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juststartn
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My whites have never been white White, but since we've moved and are on an aerobic septic system, I cannot use bleach (like I would have in the old house)...so how do I get my whites WHITE, instead of this gradually getting dirtier and dirtier looking shade of beige? We have soft water, not hard, so that is not the problem. I'm just not sure what I can do. We've got a front loader, btw, if that has any impact.
HELP!
Rachel
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PDyer
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Bluing?
But I don't have a front loader, so I'm not sure if it would work.
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Patty
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juststartn
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I bought some bluing, thinking I might try it...but I've never used it before, and don't know if it would be okay with the septic system...don't want to kill off the bacteria in there...which is why I won't use bleach, of course...
Rachel
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Mackfam
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Are you sure your washer drains to the septic? Most (not all) drain to a french drain separate from the septic tank.
In any case, I use a lot of Oxi-Clean, and  hot water . I know it's not the most energy efficient route.
I use a front loader and I get the best results using my sanitary cycle. Obviously, everything doesn't use this cycle - just whites. I usually rinse the baby's diapers in a cold rinse - then I add our wapkins (a happy merging of a washcloth and a napkin - we use them in place of paper napkins for meals at the table, but they get quite stained and dirty), socks, underwear, and all towels (I use white towels everywhere in the house), add detergent and Oxi-Clean and go. Everything including the diapers comes out white, fresh and unstained.
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juststartn
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| Posted: Nov 05 2008 at 10:59am | IP Logged
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Well, that's the thing, I don't know where the washer drains to. The thing was replaced (the septic) before we moved in, and we've got an aerobic system, now (as opposed to the traditional system with a leach field). If I knew it went to a grey water system, I'd have no problem putting some bleach in there. But since I don't know, I have to err on the side of caution...
SIGH.
Rachel
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Karen T
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| Posted: Dec 15 2009 at 11:19pm | IP Logged
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bumping this up b/c I have a problem too.
In my case, I'm also using a frontloader and we have really hard water. I can use bleach, as we're on city sewer instead of septic but really the bleach doesn't help. I have been buying my dh new undershirts about every 4-5 months - surely they should last longer than this?? They are just dingy. Most of our towels are colors, so if they are dingy I can't tell. It's only his T shirts I really notice (white socks and briefs tend to get grey after awhile anyway).
I wash on hot water and use white vinegar in the rinse. I used to wash cloth diapers in this same washer, in a different state, and got them pretty white, so it must be the harder water we have here (terrible spots on our glassware also)
any ideas?
karen T
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LucyP
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Lol. My only choice, as I won't use any bleach or detergent except eco ones, and wash with cool water, is to accept the "natural white" that emerges from the washing machine! I have found that soaking and using the full amount of detergent (as opposed to my frugal half measures) does get the whites looking a bit brighter, but I see it as the whites are not dazzling but I am preserving the planet so for me that counts as a win.
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Karen T
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I'm not even looking for dazzling white; I'm just trying to get them in the "white" family on the color chart  These shirts are more tan now than anything in the white family.
When I had a top loader I did use OxiClean a lot but b/c it's a powder there is no way to add it to the frontloader - the bleach cup only takes liquids.
Karen T
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LucyP
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could you add the oxiclean to the drum? we only have f/l here in england and i put everything straight into the drum on top of the clothes but i don't know what oxiclean is so that that may not be safe for your clothes.
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Stephanie_Q
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I was a civil engineering major in a previous life and my emphasis was environmental - water quality.
Rachel: Having soft water doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have mineral problems. Our clothes get very gray - we have a lot of manganese, which is hard to get out. "Beige" sounds like it might be an iron problem and if you have a lot of iron, you need something other than a softener to remove it. I'd suggest getting your water tested and pricing a system that will oxidize and filter the iron from the water.
As for bluing, you can read about it here. It does not say "septic safe" perhaps because of this: "We add a nontoxic amount of a pH balancer and a biocide to prevent the buildup of algae and bacteria."
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it's easy to add a powder to a front loader.. simply dilute in water first and then put that into the washer.
I think I've also heard that baking soda in the wash helps with the hard water.
And don't bet on washers going to grey water. There are many many places that grey water is NOT acceptable.. so like if you had an inspection for selling the property.. you couldn't have that.
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JodieLyn
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oh and one more thought..
use less soap.. if there's soap residue remaining in your clothes it attracts dirt and things get dingy quickly. I found in some locations that using half the amount of detergent and the other half borax works great. Here I don't find any real difference in using the borax so I just use half the soap most of the time. Occationally I'll run everything through with a full amount of soap.
Also if it's cold where you live, the cold water may be very cold and it would work better to use a warm water setting. I need to do that here with my washer in the garage. The cold water is one step warmer than ice and the warm water is barely warm once it mixes with the cold but barly warm water works much better for cleaning than the super cold water.
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wifemommy
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Do you use a gas or propane dryer? They will yellow your clothes ours whiten nicely when hung to dry but a winter with the dryer ugh!! I have my old electric dryer back and I am so happy. Annie
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CrunchyMom
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Mackfam wrote:
Are you sure your washer drains to the septic? Most (not all) drain to a french drain separate from the septic tank.
In any case, I use a lot of Oxi-Clean, and hot water . I know it's not the most energy efficient route.
I use a front loader and I get the best results using my sanitary cycle. Obviously, everything doesn't use this cycle - just whites. I usually rinse the baby's diapers in a cold rinse - then I add our wapkins (a happy merging of a washcloth and a napkin - we use them in place of paper napkins for meals at the table, but they get quite stained and dirty), socks, underwear, and all towels (I use white towels everywhere in the house), add detergent and Oxi-Clean and go. Everything including the diapers comes out white, fresh and unstained. |
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So how much oxi-clean would you add to a load?
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Mackfam
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CrunchyMom wrote:
So how much oxi-clean would you add to a load? |
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I buy a big box from Costco and add only one scoop per white load. The key I think is the VERY hot water along with a good deterg (one with enzymes in it to break down food stains, etc.). I use something Amway offers - so I don't want to link it since it's not generally available...is it? I guess I could try linking...Amway laundry soap - Legacy of Clean SA8 with Bioquest. I've been using this for years and haven't ever found anything better. (I'm also one of those people that prefers no strong scents.)
Of course, this is moot if you have a lot of iron deposits in the water. Ours is hard water, but apparently not as hard as some of you must be dealing with.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Angel
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Karen T wrote:
bumping this up b/c I have a problem too.
In my case, I'm also using a frontloader and we have really hard water. I can use bleach, as we're on city sewer instead of septic but really the bleach doesn't help. I have been buying my dh new undershirts about every 4-5 months - surely they should last longer than this?? They are just dingy. Most of our towels are colors, so if they are dingy I can't tell. It's only his T shirts I really notice (white socks and briefs tend to get grey after awhile anyway).
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If your water is really hard -- like ours is -- bluing will help more than bleach, because bleach will make the whites yellow in hard water. But it's not going to help much. Having to replace your whites is a problem around here that everyone seems to complain about. I did hear one story about a fancy restaurant having to get rid of all their white tablecloths because they were ruined by the water.
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Angela
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Getting my whites WHITE
