Used bleach for the 1st time. Whites dont look whiter?

[JEDI]

t-shirts, underwear, socks.
they're 2+ years old and look dingy.

washer set to 'Whites' setting.
poured liquid detergent in the normal place.
poured Clorox bleach into the place marked 'bleach'.

Nothing looked noticeably whiter?

 

[IronWing]

Method one: Boil in bleach water on stove and then dry in the sun.

Method two: use a detergent with optical brighteners.

 

[lxskllr]

Method one: Boil in bleach water on stove and then dry in the sun.

Method two: use a detergent with optical brighteners.

Addendum:
Don't buy white clothes

 

[IronWing]

Addendum:
Don't buy white clothes

Some of us live in glorious sunlight, not under a rotten log and poison ivy like some sort of slime mold.

 

[lxskllr]

Some of us live in glorious sunlight, not under a rotten log and poison ivy like some sort of slime mold.

:^D

Made the grass shorter today, and noticed the poison ivy really took off after the rain. I was literally under a rotten log cutting poison ivy :^D

But still, white sucks. Beige is an appropriate color for a desiccated hellhole :^P

 

[Billb2]

Soak in bleach first, for a half hour or so. Then launder using the recommended quantities of detergent and bleach.

 

[Greenman]

You fellows are so 21st century. I'm pretty sure I haven't done any laundry since 1999, and doubt I could crack the code on the washing machine in my laundry room without several hours of google and youtube.
In my house, I throw my dirty cloths in the basket, and through some sorcery I don't understand, they turn up clean and folded two days later. I've always assumed it was divine intervention, my long suffering wife probably has a different theory.

 

[FeuerFrei]

t-shirts, underwear, socks.
...

washer set to 'Whites' setting.
...

That's a bit racist, don't you think?


Oh well, reality itself is racist.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

That's a bit racist, don't you think?


Oh well, reality itself is racist.

And liberal elitist.

 

[Greenman]

That's a bit racist, don't you think?


Oh well, reality itself is racist.

Now I'm going to have to go look at my washer. If there's a setting for "colored" I'm calling the NAACP.

 

[Paperdoc]

Billb2 has the right idea. Putting bleach into a mix with all the rest of the stuff - lots of water, detergent, etc. - just diminishes the effect of the bleach by a lot. Separate bleaching in a modest amount of water (follow directions on bleach bottle) with no other additives FIRST, followed by a "normal" wash, is better.

 

[NutBucket]

I think bleach in the main wash helps more with smells and killing bacteria.

 

[JEDI]

I think bleach in the main wash helps more with smells and killing bacteria.

Then what's the point of detergent?

 

[NutBucket]

Detergent doesn't kill living organisms.

 

[zinfamous]

Detergent doesn't kill living organisms.

Sure it does, but not as effective on its own. Detergent works by disrupting cell membranes, which lyses bacterial cells. Depending on the concentration, this can be very effective on its own, but it takes time, temperature, vibration and the type of detergent can matter depending on the cells. Bleach and Isopropanol or Ethanol are great, though, as they sort of insta-zap nearly everything.

In place of bleach, I've heard Lemon juice works really well on whites, but I'm not sure how best to apply that or even if it's true.

 

[NutBucket]

There's also Billy Mays (RIP) and Oxyclean!

 

[JEDI]

There's also Billy Mays (RIP) and Oxyclean!

yeah no.
if bleach wont whiten, I cant see how an infomercial product will do better

 

[NutBucket]

It's basically the same stuff as non-chlorine bleach. I have some but I use it mostly for heavily soiled stuff. I don't make an effort to wash whites separately. I do wash everything cold though which does seem to keep colors brighter.

 

[nakedfrog]

Just using it in the wash didn't brighten my older, dingy whites, but it does keep newer whites brighter.

 

[mindless1]

Keep in mind that extended soaking in strong bleach solution will destroy socks/underwear/etc elastic.

Otherwise 2 years is a good run for tshirts, underwear and socks, unless you're into all polyester (ugh).