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I think washing detergent for white fabric can contain bleach, so the clothes will stay white and won't become grey. If this is the case, it'll gradually fade any colors of colored fabric.
And the other way around it won't keep the white perfectly white.
Dunno about the bleach part, that might be in some as well, but typically white fabric detergent contains optical brightener that counters the typical yellow tint of worn garments by emitting extra blue light (and your eyes perceive the full presence of the spectrum as white). That's also why this whitening effect will fade off if you then use detergent that doesn't contain brighteners: you are washing out those blue light particles once again.
optical brightener
AKA blue dye.
The process is also called "bluing" and existed way before they made up a scientific "you have to buy this product, you can't do this at home" name.
Well that unlocked a memory. I was on a road trip around California and stopped off in a small town to do my laundry. An elderly gent was already in the laundromat and the washing machine window showed bright, bright blue. He said he recalled that his late wife used to use blueing tablets to get the sheets etc white. "I couldn't find any at the store, but these toilet cleaning tablets are blue, so figured I'd try them."
This is what my late mother used: https://www.retonthenet.co.uk/vintage-washing-laundry-reckitts-bag-blue-reckitt--coleman-hull-dolly-bag-1960s-nos-dolly-blue-5487-p.asp
Toilet cleaning tablets?!
The kind that clip under the rim and turn the water blue. Some kinds you put in the cistern. https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/4e1b697a-ca2d-4243-96fd-b7ce27bdcabd_1.20c57db567797b6b4993bfb863b44d06.jpeg?odnHeight=180&odnWidth=180&odnBg=ffffff
I know what they are, was just shocked he uses them for laundry. I can almost feel my skin breaking out in a rash just thinking about it.
Ha ha yes, he was experimenting. I did wonder how he got on. Bright blue sheets I fear.
Optical brighteners aren't the same thing as blue dye, even though they have the same role. Optical brighteners absorb high wavelength (UV) light and re-emit it as blue light. This helps prevent the new particles from overpowering or covering the existing dye. Blue dye would just paint the clothing more blue, which usually isn't what you want.
So in this case it isn't just marketing bla bla for some old thing, it's actually a new(er) thing that replaced the old thing.
Honestly I'm more in the "buy durable fabrics and treat them well but if they acquire a tint or lose color over time so what" camp. Good linen shirts for instance will still look great after a long time, never mind any fading. For some stuff it can even enhance the optics like the famed worn out jeans look.
It’s really the whites you have to worry about acquiring a tint over time. It makes them appear dingy, aged, even yellowed, so you may need to replace them sooner. Bluing or brightened will keep whites brighter for longer, so you can keep them longer
That's my point though: to me buying new garments just because they aren't as white as they used to be is both economically and ecologically wasteful. Ideally you just adjust your sensibilities or else purchase colors, fabrics, patterns less affected by tinging.
I have to admit though I'm looking at this from my own biased perspective of a single household though. I do basic separation of light, dark and hygienic (anything that needs high temperatures to kill germs) but also spontaneous mixed loads depending on what's in the laundry bin and what I need soon. If you're in a big household you can actually do real nice sorting like all the reds together, all the sports wear together, all the rags and towels, etc.
“Liquid bluing” is dirt cheap. You can still buy a small bottle that will last forever, for like $6. Just add a few drops, per instructions on label, to you load of whites and it can really brighten them up
Washing white stuff with regular or color detergent is mostly fine, washing dark stuff with detergent for white stuff is not fine.
Yeah, you gotta keep them segregated.
They're under eighteen they won't be doing any time
Heyyyayay! Come out and play!
Stuff formulated for whites specifically CAN contain things like bleach that can fade colors faster. Its not going to do it in 1 wash but cumulatively over time.
If it isn't specifically for coloured clothes, it contains optical brighteners, which fluoresce under UV light (like the sun) to make whites appear whiter. That's fine for light colours, but it makes blacks look greyish and dull.
I have literally never separated my clothes, and I've never had anything get messed up.
New stuff should definitely be washed on it's own a couple of times, before being mixed in. New stuff can easily give off enough color to make a white shirt pink for example when washed with a red thing.
Just because you've been lucky or maybe have a lot of same colors where it doesn't matter doesn't mean it's a general rule to go by.
Oh, I just always get clothes at a 2nd hand shop or thrift store
Ah right, makes sense. In that case it probably fine to just mix it up. But if you want old whites to pop a bit more, using a detergent for white stuff works well.
Personally I use a special detergent for blacks and darks and also the dark program on the washing machine. I've found it greatly increases the life of black and dark stuff. I almost exclusively wear black and dark blues and want to use clothes as long as possible.
I might try that, while they don't drastically change colors like people say, I do notice my white clothes don't seem to last long before they look old and worn out
Doesn't that only happen in non-cold water washes?
No? Why would it only happen in non-cold water?
When the clothes are first colored they use too much dye, because using too little ruins a batch of clothes whilst using too much is only bad for the environment but good for making money. The surplus of dye can't adhere to the fabric, so the first couple of times you wear/use and or wash the clothes the extra dye comes off.
I had a set of dark green bed sheets give off blue dye onto my white matrass cover. I didn't wash them together, but the extra dye still came off in use. Obviously water will help the dye become mobile a lot, but it isn't necessary. I'm not sure if the temperature has any effect at all.
I've only heard of/experienced colour bleeding in warm/hot water washes. I (thankfully) haven't experienced colour bleeding with cold water washes.
If you’re washing older clothing and aren’t using bleach, you’re fine.
Aside from new clothes bleeding dye, there’s definitely a difference in whites, even if you can only see it in comparison to other whites.
Actually, I think at that point it’s the dryer, scattering fine colored lint across the white shirts, making them appear duller, greyer
I dunno, general purpose works well enough. You can just add a little bleach if you need it for whites if you care. Oh and use powder of you can - liquid has way too much water in it, they're ripping you off.
Oh and use powder of you can - liquid has way too much water in it, they're ripping you off
Where I live, if you don't use the powder up in a month, it clumps or worse from the humidity. I swear by powder in the US Northeast. Here in Central America, I have to buy liquid.
I just break it up with a screwdriver
But won't the orange juice leave residue?
You just lick the orange juice back up, It comes with extra crunchies.
I never have used detergent for colored clothes.
Apparently not specific enough: I use clothes detergent for all my clothes, but not detergent for colored clothes, I use regular clothes detergent for all my clothes
Er, wut?
I'm a Luddite and old fashioned, using maybe 1/4 the detergent recommended, always use cold water, and use things like washing soda...and even I use detergents.
I think they meant detergent specifically for colored clothes. I'm sure they used some kind of detergent.
I doubt it. But I want to know too.
What are u on about? There's only one kind of laundry detergent.
No.
