You take the laundry out of the washing machine and are shocked to discover that a red garment has probably got lost in the whites. Everything is pink. That is annoying! Now you can try to save your clothes. Read more about this in the latest TUBIE Shirt Ironer Blog.
Colour-intensive garments in particular often lose colour and rub off onto other textiles. We shirt and blouse ironers know this problem too. But often the laundry can still be saved by decolourising or bleaching it.
But when do I bleach and when do I decolourise?
Quite simply, bleach removes colour from white clothes and discolours coloured ones. You remove the colour from white clothes with chlorine or bleach. Not only are discolourations affected, but also the original colour. Coloureds get a pastel shade with bleach.
Forcoloured laundry, you should therefore not use bleach but a laundry dye rem over. This only removes discolouration and the original colour remains.
To decolourise clothes
In supermarkets or drugstores there are special decolourisers that you can use to treat discoloured clothes in the washing machine or in a bowl of hot water. Be sure to follow the packaging instructions to avoid undesirable effects.
Home remedy for decolourising
We at TUBIE Ironing Doll are always friends of home remedies. Baking soda, for example, often works quite well.
Decolourising laundry with bicarbonate of soda
Heat about 5 litres of water and put it in a large bowl. Add four to five tablespoons of baking soda and stir well. Put the clothes in the bowl and leave them to soak overnight. Then still wash the clothes normally in the washing machine.
Dishwasher tabs
Dishwasher tablets or even denture cleaners can also decolourise your clothes. Put 4 tablets each in a bowl of hot water and leave the clothes to soak for at least 10 hours. Then machine wash as normal.
Citric acid
Citric acid also works in a similar way to sodium bicarbonate. Add the juice of two large lemons to five litres of hot water, put the laundry in and leave the textiles to soak overnight. Then wash clothes in the washing machine as usual.
Bleach clothes:
White clothes become brilliantly white again with bleach. Bleach also disinfects, kills germs and dissolves grease.
Bleach laundry with chlorine
One of the best known bleaching agents is probably chlorine. However, chlorine is a very aggressive chemical and reacts with many fibres; very dark colours may develop yellowish spots instead of white ones. In addition, the fibre suffers with each treatment. Thin fabrics may even disintegrate or develop holes. The organochlorine compounds pollute water unnecessarily, which is why you should rather resort to other methods.
This is how you proceed when bleaching with chlorine
Wash the clothes thoroughly before treatment to remove any residual fabric softener. Then place the clothes in a diluted chlorine bath for a few hours and wash the clothes several times with clear water. If possible, hang the clothes in the sun afterwards, as this intensifies the bleaching effect. Then wash the clothes again with detergent and possibly fabric softener to remove the chlorine smell.
Bleaching with hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is less aggressive than chlorine and can naturally bleach white laundry. Add half a cup of hydrogen peroxide to the detergent as part of the usual wash. The concentration should not be higher than 3%. You can also mix hydrogen peroxide 1:1 with washing-up liquid and let the clothes soak in it. Then wash the clothes in the machine as usual.
Enjoy the feeling of clean laundry - Your TUBIE Ironing Doll Team
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