How to wash white towels without ruining the fabric
Washing white towels in hot or warm water sanitizes them effectively, but frequent use of bleach can cause yellowing or damage non-cotton fabrics. Adding laundry bluing helps counteract yellowing when bleaching every few washes, while keeping bleach off non-pure cotton prevents discoloration.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Washing towels on hot with oxygen bleach or laundry sanitizers
- 2Using regular bleach only every few washes or avoiding it entirely to prevent fabric damage
- 3Adding vinegar, borax, or laundry bluing to maintain brightness
- 4Washing on cold for fabric protection
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“How to wash white towels? Warm or hot? With or without bleach?”source ↗
“I always was mine in hot, every few times I'll use bleach but not every time.”source ↗
“Hot. Bleach may only be used if it is pure cotton. Otherwise it might change color”source ↗
“I do warm or hit depending on if they're gross. I do like to bleach them every couple of washes or so. But bleach can yellow whites so I also add a few drops of laundry bluing.”source ↗
Where this came up
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