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.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Washing towels on hot with oxygen bleach or laundry sanitizersDid this help you?
- 2Using regular bleach only every few washes or avoiding it entirely to prevent fabric damageDid this help you?
- 3Adding vinegar, borax, or laundry bluing to maintain brightnessDid this help you?
- 4Washing on cold for fabric protectionDid this help you?
- 5spot cleaning only the most noticeably dirty placesDid this help you?
- 6asking vintage dress shops or specialized restorers for adviceDid this help you?
- 7hemming the dress to cut off the dirty bottom partDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“How to wash white towels? Warm or hot? With or without bleach?”source ↗
“I’m worried that the drape will be affected if I wash the whole dress.”source ↗
“I do not want to get it professionally cleaned because my reason for purchasing secondhand was to save money.”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 ↗