Posted by
Robin2008
15 yrs ago
I am pregnant with our second baby and I recently sorted out the old baby clothes from our first child. To my surprise many of the white clothes had turned yellow-ish. That happened fast, in just a year's time! I know in Europe they sell stuff to make old clothes white again but I have not found this yet in Hong Kong. Does anyone have any tips on how to turn these yellow clothes white again? And does anyone know how to prevent this from happening? Many thanks for your help!
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had exactly the same thing happen - and so did a friend of mine. We found a combination of that oxyclean powder, made into a paste with either water or for extra power a oxywash spray stain remover. Put the paste onto dampened clothes and leave for about 20 mins then rinse and leave to soak in water for a couple of hours then wash. Note the oxy powder does seem to make some colours run so be careful what you wash with what. alternatively we had success using the sard wonderbar which you can buy at ParknShop. Just rub onto the stain and leave to soak. If the fabrics are cotton wash at a reasonable temperature. I think it is the milk that makes them yellow and it is just that the washing before you stored them doesnt get it all out and they yellow over time.
I also found putting the washing out on a sunny day if you can find one helps a bit to naturally bleach. There were a few outfits I had to wash more than once but in the end there was only 1 that I had to toss and mine were stored for about 5 years so the stains had really set in.
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Thanks kiwimmc - I am going to try it all out. You are probably right about the milk stains - I thought we had washed everything properly but these stains are clearly tough ones. Anyway thanks, it wasn't a very exciting question so I am very happy that somebody replied!
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You can just use bleach.
If the clothes are fully white, you can soak them in bleach and water and then put them in the washing machine (with only WHITE clothes).
If they are coloured, you can use a cotton bud to wipe the bleach on the white bits to make them white. And then wash in washing machine.
Of course, never put bleach and colored clothes together in washing machine other wise you'll ruin the color.
We bleach baby's clothes all the time to keep the white bits white...
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Thanks Slammy, I'll try that with the all-white clothes.
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Don't try the bleach method first, because bleach will often burn the stain on the clothes, and then there is no way to remove it anymore. Vanish (Oxyclean?) is safer first try.
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I normally use Napisan. It is gentle on baby stuff and I use it for my white towels too.
Try soaking it in warm water. If it does not turn white, soak again
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The Yellowing is a result of a cheap OBA (Optical Brightening Agent) used on the cotton itself when the garments were made. This can be compounded when you wash anything white with anything that isn't white and also with anything white that has Polyester yarn in it. The polyester (oil based yarn) reacts with the OBA and can turn it yellow or grey depending.
As it's Baby Clothes, I wouldn't use an re-oxidant they are pretty harsh. Too get rid of it, try cutting up 4 lemons into slices and put them in the sink/bath with warm water. Then let all the clothes soak for about 2 hours. Take them out the lemon water and wash them normally at 60degrees. Keep doing it a few times depending on how yellow they are.
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