Do you boil your clothes? Silly me, I know how ridiculous that sounds, you are probably thinking, "Are you crazy, I slap them into the front loader, sprinkle a little soap and walk away!" Well, normally I do too, but occasionally that doesn't work for me!
Around here socks can get REALLY dirty, sometimes dish towels smell sour even after washing and drying, and hubby's pillowcase can still look dingy after washing with bleach! For these hard to clean items, I boil them...really!
I put whatever I'm wanting to sanitize into a huge pot, saved only for this purpose - just wanted to clarify so that I didn't scare our recent dinner guests, and fill with water. When the water reaches a boil I add a cup of OxyClean and the items I'm washing and turn the heat down to medium. I put a top on it and let it return to a boil then I turn the heat down to low and let it go for an hour or two. After the boiling I then toss the clothing into my machine as usual! This typically cleans these items REALLY well and I'm quite pleased with the results. Yes, you will need to stir the clothes around and keep poking them back into the water, and yes the water will be BLECK! but your clothes will be CLEAN. The first time I did this I wanted to rush right out and build a fire, put a black cauldron on top and boil all of my clothes, but I didn't! Oh and just so you know, no, your house won't smell like Christmas doing this, but by golly, your clothes will be SOOO clean!
I have never had a problem with this but I always keep a close eye on whatever I'm boiling because I would hate to tell hubby, "Oh I forgot about the pillowcase I was boiling and burned down the house." That wouldn't be too great of me. Try it, but don't blame me if the house burns down, I told ya to keep an eye on it! =)!
29 comments:
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Wow, never heard of boiling clothes, but I'm so glad I'm not the only one with a husband whose pillow case gets dingy. What is up with that?
Thanks for the tip!
My hubby's pillow case also gets dingy...I think his is because his face and head get so oily! But that might just be my hubby. Anyway....boiling clothes....that's interesting. I might have to try that! Were you trying to hint that it STINKS. LOL
Hmmmm... I'll try it. Do you do it barefooted and with a bonnet on? ;0)
To Alana and DQ: My hubby is quite oily too, like he will sooo never have wrinkles. So that is why I think his pillow case is so dingy.
To myfriendconnie: Ummm, never done it with a bonnet on or barefoot, but it does stir a rousing version of Home, Home on the Range!
This really works for items that have stayed wet too long and gotten that weird, moldy smell! I learned about it when I lived in the third world with a babe and no washing machine. I boiled cloth diapers in a large can, two boils and a rinse, and PRESTO! They were no longer discolored! Today I am boiling the whole pile of wash cloths cuz some of them smell sour even after I wash them. "Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble..." I wondered whether adding detergent will help... Glad to know this "art" isn't quite dead yet!!
Think about it: Isn't it great that God gave poor people a way to get things clean too?!
It may be too late to comment but I must ask:
I used a cooking pot to boil some dancewear without any clue what I was doing and never thinking that it might leech some colour. How does one disinfect a pot to be used for cooking again?
Hi:
I've been thinking about this method of doing my laundry lately, as our building is having problem with hot water lately. Also, I know my ancestors in Germany used to boil their bedsheets and other heavy-duty laundry. Also a great way to eliminate bugs, germs, probably better than many modern machines. Should I try it? Anyway, thanks for the ideas and tips.
if a dish towel smells bad, get it damp & throw it in the microwave for 15 seconds. sponges too.
Hi everyone, I too boil my cloth diapers once a month. They are cotton. I do this to remove soap and urine build-up... Works great!
I don't handwash wash cloth. I got a bunch and use 1 sheet to clean each time, then I collect all the dirty ones in 2 weeks and put them in the laundry. After about a few months, they are getting tacky, so now I am boiling them with dish detergent that do not work well in the dish washer. The water is turning brownish so far.
In modern times, boiling your clothes really isn’t necessary any more. Especially, with such inventions as steam washing machines and dryers, that will usually get bad stains and odors out. If not you can always try stout out to get rid of tough stains. If you keep boiling your clothes, they will be sanitized and clean, they will even stretch more. They also might fall apart, depending on what they are made out of. That’s what people use to do during the great depression, they would boil their clothes in order to get them clean and sanitized
Hey, do you know the best way to boil a thanksgiving turkey? BOILING RULES!!!
Thanks for the tips. I remember seeing my grandmother used to boil clothes long time ago. I have some towels I need to clean and sanitize so I think boiling is probably the best way. Thank again!
What will happened if I leave my clothes in a boiling water and then wash it with a cold water with detergent after? :)
Pls help
You can do as you please, after you've boiled them, but I wouldn't wash them with detergent as the "brown" that comes out in boiling is detergent that has built up in the fibers, with the dirt still stuck to it. Detergent works by dirt sticking to it and then being "rinsed" out WITH the detergent - or, at least, that's the theory - but fully rinsing is almost impossible because while dirt sticks to detergent, detergent sticks to EVERYthing - especially fibers where it gets right down into them which boiling loosens and dislodges, breaking the sticky bonds between the detergent and the fiber and depositing most of the debris into the water. It isn't due to water quality except in that hard water will rinse even less detergent out of the fibers than soft water will. Nevertheless, both leave a quite disgusting amount of detergent behind. Real soap works much better. It will build up, as well, but it's not nearly as sticky.
You say don't wash afterwords with detergent...then what should you wash with? Like what's real soap?
I am 69 and had been boiling all sheets; pillowcases; towels; tea towels and dishcloths until a few years ago when I had to abandon my copper boiler due to it having developed a leak. Now I only boil the tea towels on the stove, however, I hot-soak everything else ... and that process consists of heating buckets/kettles of water to boiling point, and pouring over the linens after I have placed them in large buckets (plastic - but not cheap ones). I either dissolve soap flakes in the hot water, or, if I'm lazy, sprinkle them over the linens and then pour the water. I leave this all to soak for 18-24 hours -- but I have left such soaking by mistake for a week, and found it still fresh. Nothing compares to the freshness of clothes boiled, or even hot-soaked.
THANK YOU!!! So, earlier today I'm face-timing with my sister and at the same time bouncing all over the house doing chores. Every 15 minutes though, my timer goes off and back to the kitchen we go, finally my sister asks if I'm baking cookies and I tell her 'nope, I'm boiling my pillow cases'. She starts judging me, etc, she's never heard of such a thing! I've been doing this for years, I'm thinking right back to the days when my kids were babies and I boiled their diapers! So, after we hang up she searches the internet and finds your website and messages me that I'm not the only wacko out there! So.... Thank you! Thank you for your website which proves in black and white (or computer screen) that I'm normal. Between you and me.... She's the wacko!
Interesting. After watching old TV western shows, clothes-boiling was implied as common. Also, it was mentioned when a disease outbreak happened e.g. "...and boil all clothes." I may try it as needed.
Boiling clothes is quite common in my society. I'm living in South Korea and they even sell big pots for boiling clothes exclusively. Boiling cotton or linen stuff is the best way to sterilize and clean them. Cloth diapers and cloth menstrual pads made of all natural fibers are perfect for boiling. I'm a scientist and I willingly say boiling clothes is not a primitive way but a very scientific method. But do not try it with synthetic or fibers from animals like wool, silk, etc.
Hi, I'm from Australia. Growing up we had no electricity and my mother boiled all our clothes and linens in a big copper tub heated by a wood fire underneath. She stirred the clothes with a stout wooden stick, using it to lift the wash out, rinsed it and then hung in the sun and wind to dry. My father's extremely dirty overalls (he was a commercial fisherman) she lay on the wooden floor boards of the laundry, got down on her hands and knees with a scrubbing brush and scrubbed like mad. Our family was almost completely self sufficient, and with 7 children, my parents were incredibly hard working and sacrificing. We grew up with love and respect and I am incredibly grateful.
So much good information and replies worth reading but that background makes it too hard to read.
I use Biz bleach. Works great. Yes you can use this for colored fabric too. I let it soak for several days and then wash in machine. Works great. And no problem with burning down the house.
Totally agree with the boiling after a presoak in very hot water and ammonia, ammonia (will help strip grease and oil) has been around and noted in Roman times and later in Viking stories of cleaning clothes. One can make a great softener when down to the final rinse with vinegar and any scent you like.. I enjoy natural drops of oil and or rosewater. I have been washing all of my clothes by hand here in a NE 3rd floor apartment and also hand wash a lot of silk/wool/linen or cotton that does not need the boil with a wee bit of good hippie shampoo and then good hippie conditioner to make it soft.. keeps the fibers nice and fresh and prevents that crispy feeling in silk and linen to say the least..
I did not want to go to the laundromat because of the coronavirus pandemic so I tried boiling some washcloths and hand towels. I was surprised how sweet they smelled after they dried.
If you have a laundry sink ,or can go without your tub for a day and a night , the best thing is to soak in Tri sodium phosphate ,you can usually get it in the paint department ,its the stuff that used to be in washing machine detergent ,but they took it out because too much going into the waterways caused algal growth,
But it will get out the modern detergent residue , I use it on the kids white gym socks ,and use a plunger to force the hot water through the fabric , let it sit , and come back every so often and give another few plunges . ,the longer it sits the more brown crud comes out , then drain and wash as usual but reduce your detergent amount and double rinse . they actually turn write white again . its the same issue with washing machines that smell raunchy , its soap residue and dirt ,and it turns into black mildew on the rubber parts ,same for dishwashers ,they need to be cleaned regularly . and leave the doors cracked open to dry.
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