Bleach and towels

[ipsafictura]

I am hunting around for some new towels, and I keep running into white towels that emphatically insist on no bleaching. I remember running into a bit of this the last time I wanted to buy towels, but it seems like it's getting worse? I like white towels (mostly for aesthetic reasons), and I like being able to keep them nice and white with bleach. I

Comments

[marence]

I'd try bleaching them anywhere. Most towel lines have one label that is put one all the towels - it's not cost effective to make a separate one for the white towels/washcloths only.

[marence]

anyway, not anywhere. Time for more coffee, I guess.

[ipsafictura]

That was my thought too, but a woman I spoke to at Macy's said that it was intentional, and that you really weren't supposed to bleach them (the ones I own currently have "do not bleach colored towels" on the tag, which handily gets around that problem).

[tatianne]

I always buy the most plush white towels I can find when I need new ones. Then I never read the label and I always bleach the crap out of them. Multiple times weekly!

[nothingmuch]

lol same

[jabber]

I have absolutely no problem with bleaching towels. I prefer white ones, but even colored towels just fade when bleached. OK, so they're faded... They're freaking TOWELS! :) In a pinch, I use towels to wipe off my dogs, mop up a spilled pot of coffee or to catch a toilet overflow. So yeah, those bad boys get BLEACHED from time to time. The label writers can "dry clean only" their towels for all I care.

[tashabear]

do not bleach != dry clean only.

IMO, they really only put "do not bleach" to forestall complaints from people who bleach them and then bitch because their towels faded.

[jabber]

Re: !=, clearly, if it were == the words would mean the same thing. :)

[tashabear]

True, but just because it says do not bleach does not mean that your only other option is dry-cleaning.

[chat_fou]

You could try lemon juice and baking soda, but if you're into bleach, I would go with "flagrant disregard of manufacturer's instructions"!

[paulistano]

I've often wondered about that injunction, since all of my whites (undershirts, underwear, etc) all say not to bleach them. But who doesn't bleach their whites? What else is bleach for? So, I bleach anyway and have no noticed no difference in how long the fabrics last.

[lapenn]

I don't bleach my whites because I just don't care. They all look plenty clean to me. Then again, I hardly have anything white (my boyfriend's undershirts, a couple dish towels, and maybe a few pairs of white cotton socks he uses for working out). I emphatically don't own white towels because I don't want to be bothered with bleaching.

I must say that the little old ladies who wash tea towels at the church do a marvelous job. But then definitely use bleach.

[arualanne]

Me too. I own very few whites and really could care less if my socks are sparkling. I own colored towels so I don't have to worry about bleach just fading and really it is a towel it can be as faded as it wants as long as it sops up liquid, generally shower water.

I am also emphatically anit-ironing, unless it is a sewing project then it only gets ironed when I am making the silly garment and after that it can wrinkle away.

Oh and also bleach other than laundry can be used as a disinfectant for counters and the like, and for anything where you need to clean up blood as if kills the germys as long as it is at least a concentration of 10% bleach. (ah the wonderful things you learn working in a clinical pathology lab)