How to Laundry Strip Towels and Sheets

Ever washed your towels only for them to still feel a little stiff, musty or just not quite clean?

It could be build-up.

Over time, detergent, fabric softener, body oils and minerals from water can hang around in the fibres of towels and sheets. Laundry stripping is basically a really deep soak designed to help shift that build-up.

And yes, the water can get pretty gross.

Laundry Stripping Recipe

You’ll need

• 1/4 cup Borax

• 1/4 cup Washing Soda

• 1/2 cup Laundry Blend or powdered laundry detergent

• A bathtub, laundry tub or large bucket

• Hot water

The basic ratio is 1 part Borax, 1 part Washing Soda and 2 parts detergent, so you can easily scale this up or down depending on the size of your tub, basin or bucket. This is the same ratio commonly recommended for traditional laundry stripping.

How to do it

Fill your tub with enough hot water to completely cover your towels or sheets (but don't add them to the water yet).

Add the Borax, Washing Soda and Laundry Blend and stir until dissolved.

Now add your clean towels or sheets and make sure they're completely submerged.

Leave them to soak for around 4 hours, giving everything a stir every now and then.

Once the water has cooled, drain the tub and squeeze out the excess water.

Pop everything into the washing machine and run a rinse cycle with no extra detergent or fabric softener.

Then dry as usual.

What is that brown water?

This is probably the reason laundry stripping became so popular online.

The water can turn grey, brown or cloudy while everything soaks.

Some of that can be residue, oils and grime being released from the fabric. But don't assume every bit of colour you see is dirt. Dye can also leach from fabrics, particularly in hot water.

What should you laundry strip?

This method is best kept for sturdy, washable fabrics such as:

• towels

• sheets

• pillowcases

• white or light-coloured cottons

• colourfast linen that can handle hot water

We wouldn't use it on wool, silk, delicate fabrics or anything that can't be washed in hot water.

And it isn't something you need to do every week.

Think of laundry stripping as an occasional reset when towels or sheets have developed stubborn build-up, rather than another step you need to add to every wash.

Tip: If your towels regularly develop detergent build-up, try using a little less detergent and skip fabric softener (try vinegar instead). Sometimes preventing the build-up is easier than stripping it later.