Laundry Stripping | Does It Actually Work?

Have you heard of laundry stripping? It was all the rage a few years back, and while I’m a little late to the party, I decided to give it a try to see if it actually works… the results were… ummm… pretty disgusting.

 

I seem to always get excited about a fad after the fad has fizzled… Such is true for laundry stripping. I know the phase died out awhile ago, but I have always wondered whether those bathtubs filled with disgustingly dirty water were actually real. Honestly, if that much scum is building up in my towels and bedding, I’m adding “laundry stripping” to my cleaning routine immediately.

What Is Laundry Stripping & Why Should It Be Done?

The purpose of laundry stripping to to remove built-up residue from laundry detergents, fabric softeners, and dryer sheets. The actual process consists of “stripping” your laundry in a tub of very hot water with a few added ingredients to pull the residue out from the fabric.

What You Need to Strip Laundry

 

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Ingredients Needed for Laundry Stripping

• Borax
• Washing Soda
• Powdered Laundry Detergent– I was tempted to use my own homemade Laundry Detergent as it contains both Borax and Washing Soda, but to test whether laundry stripping actually works, I went with a more natural, store-bought laundry detergent: Molly’s Suds.

Supplies Needed for Stripping Laundry

• Bath Tub– Don’t laugh… we actually rented a house with no bathtub once and had to bathe our little kiddos in a plastic tote 🙂
• Long Rod or Stick– This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, a broom handle or a longer wood dowel will do the trick

How to Strip Laundry

If you search Google for “Laundry Stripping”, you will find that every single recipe is the same, so this isn’t meant to be some sort of crazy new method for stripping laundry. My main goal in doing this is to see if it actually works… I’m just taking you along on the journey to find out 🙂

While I don’t completely understand this step, every laundry stripping tutorial says to start with freshly laundered items, so I washed our bathroom towels prior to starting the process. It appears that, once washed, you can choose to dry the items, or not. I don’t see the point in drying laundry that I’m about to soak in the tub, so I washed the laundry and brought it up (wet) to start the process.

Before adding the laundry, fill a bathtub about half-way with hot water. This is important. I let the hot water run until it was steamy, and then plugged the drain. (Make sure to turn the water off before plugging the drain to avoid scalding yourself, then turn the hot water back on once plugged.)

 

With the tub filled about half-way, add in the following ingredients: 1/4 cup Borax, 1/4 cup Washing Soda, and 1/2 cup Powdered Laundry Detergent.

 

Now it’s time to add the laundry to the tub.

For my first round, I decided to go with our bathroom towels. I have two teen boys that throw their wet towels on their bedroom floors, so they never get a chance to dry. They smell bad, and even after I wash them, they’re stiff.

 

Allow the laundry to sit in the hot bath tub until the water has cooled. This should take 3-4 hours. Every hour or so, make sure to stir the laundry a bit to agitate it.

 

Once the water has cooled, remove the laundry from the tub (wringing out as much water as you can when you remove it). Put the stripped laundry into your washing machine and run a rinse/spin cycle to remove excess water. Then wash and dry it as you typically would.

Laundry Stripping Results | Before & After

I’m gonna be honest, I really didn’t think this was going to work that well, but I am going to let the images of the tub water before and after laundry stripping speak from themselves…

   

Common Questions About Laundry Stripping

Does Laundry Stripping Actually Work?

There are two theories when it come to the gross pictures you see after laundry stripping:

Release of residue that has built up in the fibers of the fabric from laundry detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets.
Result of dye leaching from the fabric that colors the water.

I would love to try this experiment with white towels, but I’d have to buy white towels, use them for at least a year, and then try the laundry stripping process again. I’m probably not going to do that. However, I do have white sheets on our bed! I decided to try laundry stripping those to see if the water would still look as bad; knowing sheets are not as absorbent and textured as towels.

Here’s the before and after of the water when laundry stripping only white sheets.

 

While not as dark as what we saw with the colored towels, but there is a noticeable change in the water. It’s definitely darker and murkier.

I will share also this picture I took as I was draining the bath water after stripping the towels because it doesn’t look like simple dyed water… there was definitely some residue that had built up along the sides and bottom of the bath tub.

 

Here is what I can say did happen to the items I stripped:

Mildew Smell Gone: Remember how I said my two boys throw their wet towels on the floor so they never have a chance to dry? This created a strong mildew smell in at least one of those towels. The process of laundry stripping ridded the towel of the mildew odor.

Softened the Laundry: That same towel was also very stiff (even after washing). After laundry stripping, the towel was soft and no longer stiff at all.

How Often Should You Strip Laundry?

I would recommend stripping laundry once or twice per year. In the meantime, there are a few things you can do to reduce residue build-up:

• Use Less Laundry Detergent– Adding extra laundry detergent may seem like a good idea, but it can add additional residue to your fabrics
• Use Natural Laundry Detergents– I have been using Dropps Laundry Detergent Pods for awhile now, but I recently noticed they’ve change some of their ingredients. I may go back to my homemade laundry detergent which contains some of the laundry stripping ingredients which could prevent/reduce residue build-up… and since I bought the package of Molly’s Suds for this process, I’m excited to try that as well (It only contains 4 ingredients: Washing Soda, Baking Soda, Magnesium Sulfate, and Sea Salt… and gets an A rating from the EPA)
• Avoid Dryer Sheets… use Dryer Balls instead
• Perform An Extra Rinse Cycle to remove residues
• Avoid Fabric Softeners
• Don’t Overcrowd the Washer– Items that are crammed into the washing machine don’t get cleaned well, nor do they get rinsed well

Is There Any Laundry that Should Not Be Stripped?

There are definitely items that should not be stripped:

• Items that Cannot be Washed in Hot Water– The process of stripping laundry requires the use of very hot water, so items that are meant to be washed in cold water should not go through this process.
• Delicate Fabrics– This process can be a harsh on fabrics, so delicate fabrics aren’t a contender for laundry stripping. This includes items made with spandex.

Can Laundry Stripping Be Done in A Washing Machine?

I have read that you can strip laundry in a top loading washing machine (with an adjustment in the ingredients), but I have a front loading washer, and I would never recommend laundry stripping in a front loading washing machine! Front loading washers tend to be high efficiency, using less water and, therefore, less laundry detergent. Putting a full 1/2 cup of laundry detergent into the washer will likely cause issues and a lot of suds to clean up.

Can Liquid Laundry Detergent Be Used to Strip Laundry?

Liquid laundry detergent is a no-go for laundry stripping, as the chemical combination doesn’t work as well with the washing soda and borax to break down the residue build-up.

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