http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/CommentingController/rss/SiteTree/11811 CommentingController/rss/SiteTree/11811 http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/black-and-white-shirt-your-questions/#comment-781 Now that it isclose to Summer, I enjoy wearing white pants. What is the best way to keep them looking white. Most of the pants are 100% cotton. Fri, 24 May 2013 15:56:25 -0700 Janice Garber http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/black-and-white-shirt-your-questions/#comment-781 http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/black-and-white-shirt-your-questions/#comment-782 Here are some tips to help keep your white cotton pants their whitest: • Detergent choice: Make sure you are using a good detergent that contains brighteners and enzymes in addition to surfactants and builders. Make sure to review the ingredient list, better detergents often list the purpose of the ingredients. The better the detergent, the better the improvement in performance when added with bleach. • Use the correct amount of detergent: under using detergent will result in poor performance, especially if you wash heavily soiled items or extra large loads. That’s when you actually need to add extra! • Choose a “hot” wash temperature: the higher the wash temperature, the better the cleaning. • Don’t overload the washer: clothes need to circulate/tumble freely through the wash water for optimum cleaning. • Use the correct amount of bleach: that’s ¾ cup for a regular load, and 1 ¼ cup for an extra large or heavily soiled load. If your clothes washer has a bleach dispenser that limits the amount of bleach you can add, be sure to fill the dispenser to the “max fill” line. I also wanted to mention another factor that affects whitening performance—water quality. If you have hard water, it can be difficult to get good laundry results. Precipitates can form that deposit onto clothing when the detergent interacts with high concentrations of calcium and magnesium. Also, when large amounts of metals are present (like iron and manganese), they react with the sodium hypochlorite active in bleach to form colored materials that can deposit onto clothes. The best way to handle these problems is to install a water treatment/filtration system to remove the impurities. Finally, here’s an important whitening tip for white garments made with spandex—you cannot wash them with Clorox® Regular-Bleach because it’s not safe for that fiber type. You should also avoid bleaching wool, silk, leather and mohair. To improve the appearance of any garments made with spandex, try soaking them in powdered Clorox 2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster. Dissolve 1 scoop powder in 2 gallons of very hot water, and then fully submerge the garment in the soaking solution. Let it soak overnight. Next, run it through a regular wash cycle with detergent + Clorox 2®. You can also pre-soak with liquid Clorox2® if you prefer! Fri, 24 May 2013 15:56:25 -0700 Dr. Laundry http://www.europeanopticalsociety.org/dr-laundry/black-and-white-shirt-your-questions/#comment-782