Bleach-cold, warm or hot water?

[Lyoshka]

I am bleaching my white sheets this morning. I started the washing machine to get the water (cold) going, mixed in a cup of bleach, put the sheets in, stopped the machine for about 45 min, and then resumed the cycle and added detergent. This got me thinking....

When you bleach clothes/linens/sheets, what temp water do you use? I recently started washing all of our clothes in cold water, and wondering if i should do the same for bleach, or will warm or hot get the white on faster?

(and btw, i'm now reminded what a pain white sheets are. After a few months they just look so grey and icky....we have had everything but white sheets last few years-sage,maroon, khaki-and i think i'm going back to that....hate having to bleach)

[Nocona]

I always wash towels, sheets, etc. in hot water.

[Michal]

I am not sure why your white sheets are turning grey, I always wash my whites in hot water and bleach and they stay as white as when they were new. What detergent do you use?

[Nichole]

I always wash towels, sheets, etc. in hot water.

Me, too. :nod:

Do you have hard water? That could be why your whites are turning grey. (I think it's hard water that causes that...)

[Brandi Jo]

I only bleach sheets and towels...and I do both of those in hot water.

[Mandi]

If I'm using bleach, I do hot water. Most everything else gets washed in cold though.

[Trish]

All of our clothes get washed in cold, on the delicate cycle (because I'm a freak about taking care of my clothes ;) ) and I wash all towels, sheets and lately, underwear and socks, in hot.

[Lyoshka]

I think we do have hard water....or somewhat hard, anyhow. our faucets always get the buildup, no matter how much i clean them.

So, for white sheets, do you use bleach every time you wash them then? I usually just wash them in reg detergent (tide, all, whatever is on sale usually)...maybe I should add bleach every time?

[Lyoshka]

Ok, another question....do you just add the bleach to the detergent and run it through the cycle, or do you let is sit with just the bleach and then add detergent and run the cycle?

[Nichole]

My washer has a little bleach dispenser that I pour it into; I think it mixes it in with the water as it's filling. You have to be careful to not use too much bleach, or your whites will turn yellow. And it breaks fabric down if you use it a lot, too.

You could try soaking them in Oxiclean; I've found that it really whitens whites. But it does leave a funky residue, so a second rinse is helpful.

[Jayne]

For me I add the bleach to the water and detergent as the washing machine is filling. I then add the sheets. I don't let them sit. I also always wash my whites with bleach on HOT. Every time I wash my sheets I had about 1/2 a cup of bleach :dunno:

[Darcy]

Lena, we had such hard water issues when we lived in C'Ville. I wouldn't doubt that you guys have it. We have a softner in this house, and that's seemed to help. :dunno: Sorry to be a little off-topic.

[Lynn]

Our washer has a bleach dispenser. I set my water on hot, put the bleach in the dispenser, throw in the detergent and then put in the sheets/towels/whites.

Sometimes if you overbleach you'll get greyness too.

[Brandi Jo]

I'm not sure hard water is what is making your sheets turn grey. We have extremely hard water and my white sheets are still white. I add bleach every time I wash my sheets and towels. If you think the hard water might be causing it, you could try adding some Calgon water softener to the wash. I have to use it with my cloth diapers or they get a funky residue on them. So, it works.

Now after all of that, I'm not sure if I've said anything worth anything! :lol:

[Lyoshka]

No, that's been really helpful, Darcy, Brandi and everybody else. thank you! I try not to bleach stuff too often because it does break the fabrics down, and I think i just don't do it enough.... So i'll try to add some bleach to a wash every second time I wash the sheets from now on..we'll see if that does the trick.
thanks all!

[Lyoshka]

..........i have a Fabric Softener compartment in the washing machine. Can i put the bleach in there?

[Nichole]

No, because the fabric softener is released later in the cycle. (it is on mine, I think; it's on the top of the agitator in the middle) The bleach dispenser is up at the edge of the basin (in the corner where the lid rests) and that dispenses in the beginning as the washer is filling.

[Lyoshka]

Got it, Nichole! Obviously, I needed to open my eyes LOL I thought we didn't have a the bleach dispenser (and i did think that the softener releases later on).... but we do! I found it LOL(So you just add the bleach and it will release once the cycle gets going?) I think i need some sleep, big time.

[Nichole]

Yes, I think it mixes the bleach in with the water as it's filling so you avoid the bleach spot thing that happens when you pour it directly into the water on the clothes (I always add the bleach and detergent to the water before adding clothes anyway).

Look how much you just learned about your own washer! :giggle: (and I hear you on the needing sleep thing. It's a permanent state of being for me. :lol: )

[Melissa]

If I'm using bleach, I do hot water. Most everything else gets washed in cold though.
Me too. :pumpkin: :pumpkin: just adding those so I can make the character limit. :whistle:

[Karri]

ditto what most everyone else has posted....

I wash my towels, sheets, and whites (socks & wife beaters. no one here wears white undies) in hot (not warm, but hot). I use the bleach dispenser for bleach, and I only add 1/2 cup. I don't ever bleach my white sheets unless there is something on them. I usually bleach the kids, though, because of leaky diapers and bedtime accidents....I don't like pee stains :lol: