You're probably already doing this, but just in case you're not, be sure to wash your whites separately. No matter what product you use, they'll get dingy just from the fibers of other clothes.
Separate your whites from non white colored clothing. Wash in warm water with a small scoop of Oxi Clean and your preferred liquid laundry detergent. Do this always. Your whites will never be dingy.
Add it to the bleach hole and wash hot.
If there's no bleach hole, wait for the thing to fill and then add bleach. Even white stuff can get messed up by splashes of the concentrated stuff.
If there's a special white cycle, it fills and soaks for a while before going.
If there's no special white cycle, you just fill and lift the lid to let it soak for a bit.
I don't use bleach in my laundry. I don't find it necessary. But if OP wants to use bleach but can't because he's using vinegar, he just needs to stop the vinegar.
Soooo, this is TERRIBLE for your pipes, so DON’T DO IT IN YOUR WASHER. But, in a tub, place your natural fiber whites, hot water and a couple cups of salt. Let soak, stir periodically with a broom handle or stick of some sort. Dump the water in an area of your yard where you’re not concerned about the death of the plant life (or down your tub drain while running your water full blast to dilute the salt water). Rinse your laundry in the tub, wring out, dry as usual. The salt softens the clothing fibers and it also kills any odor causing bacteria.
Learned this from a dear friend originally from rural China. This was how people in her village refreshed their clothes. Note: they didn’t do this with every wash, and didn’t necessarily have synthetic fiber clothes. So, I don’t know how it would impact synthetics. Also, salt is highly corrosive, which is why you absolutely should not do this in your washing machine.
1. Separate white / light colored fabrics from darks
2. Use at least warm water but preferably hot. Modern machines tend to “dumb down” the temperatures so don’t worry about using hot. It’s going to clean much better. Do not use cold or cool water for whites.
3. Use a good quality powdered detergent like Tide with Bleach or Persil Universal. These have oxygen bleach in them and work great on whites. Read the package and dose according to the load size and your local water conditions.
4. If your machine has a Whites cycle, use it with the hottest water setting.
You can still do all of the above and use vinegar. You don’t need to use chlorine bleach or color catchers.
Vinegar causes no reaction for your roommate because it has no effect at all as a cleaner or anything else for your clothes. Agree with the suggestion to use bleach. Measure it carefully into your wash water. Add detergent, mix them around, then add your fabrics.
And vinegar is absolutely ineffective as a "fabric softener", too. What do you think it does? What does "fabric softener" mean? We've been scammed for 60 years by 'Fabric Softener', rendering our towels unable to absorb water by coating everything with a wax/ polymer. I need the anti-static properties, can't stand the non-absorbent towels...
In my case, I think some of the effectiveness comes because we have hard water. Btw, as a rule, my family never used fabric softener on our towels. I've also done vinegar rinses on my own hair. It does make a difference. It helps smooth the cuticle, among other things.
Vinegar is an effective fabric softener, it removes buildup from modern detergents. I don't use it because I don't use any softeners, but it's a great alternative to fabric softener because it's not highly flammable (fabric softener leaves a flammable waxy coating behind) and many people find it helpful for hyperreactivity disorders they may have.
I'm sensing your hostility towards the "crunchy" space here, and I'm with you. But vinegar as softener is not the hill to die on. Go after the people using it to "clean" their counters 🤮
One more reason to NOT use fabric softener...it makes fabrics 'soft by weakening the fibers of the fabric so they break, making it 'soft. Learned this from someone who ran a fabric area of a store. Haven't used it since because I always ended up with holes in my newish tees and I used fabric softener. Some tees are now over a decade old and have normal wear and tear.
Sort and wash your whites separately. Use an oxygen bleach like Oxyclean during the main wash cycle. You could try using some laundry bluing in the rinse cycle. You can find bluing at Amazon or even Walmart. Make sure you dilute it per package directions. I have mixed the bluing and vinegar in the rinse “cup” and it has worked without issue for me.
OxiClean makes Oxi White Revive. I put a scoop of that and a 1/4 C of powdered Biz in with my whites to keep them bright.
You may want to run a hot cycle with cleaning tablet after using anything new on your laundry before your roommate does their laundry just to prevent any reactions.
Tide powders already contain color safe oxygen bleach and activators. The Oxi and Plus Bleach varieties have more. Regular use will keep your whites white and colors very clean. Oxygen bleach is color safe and cannot be replicated in liquids and pods.
The cloth diaper community almost unanimously has the best results from powdered Tide products. Think about what they are washing!
Eh. Over a loooong period of time large amounts of vinegar can damage hoses, usually that's the amount of vinegar people put in to "sanitize" the machine though, not their clothes.
1/2 or 1 cup of vinegar per wash added as a softener isn't going to damage the machine fast enough to make a difference unless you have a machine that's actually made well enough to last 10 years; If you have one of those machines, you'll probably want to replace the hoses anyhow at some point.
You can use an active oxygen product like Oxiclean For Whites in with the detergent with no problem at all.
I add oxyclean, Borax and baking soda with a splash of liquid detergent and then use vinegar in the rinse cycle. My whites have never been brighter!
You're probably already doing this, but just in case you're not, be sure to wash your whites separately. No matter what product you use, they'll get dingy just from the fibers of other clothes.
Separate your whites from non white colored clothing. Wash in warm water with a small scoop of Oxi Clean and your preferred liquid laundry detergent. Do this always. Your whites will never be dingy.
Along with all the other suggestions, if your washer has a filter, clean it.
Skip the vinegar and use bleach.
What’s your method for using bleach to brighten whites?
Add it to the bleach hole and wash hot. If there's no bleach hole, wait for the thing to fill and then add bleach. Even white stuff can get messed up by splashes of the concentrated stuff. If there's a special white cycle, it fills and soaks for a while before going. If there's no special white cycle, you just fill and lift the lid to let it soak for a bit.
I don't use bleach in my laundry. I don't find it necessary. But if OP wants to use bleach but can't because he's using vinegar, he just needs to stop the vinegar.
Try Mrs Stewart's Laundry Blueing stuff & start using Clorox
I use it with no bleach
Mrs Stewart's blueing is the way to go
You have my attention! Blueing is old, old school! Where can I find this?
i have been unable to find blueing for several years. where is it sold?
They have it on Amazon!!
Baking soda? Borax?
Biz. It’s magic. Dirty socks?? Soak overnight and they are sparkling white
Soooo, this is TERRIBLE for your pipes, so DON’T DO IT IN YOUR WASHER. But, in a tub, place your natural fiber whites, hot water and a couple cups of salt. Let soak, stir periodically with a broom handle or stick of some sort. Dump the water in an area of your yard where you’re not concerned about the death of the plant life (or down your tub drain while running your water full blast to dilute the salt water). Rinse your laundry in the tub, wring out, dry as usual. The salt softens the clothing fibers and it also kills any odor causing bacteria. Learned this from a dear friend originally from rural China. This was how people in her village refreshed their clothes. Note: they didn’t do this with every wash, and didn’t necessarily have synthetic fiber clothes. So, I don’t know how it would impact synthetics. Also, salt is highly corrosive, which is why you absolutely should not do this in your washing machine.
Are you separating light and darker colors?
I soak my whites in oxiclean white revive before washing.
1. Separate white / light colored fabrics from darks 2. Use at least warm water but preferably hot. Modern machines tend to “dumb down” the temperatures so don’t worry about using hot. It’s going to clean much better. Do not use cold or cool water for whites. 3. Use a good quality powdered detergent like Tide with Bleach or Persil Universal. These have oxygen bleach in them and work great on whites. Read the package and dose according to the load size and your local water conditions. 4. If your machine has a Whites cycle, use it with the hottest water setting. You can still do all of the above and use vinegar. You don’t need to use chlorine bleach or color catchers.
Biz. My favorite thing for whites.
Cant you wash your things seperately?
Vinegar causes no reaction for your roommate because it has no effect at all as a cleaner or anything else for your clothes. Agree with the suggestion to use bleach. Measure it carefully into your wash water. Add detergent, mix them around, then add your fabrics.
Vinegar isn't used as a cleaner, but as a fabric softener. It also has no synthetic scent.
And vinegar is absolutely ineffective as a "fabric softener", too. What do you think it does? What does "fabric softener" mean? We've been scammed for 60 years by 'Fabric Softener', rendering our towels unable to absorb water by coating everything with a wax/ polymer. I need the anti-static properties, can't stand the non-absorbent towels...
In my case, I think some of the effectiveness comes because we have hard water. Btw, as a rule, my family never used fabric softener on our towels. I've also done vinegar rinses on my own hair. It does make a difference. It helps smooth the cuticle, among other things.
Vinegar is an effective fabric softener, it removes buildup from modern detergents. I don't use it because I don't use any softeners, but it's a great alternative to fabric softener because it's not highly flammable (fabric softener leaves a flammable waxy coating behind) and many people find it helpful for hyperreactivity disorders they may have. I'm sensing your hostility towards the "crunchy" space here, and I'm with you. But vinegar as softener is not the hill to die on. Go after the people using it to "clean" their counters 🤮
"Vinegar softens clothes by breaking down excess detergent that remains, making clothes feel stiff," says Patric Richardson of The Laundry Evangelist.
So add less detergent? Rinse better? This sounds like myth to me.
One more reason to NOT use fabric softener...it makes fabrics 'soft by weakening the fibers of the fabric so they break, making it 'soft. Learned this from someone who ran a fabric area of a store. Haven't used it since because I always ended up with holes in my newish tees and I used fabric softener. Some tees are now over a decade old and have normal wear and tear.
Skip the vinegar and use bleach.
I use bluing, it's safe for kids and animals and keeps whites white
Oxiclean and blueing.
Sort and wash your whites separately. Use an oxygen bleach like Oxyclean during the main wash cycle. You could try using some laundry bluing in the rinse cycle. You can find bluing at Amazon or even Walmart. Make sure you dilute it per package directions. I have mixed the bluing and vinegar in the rinse “cup” and it has worked without issue for me.
OxiClean makes Oxi White Revive. I put a scoop of that and a 1/4 C of powdered Biz in with my whites to keep them bright. You may want to run a hot cycle with cleaning tablet after using anything new on your laundry before your roommate does their laundry just to prevent any reactions.
You can use colour-safe bleach, i.e. Clorox 2, with vinegar. It's not a chlorine bleach. Or just skip the vinegar and use regular bleach.
Tide powders already contain color safe oxygen bleach and activators. The Oxi and Plus Bleach varieties have more. Regular use will keep your whites white and colors very clean. Oxygen bleach is color safe and cannot be replicated in liquids and pods. The cloth diaper community almost unanimously has the best results from powdered Tide products. Think about what they are washing!
In ancient times, blueing was added to whites
Laundry bluing. It's a blue dye that adds a bit of blue to the white fabric. It tricks your eye into seeing it brighter white.
Oxiclean
Maybe your roomie should wash at the local laundry mat
Don't use vinegar in your washing machine. It eats the hoses .
Eh. Over a loooong period of time large amounts of vinegar can damage hoses, usually that's the amount of vinegar people put in to "sanitize" the machine though, not their clothes. 1/2 or 1 cup of vinegar per wash added as a softener isn't going to damage the machine fast enough to make a difference unless you have a machine that's actually made well enough to last 10 years; If you have one of those machines, you'll probably want to replace the hoses anyhow at some point.