The dark color in the bathtub is dye leaching out of the clothes. Black clothes in particular fade quickly from frequent washing. Turn inside out and wash on cold and then hang to dry to minimize fading. Or wash less frequently.
Sounds like laundry stripping is just a super long Fairly time consuming pre-soak... Which is usually what alot of washing machines do anyway, just not usually for four hours.
Wait... this is just a trend right? This does not make sense to do for anyone tbh. a ) You can simply run your clothes through a normal cycle without adding detergent (most machines nowadays have hot water setting) b ) Most machines also have the soak feature now, you can let your clothes soak before the wash cycle starts.
This video is definitely hurting wirecutter's credibility. Depending on what clothes you have, putting it into warm water will straight up just leach dyes out of it. So yeah, you've found a way to make your clothes fade faster good job.
This is where having laundry day clothes makes a difference. The old jeans that you don't wear daily anymore, couple of t shirts that are ugly, the mismatched socks.. Laundry day fashion is fascinating.
They don't say if it works or not, but just do it if it makes you feel better, which isn't really what I expect from Wirecutter. In any case, I did this with my towels, which are at least a decade old; they were kind of hard and crunchy, probably because I didn't know about the 2 TB detergent rule, and they are better now since stripping them in the tub. I have a front loader without a soak mode so had to do the process in the tub.
Detergents are concentrated. Shampoo can be diluted to half or even a third, dish washing liquid can be diluted to a watery consistency.. all of your detergents are stronger than you give them credit for. It is often difficult to use as little as it takes, for ex shampoo is one of those where the amount actually needed is so tiny that it is hard to spread it around. Also, people stand in showers while applying soap/shampoo... In most cases, you need one fifth to a half of what you are using now. A few drops are needed to change the surface tension for tens of liters of water. Oh, and foam DOES NOTHING. Foaming is not necessary with any of them, it is just for show, just like it is in your toothpaste.. which is another thing you need less of than most think.
I filled an 8 oz. squeeze bottle with water and added one drop of shampoo. I use it on the granite countertops and glass stove since I can't use Windex on the granite. Insane shine and no rinsing. We are using way too much detergents.
This was a lot of talk without any actual analysis. A bunch of opinions. How do we know the stripping isn't just drawing dyes out of the clothing to make the water look dirty? This could be solved really easily with a control test by stripping clothes that haven't been exposed to detergent, or by washing them multiple times and seeing how it changes. Not really impressed by this one wire cutters...
I think the trend itself is just a trend and nothing that helps really so they can't answer anything real. But I can answer that questions with logic and common sense. Q. How do we know the stripping isn't just drawing dyes out of the clothing to make the water look dirty? A. If its old clothes, then the dyes are already gone with the first few washes. For most good clothes only new clothes shed dye. When I get new clothes, I soak them in water (cold or lukewarm water is fine) and the water gets that dirty, so ya you are correct its likely the excess dye gets removed. What people are seeing with laundry stripping is likely the just detergent additives to make clothes softer & smell 'fresh' getting removed after soaking them in water, which happens in a wash cycle, which people don't get to see.
@@kelsea8018 Ah, well, it was just a guess, since I hadn't heard of it before. So, it's real? Then there's another question they didn't answer anywhere in this video. Disappointing.
I only just saw this, but putting my 2cents in anyway. No need to take "heroic" measures to get the residue out of your clothes. Just use 1/2 cup of white vinegar as your "softener" with each load, and that will work. If you have a huge buildup - then wash your clothes (in the machine) with just water - or some white vinegar). I only ever use softener in the winter, and then it's a dryer sheet to help reduce static cling. This video is worthless.
I'm confused about the amount of laundry detergent needed. Wouldn't it vary from brand to brand--wouldn't the amount needed of Tide be different than the amount needed of Gain, because the formulation of each brand. Or is it two tablespoons, regardless of brand?
Well, here in Philippines, we just soak the clothes in water with a bit or none of detergent overnight and rinse with water and fabric softener. Same method but less tiring. For white clothes, just pour in bleach with blue tint for clothes for the same process.
Totally ridiculous. First, run your washer and dirty clothing without adding any detergent. Watch to see if suds form. If yes, then you have detergent left in your clothes from the last wash and you're adding too much. Cut back. Always do this. You may not need fabric softener anymore. Fabric softener tries to remove extra detergent from the clothes. It corrects (or tries to) the mistake of adding too much detergent. You probably don't need it. Check your clothing for softness when they come out of the dryer. If they're soft, you're done. Gabeesh?
I wonder if this is a mainly US trend? Most of the “modern” top-loading washing machines in the US would’ve been considered obsolete in Europe already in the 1970s… Most US machines I have used so far seem like they give me the choice of “cold, warm & hot” water and “soaked, wet as hell & wet but not dripping” spinning cycles
What other options would you like to see beside cold, warm, and hot water??? My new machine spins them so well they are merely damp when done. I don't get what you are bitching about.
Dear wirecutter, I am not impressed about your reference to TikTok laundry trends, might as well eat the pods as report on this "trend". Its the reporting not the trend that is ill informed. I see brand new dark clothes bleeding into the tub. HOt tip for millenial journalists. Run the wash or just rinse cycle again. Yeah you can add a pinch of washing soda or borax or both or none. Stop enabling dangerous social media trends and any influencers.
