11 Plus Exams Forum

I cannot believe I am asking this, the queen of gungy chewing gum grey school shirts, don't care, at least they are clean........but secondary is even stirring my sartorial conscience. So, is there a magic, prefer cheap, way of keeping shirts white, by any chance that means I can still put them in with all the colours etc at 30 degrees? (Colour run not a problem currently), and avoid either a boil wash or a separate whites wash (no enough to justify either, or have to buy loads shirts). Maybe a pre soak in good old bicarbonate of soda or a weak bleach solution??

Or just buy new shirts every half term??

We always use short sleeves to avoid grimy cuffs.

Hmmmm.

Washing up liquid on the collars, Vanish for whites and a separate white was at 40.


What has my world come to that I have answered this?

Sorry but you will have to keep whites separate. Use Vanish powder (or similar, Lidl's is great) every so often.

Ladies, we have to agree to tell NO ONE we discussed this, ok?

Now, a separate wash? Really? But do you then have loads of shirts and wait for them to build up? Only I don't have anything white except them, deliberately because it's such a pain, dh has non white uniform for work and all my ahems are coloured to avoid white! Sigh. Maybe buy more shirts then and build up.

Thanks for vanish or wash up liquid tips

We have 3 sets of expensive fencing whites that can't be hot washed-I use those sachets that come in a box, dr something-or-other brand along with regular detergent.

Of course whites must be washed alone, they are the Garbo of garb.

Take up fencing or cricket?

I could have had a really important career, don't you know, but instead I ponder issues such as these...

Oh well!

I always wash whites separately and hot (we have lots of white cotton sheets and I wear a lot of white so there is plenty to fill a load) and I use biological liquid for whites but not coloureds. I also try to dry them outside as the sun bleaches them a bit (and eveything smells so much better too- I'm not a fan of the tumble drier).

I also think buying shirts with a high cotton content helps - this does mean not buying the 'non iron' ones but we are a bit obsessive about ironing here too so that isn't a problem for us! Obviously clean shirt every day too, though even with all that they can look a bit tired after a while. But fear not, as teenage boys grow so fast that you will have to buy new ones at around the same time as they start to look awful.

Cotton is easierr to keep white than polyester/cotton. I am the queen of the white wash. Sad but true.


Love the "Garbo of garb"

yoyo123 wrote:Cotton is easierr to keep white than polyester/cotton. I am the queen of the white wash. Sad but true.

I might be a rival...

Polyester is textile disaster. No good ever came of it - in jumper form (what's wrong with wool?) or shirt (cotton just looks and feels so much better) or, heaven forbid, sheets (ugh. They need to feel properly cold and crisp when you get in, not sort of slidey and shiny). Mind you, I wear a lot of linen and I sometimes do wonder if people think I have slept in it after a couple of hours, even though I know it was pristine when I put it on.

3 types of wash in our house - white (60 degrees, biol); pale colours (50, non biol) and dark (40, non biol). Oh and then special arrangements for someone's Lycra cycling kit, denim etc. We are fans of a particular German brand of white goods so the washing machine is configured perfectly for our idiosyncrasies.


And yes I do seem to fit in a life, too.

At last a fellow washing geek!

Ditto the German brand. Mine has a 15 minute 30 degree wash. Great to for stuff which isn't really that dirty.

Oh my word! Talk about feeling inadequate! Everything in this house goes in at 30 dregs, colours or not, and as for ironing, I fold then iron to flatten for rolling up to put in drawer, but otherwise nothing unless situation demands (odd shirt for dh work, his uniform), I never wear anything ironable, skinny rib tops etc are my friend!!

Sigh. And my boys are non smelly so don't change shirt daily. Guess that will have to change of course.

Both will do fencing and cricket, yes that will up the separates wash. No happy I gotta tell you. Not happy at all. Ic a not wear white. I just stand there with something white on and the dirt seems to float into me,without any effort on my part, but maybe I'll have to master the art of the linen trouser, so useful for generations of speech day mums. Teamed with a Breton top, we're the epitome of Provence loving middle classes eh? Speaking of which, I had the luck to go to a concert by The Police a few years back. They were fantastic, but as we sat waiting for it to start, it did occur to us that if a King Kong like monster were to eat us all up in one go, then both Boden and John Lewis would go instantly out of business!!