# laundry bluing



## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

does anyone use laundry bluing? does it work well? tyia.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Love it! Love it! Love it!!!!
2 years ago for Christmas I got 5 bottles of bluing and almost cried!!! I had moved and the stores didn't carry it.
It really brightens whites and takes the yellowy dinge out of denim!!
Did I mention that I love it?

When you add it to the wash.. mix it in a cup with water first, then pour it in. It stains something fierce!!!!!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

thanks thats added to the list of things i need.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

can this be used when hand washing?


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I am sure that it could.. it is good for a soaking too. It is mostly used in the rinse.
I would wash as usual, mix the blueing in some water and then set the clothes in.
You want the water to just be a very light sky blue for whites.. as dark as you want for denims. I have found that it brightens all clothes really.
Leave soak for awhile and then rinse well.
Have I mentioned that I love it?


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

thanks i can't wait to get some.


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## whitehouse (Mar 17, 2008)

I have always been afraid it would bleach things out


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

It is not a bleach, but rather a blue "dye". I am sure it has a more technical name though.
It imparts a blue coloring to the clothes thus cancelling out the yellowy dinge that whites get after bleaching repeatedly.
It works that way on denim too.
The worst that could happen is all of your clothes have an odd bluish tinge or, horrors, you pour it straight into the washer and get bright blue stains.
I think that either ammonia or vinegar takes it out, I don't remember, but it is on the bottle. 
I jst mix mine in with water and then add it to the rinse cycle when it is already full of water again.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i have a rinse thing in the middle of the washer for softener. can i just pour it in there. boy chickenista you sure know bluing.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I wouldn't!! I am not sure of the water ratio.. whether it spits out the "softener" first and then the water etc...this stuff is really, really BLUE!
If you are concerned about missing the rinse window or forgetting etc.. you can add it to the wash cycle. Just make sure the washer is full and ready to churn when you add it in.
When I am going to use bluing I make a point of it. I don't do it with every white wash.. and speaking of which.. I should run my load of whites with it. It has been awhile.

Here is what I need to do.. when I really clean my whites I put them in the washer with bleach and boiling water and run them through. (I choose the nastiest whites for this like socks and washcloths and DH's work t shirts and do it on small load) Sometimes I let them sit a bit in the bleach water.. Then I drain the washer and start again with detergent and run the whole cycle. Then I do a "rinse" cycle again with bluing.
And hang to dry. Nothing is going to get all of the gross out of white socks that are constantly getting barn stuff on them or red clay dirt, but it helps!

For regular washing of whites I just do the bluing in the rinse cycle (or wash cycle) on the days that I remember to do it.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

thanks! can i use this on colors too or just whites. sorry i have a ton of questions about this magic stuff.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I add it to everything every once in awhile. It is one of these things that if I am walking by the washer just as it starts to agitate on rinse and I happen to think about it, I will add some in.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

thanks i cant wait to order some of this! im going to get it from lehmans since i could not find it locally.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i finally got my bluing im going to try it tommrow.:happy:


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i tried it today on a pair of jeans and it dyed my white pockets blue. what did i do wrong? maybe i didn't dilute it enough? tyia


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Yep.. that was it!
The wash/rinse water should just be a sky blue. It takes surprisingly little to accomplish a lot. It is very, very, very, very blue.
And again, I emphasize... mix with water before putting it into the wash if you are doing whites! I keep a quart container by the machine and add a little squirt to it and then pour it into the stream issuing from the washer.
But, I bet your jeans are blue


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

yup those jeans sure are blue now! thanks for all your help. im going to use a bigger container to mix the water and bluing next time.


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## Tilly (Oct 16, 2007)

Okay, so I bought some last night and now I'm scared of the stuff!!!! If you put it in your rinse water with jeans, does the color rub off onto, say, your undies???? I would love to rejuvinate some faded but still good jeans, as well as not having dingy whites. But if the blueing gets the jeans bluer, undies whiter, then you put the jeans on over white undies........ 

Tilly


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

www.mrsstewart.com/pages/purpose.htm

This should help to calm your fears. It describes what it is and how it works and bluing can't "rub off" onto your other clothes. It isn't a dye exactly and it whitens and brightens by optical something or other and it has anti microbial stuff that is good for livestock troughs.. go figure!


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## Tilly (Oct 16, 2007)

DOG GONE IT, I just spent the last hour and a half on that site, then another laundry site, then another......you are an enabler, that's what you are!  Thanks for the link..

Tilly


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

chickenista said:


> www.mrsstewart.com/pages/purpose.htm
> 
> This should help to calm your fears. It describes what it is and how it works and bluing can't "rub off" onto your other clothes. It isn't a dye exactly and it whitens and brightens by optical something or other and it has anti microbial stuff that is good for livestock troughs.. go figure!


thanks for the link. this should make using it easier.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i used it today on all my clothes. it worked great! there was no excess blue either.:banana02:


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I did my whites today and used it. It was also my first day with homemade laundry soap.
Everything is out on the liine.. we shall see.
I am glad you liked the bluing! It is such a forgotten treasure!


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

We use it in the rinse water of white or grey horses when we bathe them. It makes them look REALLY white.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

it is great stuff. i know i keep saying one more question but... can i put shirts with designs/ emblems on it or does it have to be a plain shirt only? tyia for keeping up with me.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Throw it all in! What can it hurt?
There is nothing that I haven't run through a bluing wash. If it can't hurt plain white I cannot see how it would hurt a color anything, you know?


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

this stuff is soo great! it can do anything. thanks for all the help and info.:cowboy:


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Are you saying that your whites are dazzlingly white now?
Wonderful, ain't it?


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

sure is great. yup everything is dazzling, everthing looks like new! this will sure save me tons of money because i won't have to go out and biuy new clothes all the time.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

I found this stuff in my local IGA http://www.naturalmagic.com/catalog/bluette.aspx. You can even put it in the wash water. Im using it now and will let you know how it comes out.


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## firegirl969 (Nov 3, 2008)

I've used it for years and love it.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

I have a recipe for dog shampoo (for showing black dogs) that uses bluing...really makes the dogs sparkle!

Mon


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

firegirl969 said:


> I've used it for years and love it.


Do you use Mrs. Stewart's or Bluette?


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Dreamy said:


> I found this stuff in my local IGA http://www.naturalmagic.com/catalog/bluette.aspx. You can even put it in the wash water. Im using it now and will let you know how it comes out.


I was a little nervous so instead of 1/4 a cup I put a capful. The clothes came out great. Chickenista you are right this is a forgotten treasure. :goodjob:


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

I used it agian today when I washed by hand. The whites were so white when I hung them in the sun that I had to look away!:dance:


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I feel so proud when the whites are in the sun! I know that folks are blinded as they drive by  They must think, :WOW! What woman lives there? She must be something special."

Man, I need a life.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

chickenista said:


> I feel so proud when the whites are in the sun! I know that folks are blinded as they drive by  They must think, :WOW! What woman lives there? She must be something special."
> 
> Man, I need a life.


Chickenista I was hoping you would see this! Have you ever tried bluette? I used it today when I did wash by hand. Of course I hung it out on the line too late and now it is raining. Oh well grandma always said rain is good for clothes.


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## firegirl969 (Nov 3, 2008)

I use Ms. Stewart's. I got it from Lehmans. I have an old spagetti sauce jar with a good lid. I mix it full with a couple drops of bluing and keep it over the washer for the kids to use. That way, they don't use too much.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

firegirl969 said:


> I use Ms. Stewart's. I got it from Lehmans. I have an old spagetti sauce jar with a good lid. I mix it full with a couple drops of bluing and keep it over the washer for the kids to use. That way, they don't use too much.


good idea! Thats where I got my Mrs. Stewart's too.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I have a lifetime supply of Mrs. Stewarts. Thanks to a wonderful family member 
Ok.. I have 6 bottles or so, but that is quite a lot.
Is the bluette an different? I would think that bluing is bluing... but what do I know.
And I don't know about rain being good for clothes, but dew followed by a sunny day really bleaches out stains.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

chickenista said:


> I have a lifetime supply of Mrs. Stewarts. Thanks to a wonderful family member
> Ok.. I have 6 bottles or so, but that is quite a lot.
> Is the bluette an different? I would think that bluing is bluing... but what do I know.
> And I don't know about rain being good for clothes, but dew followed by a sunny day really bleaches out stains.


From what I understand it is bluing but you can use it in the wash water. It's a bigger bottle too and I can get it local. Grandma always said rain was good for clothes so it must be true.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I use Mrs Stewarts in the wash all the time. I am very rarely focused enough to catch the rinse cycle as it starts.  It is so cool that you can get it locally. I used to be able to MS until I moved.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

chickenista said:


> I use Mrs Stewarts in the wash all the time. I am very rarely focused enough to catch the rinse cycle as it starts.  It is so cool that you can get it locally. I used to be able to MS until I moved.


I can never time the rinse cycle so I always miss it. I washed the clothes by hand and the bluette worked great! I have MS too but only one bottle and I got that from lehmans. Im saving that for something special lol.


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