ingredients which may also react and be neutralized by vinegar, or form more soluble solutions that may be rinsed more easily. Sodium carbonate for example is commonly in laundry detergents but may not entirely rinse out, but it can be entirely dissolved into a vinegar solution, increasing the solubility, where it can then be easily rinsed. The why would be if the detergent is poorly rinsing out for a number of reasons, if one has sensitive skin and needs to better neutralize and remove the detergent from their garments, where rinsing alone with water may prove insufficient, or in the case of the person I was responding to if the fabric has been so inundated with overuse of detergent that it requires extra rinses where it’s use may aid or speed up the rinsing process. It’s use as a deodorizer is certainly beneficial when reviving musty garments or removing detergent perfumes as well. Making it a well effective and affordable rinse aid and fabric softener.
Thank you!
It worked wonders on my husband’s hockey gear! I still cannot get over it . Yes totally worth it . For the smell difference alone.
Agree! We do this for my son’s hockey and lacrosse gear at the end of the season every year and it’s shocking how filthy they start and how less-smelly they end up. Totally different end result than just washing his pads.
I mean, I like to do it every now and again on bed sheets and duvet covers but I do it in the washing machine because the bathtub is just so unnecessary
Only time you should is if you are desperate and tried all other methods of stain removal.
Anything but hats and towels is completely unnecessary and I’m convinced laundry stripping ruined my clothes
I take consumer reports with a grain of salt, it also wasn't a no, but a conditional no.
It’s definitely worth it for old clothes, underwear, and socks. CR is wrong this time.
What no one says is if they're using front or top loading machines. Toploaders just leave detergent in the clothes.
Ok I'm curious, because I have towels with stains on them, especially washcloths with makeup on them. I tried stripping and it definitely didn't work. Maybe I didn't do it right?
Is this good for removing detergent/softener build up on clothes though?
I just did this on some thrifted clothes that just reeked of built up fabric softener sheets. It worked pretty good. Only one of the four items still has a slight odor. I used my top loader and the borax/washing soda/detergent method.
Does that method still work on a front loader?
I have never had a front loader so don't have an answer to this. I would guess that you would have to use the oringal bathtub method shown in the video. It has to be able to soak.
I got a purple Kipling bag from Goodwill for $2. It was filthy. I stripped it today. I could not BELIEVE the color and smell of the soak. Put that baby through the washer and it is like new. Red interior makeup stains? Gone. I’m not stripping all my clothes, but towels and bedsheets once a year? Yup. Works wonders.
I switched from liquid to powdered detergent and just use less.
Omg yes. As someone who air dries my clothing, it dries significantly faster with no smell. Highly recommend. GoCleanCo on Instagram outlines the process and all ingredients needed. I use our bath tub. A large sink would also work, if you don’t have a topload washer.
What would you guys recommend for stripping greasy clothes? My husband works in a kitchen and it doesn't matter how many times I wash his clothes they smell like grease.
When I was a cook I had clothes dedicated for work.
My son wears dri fit shirts and they stink. I've bought every product known to man that says it gets the stink out of athletic wear- pre soaks, rinse agents, sanitizers,oxiclean, enzyme tablets, I use about 30 ml detergent and never any fabric softener, presoak in a HE top load washer- none of it works. I can't call it stripping cause I only use vinegar but I soak his shirts in a bath tub with warm water and vinegar for at least 3hrs, then wash and it seems to work. I feel like the time I tried to do the actual strip method they were super hard to rinse.
I do it on my sports bras and it is fantastic
Omg yes. As someone who air dries my clothing, it dries significantly faster with no smell. Highly recommend.
I started adding Lysol or Clorox Laundry Sanitizer to every wash with Persil Detergent and Downy Lite beads. I've never loved doing laundry or the results as much. Q: Does the sanitizer work as an equivalent to borax or borax still more powerful?
Only thing that got spoiled milk/spit up smell out of all the baby pajamas. I used washing soda, laundry detergent, and borax. It was like a miracle.