Q. I learned from my mother, who was in the textile business for years, to never wash my whites in bleach and hot water due to the yellowing effect. I have to say that I have done my own bit of research on this over the years and have found my mother’s advise to be accurate. Every person that I have ever known to wash their whites in bleach and hot water had a slight yellowish ting. While their whites seemed white when held up against my whites, that are only washed in cold water and bleach, their whites no longer appeared white. I also learned from my mother that it is not the water temperature that washes the clothes but the detergent that you wash them in. Does The Clorox Company run test to see what water temperature is best for keeping whites their whitest?

A. Clorox does lots of testing to develop and improve its products, as well as determine the label instructions for the product packages. We test a variety of stains and soils for cleaning, as well as whitening and brightening. In addition, we test how our products work with different detergents, clothes washer designs, and in different water temperatures. That’s because there are three different forms of energy that accomplish cleaning and whitening: thermal (water temp), chemical (detergent/bleach), and physical (agitation). Your personal experience doesn’t match our laboratory test results based on average consumer wash conditions—all other variables being equal, we typically see improved cleaning and whitening in hotter water. It’s hard for me to know exactly how you do your laundry, and what differences exist between your wash habits and your friends’, but here are some thoughts on why you find your whites even whiter than your friends’ whites:

1. Amount of bleach used: bleach breaks down dirt and body soils into smaller particles, making it easier for the detergent to remove them, and it is important to add enough bleach to handle the soil load. Your friends may under use bleach—there is a big performance difference with ¾ of a cup of bleach compared to a ½ or ¼ cup, especially if they are washing large or heavily soiled loads.
2. When bleach is added: when you delay the addition of bleach, the brighteners in the detergent are able to deposit more effectively on the fabric. Brighteners are colorless dyes that absorb light outside the visible spectrum (light you can’t see) and reflect it in the visible spectrum. More light coming off fabric makes it brighter and whiter. Some clothes washers have dispensers that automatically delay bleach addition to make it easy for consumers to follow our “for best results” instructions: dilute ¾ of a cup of Clorox® Regular-Bleach in 1 quart of water and add to the washer 5 minutes after the wash cycle has begun agitating.
3. Water temperature and machine design: newer clothes washers add water from both the hot and cold lines to a “cold” load so that a pre-set consistent wash temperature is reached in every load all year long. This is especially important during the winter! So your cold loads may be warmer than you realize. And your friends’ loads may not be as hot as they think depending on what temperature they set their water heater at, and how far away it is from the clothes washer.
4. Choice of detergent: not all detergents are created equal, and some work better than others. Using a so-so detergent that doesn’t properly dissolve, isn’t shelf stable, doesn’t have enzymes and brighteners, or doesn’t have ingredients that prevent soil from redepositing on clothes will leave clothes dingy. There will always be an improvement with bleach compared to detergent alone, but bleach + a good detergent will always clean and whiten better than bleach + a so-so detergent.
5. Brand of Bleach: only Clorox® Regular-Bleach has patented “Whitest Whites” technology, including a polymer that ties up metals like manganese or iron to prevent them from reacting with the bleach and yellowing clothes. Store-brand bleaches do not have this.
6. Adding bleach to every white load: regular bleach users will have whiter whites than occasional users.

It sounds to me like you are a very conscientious bleach user, and I am not surprised you get such good results. For most people, using hot water is important to get the best results possible. But by carefully controlling the other variables, one can wash in cold water and get outstanding results, as you have found.

Q. After inheriting LG front loaders in our new house that came with a horrendous odor I have been perplexed about laundry. I have been doing laundry for over 18 years and used Whirlpool Front loaders for 4 years with never any issue. I got rid of the LG machines and purchased Maytag Bravo 850 HE Top Loading machine. I have since been doing a lot of research on the best products to use in the machine and I had some questions for you on Clorox products.

Clorox® Ultimate Care Bleach
• Is it safe to use in an HE machine? If yes, should it go in the bleach dispenser? (because it is thicker is this OK)
• It is recommended that using bleach weekly in your laundry helps suppress the growth of mold & mildew – is this true if using Ultimate Care Bleach ?
• Can you use Ultimate Care Bleach to run thru the Clean Washer Cycle or should you use Clorox HE Bleach for this? Or is the safest and best bet for HE machines HE Clorox Bleach?

Clorox® 2
• Is this just a detergent booster?
• Is it a non-chlorine bleach or is it not a bleach product?
• My new machine has an Oxi dispenser – is this where I would put the Clorox 2 or should it go in the detergent dispenser with the detergent?
• If you use this do why would you need bleach?
• Is Clorox2 similar to Oxi Clean?

A. It is great you have so many questions about the different laundry products you can use in your HE machine—this will definitely help you get the most out of your machine. Let’s take a look at each of the products you have questions about.

Clorox® Ultimate Care Bleach is safe to use in HE machines, and should be added using the bleach dispenser. Just be sure to select an extra rinse cycle. This will ensure that the thickeners will be rinsed from the load. The thickeners are important for making a product that can be used to pre-treat stains on white items directly, my favorite use of the product. However, in order for it to be safe enough to pour directly onto fabric (something you should never do with regular bleach) it does have a lower hypochlorite active level. Therefore, Clorox® Regular-Bleach or Clorox® Washing Machine Cleaner are the appropriate products to use to run your Clean Washer cycle. Also, note that the High Efficiency Bleach has been discontinued, and we are in the process of updating the videos that mention using Clorox® products in HE machines.

Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster is designed to work with a laundry detergent to provide better cleaning and stain removal than you would get with detergent alone. In addition to brighteners and cleaning agents (surfactants) both products also are oxygen bleaches that are safe for washable colored fabrics that would be damaged by the hypochlorite active in Clorox® Regular-Bleach. The powdered formulation also contains enzymes, which further aid with stain removal.

Clorox2® and Oxi-Clean are similar in that they are both laundry additives and oxygen bleaches, but they do have different formulas and are made by different companies. On your Bravos 850, add either liquid or powdered Clorox2® to the Oxi dispenser, and be sure to select “oxi treat stains” from the options menu. You need to do this so the dispenser will automatically add the Clorox2® to the washer. This is different than selecting the “Sanitary with Oxi” cycle with the control knob, which is a 1 hour and 30 minute cycle that super heats the water to achieve sanitizing with an oxygen based laundry additive.

As far as why you would need regular-bleach if you have the option of running the Sanitary with Oxi Cycle, cycle length is a big reason. Of all bleaches, only Clorox® Regular-Bleach is an EPA registered disinfectant that works without needing the clothes washer to have an internal heater to get the water up to a high enough temperature to sanitize (which takes a very long time). Plus it has been proven on a wide variety of different bacterium and viruses—I am not sure how broad the sanitizing claim is for the Sanitary with Oxy Cycle.

Q. I am raising my grandson and cannot keep the bottom of his white socks clean. I use Clorox bleach, but it still doesn’t get them clean. Any ideas what else I can do?

A. Your grandson is very lucky to have you! On a personal note, my mom also helped raise my nephews, who would stay with her every summer when school was out. And they always showed up with armfuls of dirty laundry! Socks can be quite a problem (my son's socks are pretty challenging, too), and I do have some suggestions for you to try.

1. Be sure you are washing in hot water and using ¾ of a cup of Clorox® bleach in each load.
2. Pre-soak the socks for 5 minutes in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach diluted in 1 gallon cool water. Then wash in hot water with detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.
3. Pre-treat the socks using Clorox® Ultimate Care Bleach: This product is a thickened bleach product with a lower hypochlorite active level so it is safe to apply directly to bleachable fabric (something you should NEVER do with undiluted bleach!) It works exceptionally well on socks. I like to work with it in a dish pan—I lay the socks out, apply a small amount to saturate the stains, and then I transfer the treated items right into the washer from the dish pan. Then wash immediately in hot water and detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

I like using the dish pan because I don’t accidentally leave any spilled product around, and I can just stack the socks on top of each other as I treat them. Be sure to rinse out the dish pan when you are finished.

Hopefully this will do the trick.

Q. Can I use this in the washer with a plastic shower liner? It has a lot of mildew on it. I am not using it on clothes, just this plastic shower liner.

A. Thanks for the question. How old is your plastic shower liner? If it is still fairly new and in good condition (except for the mildew), then yes, Clorox® Regular-Bleach can be used to clean your liner, but an older, worn plastic liner may discolor with prolonged contact. I’m not sure what type of washer you have, so here are suggestions for cleaning the liner in both front loading and top loading clothes washers.

Top loading clothes washers with center agitators may be rough on the shower liner, so choose the gentlest cycle possible. Before adding the liner to the washer, fill the clothes washer with warm water. When the washer is full, add 1 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach then add the shower liner, and then start the cycle. If possible, select a second rinse option to be sure the liner is thoroughly rinsed. Remove the liner and hang it up in the shower, wiping it down with a towel to help it dry thoroughly.

Front loading clothes washers generally have more gentle agitation, but the higher spin speeds could crease the shower liner, so again select a more gentle cycle to avoid this. Also, select a shorter wash cycle length of 5 minutes, if possible. Place the liner in the clothes washer, add 1 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach to the detergent dispenser, and start the cycle. Remove the liner and hang it up in the shower, wiping it down with a towel to help it dry thoroughly.

If the mildew is stubborn and remains, then repeat the procedure with Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

Q. I have had a problem with random small spots appearing on red clothes after washing. It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of detergent I use. I always wash my red loads in cold water. I never get these spots on any other color of clothing. What could the problem be? I thought it was a problem with the fabric softener, so I’ve left that out and it seems to help, but today I had a problem with only powdered detergent.

This certainly can be a frustrating problem. I'm especially intrigued by why only red items.
It is possible that this problem may be occurring, but just isn't as visible on the other colors.

My best guess would have been the fabric softener spots, which you stopped using, and/or un-dissolved powder detergent. To help prevent this, try using a little warmer/hot water for the first 3-4 inches of water as you add the powder detergent. Swish/swirl this solution to help insure all the powder is dissolved; then switch back to cool/cold water and wait for another 3-4” of water before adding the red items.

Q. I'm using a bleach containing sodium hypochlorite. I use it mostly for laundry issues and killing the germs rather than whitening. I use it for cleaning my underwear at pre-wash, and then continue washing with detergents as a common washing. The problem is, my washing machine doesn't rinse after the prewash. It just ejects the water and then takes the detergent in with clean water. As I have read from sources on the internet, when I put sodium hypochlorite and detergent together, sodium hypochlorite reacts with detergent and it destroys some detergent ingredients like enzymes and FWAs. Could the sodium hypochlorite that remains after the prewash react with my detergent? Or does sodium hypochlorite react so well with soils and even with my cotton underwear that if there's not enough soil for it to react with (or just assume that I've put too much bleach), there won't be any sodium hypochlorite after the prewash ?

I believe from your description that you are using a prewash or presoak cycle before the regular wash. You didn't indicate whether you have a top loader or HE washer.

For cleaning whites, especially underwear, I recommend that the wash be done in hot water containing detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach. You can also add a presoak/prewash step to enhance the cleaning. So, if your washer doesn't rinse the presoak solution away, it simply will use any remaining sodium hypochlorite carried into the subsequent wash cycle. If you are using a reduced amount of bleach for the prewash (since it has less water than a regular wash), you probably won't have much carryover, if any. Actually, some bleach carryover to the main wash should be helpful as the detergent starts to use its ingredients to clean the clothes, the bleach will hasten the breakdown of any remaining soils and stains making them easier for the detergent to remove from the fabric.

While the sodium hypochlorite can react with some of the detergent enzyme and brighteners, using a bleach dispenser for the main wash addition will delay the bleach addition and minimize this potential reaction. You might consider adding some extra Clorox® Regular- Bleach for the main wash.

Q. We recently had to pet-sit a cat for a family member. A few weeks later, we discovered the cat had used our guest bedroom’s goose down comforter as a litter box! What would you recommend for cleaning? Treat the individual spots (there are four or five, over a foot wide), or just wash the entire load with bleach?

A. Don't you love it when a good deed goes bad…To effectively remove the multiple cat "spots,” I would recommend a thorough whole-item wash.

Since you weren't specific about the comforter, I would like to find out if these items can safely be bleached. I recommend consumers do the quick Bleachability Test: 2 tspn Clorox® Regular-Bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden area like inside seam, hemline or cuff; wait 1 minute and then blot with towel. No color change means it is safe to use bleach on the item. Any color change could also show you the amount of change in color that likely will occur if you proceed with the liquid bleach usage. You can see a demo on my blog (http://www.drlaundryblog.com) in the video Laundry 101.

Want to proceed? Do a quick liquid bleach soak (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in gallon of cool water for 5 minutes), then wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the item’s care label using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach. Check before drying to insure complete removal. It might require multiple treatments to get the desired result.

If you can't bleach the comforter, then try several washes in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and an oxygen bleach like our Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster or even a short 1/2 hour presoak in the oxygen bleach before the wash. Again, check for success before drying. Especially here, it might require multiple treatments to get the desired result.

Q. Is there any where I can get the 22 oz Clorox® Oxi Magic™ Multi-Purpose Stain Remover spray bottles in the Cincinnati area? Or can it be ordered from somewhere?

I really appreciate your efforts to track down Clorox® Oxi Magic™ Multi-Purpose Stain Remover! The good news is that it is not being discontinued, but its distribution is limited, so that’s why you've been having trouble finding it. You can order it online at Drugstore.com. Use the following link to get there quickly:

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=194973&catid=97343&aid=337953&aparam=clorox_oxi_magic_multi_&CAWELAID=215859031

I’ll keep checking to find which stores in the Cincinnati area do have it on the shelf, but in the meantime, hopefully you can get some more quickly by ordering it online.

Q. I know that you have a lot of replies but I'm really hoping you can help me with this. My father decided to try to clean our floors (marble) with Clorox and water, but I think the mixture might have been slightly too strong. Since the marble floors were not completely without cracks to begin with, the Clorox seemed to have dried and hardened into white clumps in certain areas? I don't know how to clean it, and if I have to live with it, would using other cleaning products on it still be dangerous? I have tried to scrub at it with water, but it just comes back.

A. I am so sorry about your floor, and wish I had better news for you. We recommend against using Clorox® Regular-Bleach to clean marble and other porous stone surfaces. From your description, it sounds like the problem is mainly in the cracked areas. This makes a lot of sense in that the main surface was probably sealed to protect it, but the cracks wouldn’t have that same protection. Therefore, a negative reaction with the bleach will be much more pronounced in the cracks. The white clumps you have are probably water insoluble deposits resulting from the calcium carbonate in the marble chemically reacting with the bleach. You can try to remove them with vinegar (acetic acid) because it will dissolve calcium carbonate—the trick is to remove the deposits without damaging the surrounding marble (vinegar is also not recommended for marble), which might be possible depending on how much sealant remains on the marble and how quickly you work. However, your floor probably won’t be completely restored in that the cracked areas will still be etched whiter than the surrounding area. The biggest problem with marble is that it should only be cleaned with pH neutral solutions like water, which protect the marble at the expense of powerful cleaning.

Q. I want to disinfect and super clean/whiten my white bath towels. How long can they soak, maximum, without hurting the towels?

For your towels, I recommend a bleach soaking solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per 1 gallon of cool water for 5 minutes. Soaking, dripping towels can be messy, so to avoid splashing the bleach solution on yourself and around your laundry area, use your clothes washer to do the soaking (which will work best in a top loading washer). Be sure to mix up the bleach solution first and then add the towels: select a “small” load size and fill the washer with water, stopping the cycle when it finishes filling. Next, add the bleach, and finally the towels. Note that a typical “small” load setting holds about 12 gallons so you’ll need to add 3 cups of bleach to make the bleach soaking solution. After 5 minutes, advance the dial of your clothes washer so that it drains, then reset the dial back at the beginning of the wash cycle and let it run all the way through so the towels essentially get two rinses. If you want to soak a large number of towels, just select a larger load size; a typical medium load holds 14 gallons (use 3 ½ cups bleach) and large holds 16 gallons (use 4 cups bleach).