We wash our sheets once a week but every so often we strip our sheets to rid them of any build up from laundry detergent, minerals from hard water, oils from our skin etc. It never ceases to amaze what comes out of sheets I wash regularly. I will say, ours has never looked as bad as I have seen from some recent tik tok videos so I take some comfort in that. Our detergent must not be doing too bad of a job. What you need to strip your sheets: Tide powder, washing soda (you can make your own if you would like by following directions HERE. I have done this in the past but choose to just buy it at the store now), Borax powder and a tub (or a sink or large bucket if you don’t have a tub in your house). I put links to Amazon on here but you can also usually buy these items at your local grocer although I have struggled to find washing soda at some of our local stores.
When you are ready to strip your sheets, fill your tub with hot water. I put my on as hot as I can get it. As it is filling I do once scoop of each of the 3 powders.
I like to then swirl the water around a bit and funny enough our son’s plastic sword is the perfect sturdiness and size so that is what I use each time. Of course you can always use your hand if you would like.
This is what the water looks like after it is filled but before adding any sheets or towels.
It’s not completely clear but definitely light and clear. The picture makes it look darker than it was but what can you do? Then add your sheets, or towels, keeping in mind that you want to add what can fit into your machine after the stripping process is done. I do one set of sheets and pillowcases at a time for the bigger beds and two sets for the kids.
Once I have added the sheets I use the sword to push everything down and move it around a bit. You can leave it like this for 4-5 hours (use the temp of the water as a way to know if it has been long enough, if the water is still warm I would let it soak longer) or you can occasionally go in there and give it a bit of a stir to make sure everywhere is really covered and has a chance to soak. Once the temperature of the water is cool I usually drain it, squeeze the water out of the items and then go put it through the rinse cycle of the washing machine. For the sake of this post I took the sheets out before draining so that you can see the water.
I always have such mixed feelings. Part of me thinks 🤢 yet another part is 🙌🏼 and 😃. It feels so good to sleep in sheets knowing all that build up is gone! I have no idea what the suggested time is between stripping but I only do this once a year. It’s a great spring cleaning item and even then I have certainly missed years. I only recently did it on our towels for the first time and didn’t get as much results from it. We also don’t hang on to towels forever though so I’m not all that surprised by that one.
Make sure you only strip items that are ok to be washed in hot water and NO delicates. With that being said, happy spring cleaning and feeling so fresh and so clean, clean! 🎶 (I still sing that song every time I start spring cleaning. old habits die hard)
xo,
Jenny
Homestead Creations 