Bud says I am stubborn. It’s true. Once an idea occurs to me, I can’t get rid of it! Since the kids are long gone, I decided to treat myself to some white fluffy towels a couple of years ago. No problem since I would be totally in control. These towels would never languish on the floor, under the bed, or touch mascara or muddy shoes. They’d never wash a car or wipe spaghetti sauce off the sofa. Time passed. They got dingy. I didn’t like them anymore. I started sneaking into Bud’s bathroom to get his luscious green ones, but I couldn’t get the white ones off my mind. Surely, I could fix them. They couldn’t be bleached, so I tried non-chlorine bleach. That didn’t brighten them at all, so I decided to bleach them, anyway. What did I have to lose?
So I bleached them. They went from dingy gray to a dull hen poo poo muffledy dun. Those towels were disgusting, sort of like they had been wiping shoes, smearing mascara, washing the car, and wiping up dog vomit with. I tolerated them for a while, then checked the internet for a solution. I needed to boil them in a solution of dishwasher detergent, vinegar, borax and detergent. Sounded like a lot of trouble, but I really wanted them white again. I mixed the concoction right up and put my towels on to boil. I boiled them for about thirty minutes, frequently punching them down. I believe this was the high-tech method used up until folks got washing machines. The water turned an ugly brown. It must be working!
Eventually, I finished them up in the washer. Meanwhile, I’d made a real mess of the kitchen. The sink was full of pots, the stove a sloppy mess, and the floor tracked up. It didn’t look like I’d done a deep cleaning just yesterday. It only took an hour to get back to where it was. My back still hurts.
In the picture on the right, you can see the result of all my hard work. Aren’t those colors bizarre? Some of the towels remained plain dingy gray. Others took on an ugly, rusty hue. The big surprise was, some turned a pale pink. I am partial to dingy gray, but that’s just me. Does anybody out there need some ugly towels? They’ll be perfect to wash the car and wipe mud off the dog.
Wait! I just saw two more things to try. Laundry bluing is supposed to brighten dingy clothes up. Sunshine bleaches! Bud is going to have to put up a clothes line!
Nutsrok 
OMG! You’re too silly! I thought I was obsessed with my “whites”…..you got ME beat!!!! ;>)
LikeLike
It’s a curse. I will have to update. It hit those towels with peroxide and bluing yesterday. Two got white. The rest are varying shades of crap color.
LikeLike
Fluffy white towels sound good but so do a lot of things until you try them. :) — Suzanne
LikeLike
So right!
LikeLike
LOL I have some beautiful white towels that have been in a drawer for guests but I seldom put them out or call attention to them, just in case some actually decides to sue them and throw them on the floor and actually step on them, wipe mascara or whatever on them. Needless to say, after four years, they are still white, but then no one uses them. I pretend they don’t exist.
LikeLike
Good plan, if you want to keep them nice!
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL
LikeLike
I’ve heard that a bit of hydrogen peroxide also works to brighten dingy ‘whites”. Apparently you put a bit in the wash water (if you can get the lid of your washer OPEN after it’s begun the cycle. Mine locks and it’s a top loader…cheeses me off when they design things so badly.
LikeLike
Mine is a front loader. To open it, I have to turn it off and it starts over. Why would I have to add peroxide after load starts?
LikeLike
I love hanging the washing outside – of course that is often not an option with our weather, but if it’s sunny and windy the towels and bedding smell so nice.
LikeLike
I love hanging out laundry, too. I need to put up a line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Try Oxyclean and or Iron Out. Sometimes you have gone so clean that all the color is gone and you have the natural color of the fabric.
LikeLike
I tried Oxyclean. Maybe Ironout will be the miracle!
LikeLike
Oh that poor kitchen! why do you bother?! Just use them as rags. They would be awesome for cleaning.
LikeLike
But I had a white towel dream! And remember, I am stubborn.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just go buy some nice, new fluffy ones. Those will NEVER be fluffy, ever again! Sometimes you gotta know when its best to admit defeat….
LikeLike
Now that’s just crazy talk. I know if I put a lot more effort, money, and craziness in them they’ll be better than new. I gone through this thought process a lot of times. I always end up with a totally destroyed item. I’d been mourning a spot on my favorite gardening hat. It didn’t hurt anything, but I wanted it off. I kept at it till I ruined the hat. I’m not even a fussy dresser. That spot just kept taunting me. Guess I’d better do a post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I post is definitely in order. There is ‘something going on’ !!!
LikeLike
Oh how I would love to have you as a neighbor!
LikeLike
Wouldn’t we laugh over coffee!
LikeLike
Oh my gosh yes! :)
LikeLike
http://www.oldandinteresting.com/laundry-blue.aspx Reckitt’s blue suddenly came into my head..I’m sure my grandmother used it, perhaps my Mum as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mother and Grandma used Mrs. Stewart’s. I am going to see if I can find some. I loved that article. Would love to Reblog it, but don’see a way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
many people swear by it. The blue tricks the eye into seeing white :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will find some!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I found some in the Coles supermarket here. But then, this is Australia….
LikeLike
I am going on a search.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck. Do you think you will need an Indian tracker?
LikeLike
You know it.
LikeLike
Min you, I haven’t used it. It’s just sitting in the cupboard. Would you like me to send it to you ? :)
LikeLike
Guess not. It would probably cost $20.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And the rest…… you could probably buy a carton of them over there for the price of postage!
LikeLike
Good luck on the next towel exorcism! Because I’m a miser, I have the ugliest towels in the house. John encourages me to use the nice ones, but no, I keep using the ones that are faded and skinny because I won’t throw them out.
LikeLike
Well, they still work.
LikeLiked by 1 person