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The Benefit Of Using Vinegar To Strip Laundry
By NATALIE FRANCISCO
If your towels become less absorbent, or athletic clothes smell just as bad after washing, it's time to strip your laundry with vinegar to remove soap buildup on the fabric.
TikTok users on CleanTok claim stripping their clothes makes them look brand new again, and the dirty water left behind proves how necessary it was to cleanse them.
Borax is often used for stripping, but it can cause colors to fade and reduce the quality of the fabric. Eco-friendly distilled white vinegar is gentler and gives the same results.
Some members on TikTok soak everything in their bathtub if they’re stripping large amounts of clothing or bedsheets, or use a bucket or sink for a small batch.
Pour boiling water into your container, then add a solution of one part distilled white vinegar, one part washing soda, and two parts laundry detergent.
Before stripping, laundry must be washed in your machine as it usually would but without fabric softener. Once done, the clothes are ready to be added to the hot water solution.
Make sure the items are entirely submerged, so the mixture can work properly, and use a tool like the end of a broomstick to prevent the solution from touching your skin.
Soak the laundry for four to five hours, mixing after each hour. When time is up and the water is cold, rinse the items in the washing machine on a water-only cycle.