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Ever meet people whose socks seem to last forever? Well ... so it may not come up in conversation all that often. But if it did, the reason is likely more because they use chlorine bleach correctly than because they tread lightly in their walk through life. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when bleaching your white loads:
- Banish one measuring cup from the kitchen and keep it in the laundry room. The directions on the bleach bottle call for a specific amount, and for good reason: too much bleach is hard on fabric, and it can yellow the clothes you are trying to whiten!
- Designate a two-quart pitcher for laundry use as well, and fill it at least halfway with water and your measured bleach. If too strong a dose touches your clothes, it will contribute to holes in fabric.
- Raiding your kitchen once again, use an egg timer when bleaching whites. Instructions on the bottle probably call for adding your diluted bleach after your clothes have been washing for a good five minutes. Cheryl Mendelson, in her book Home Comforts: The Art & Science of Keeping House, explains why this is necessary. The detergent you use contains one of various possible combinations of laundry boosters, perhaps including, for example, stain-removing enzymes. Chlorine bleach will stop the work of these ingredients, so give them a little time to do what they do. But don’t wait too long. Bleach needs to act in the wash cycle for five minutes of its own.
- Chlorine bleach will whiten and sanitize in hot or cold water, but for maximum performance from your chosen detergent, hotter is better.
- When washing cleaning cloths, make sure none was used with ammonia. The combination with bleach would create highly toxic fumes in your laundry room.
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