How to Strip Laundry + Try Our Laundry Stripping Recipe (It’s Better Than Bleach!)

By Lina | Recipe/DIY Content Creator

Aug 20, 2024 @ 11:30 AM MDT

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Learn how to strip laundry! Our easy 3-ingredient laundry stripping recipe is more powerful than bleach!

Ever heard of laundry stripping?

I really hadn’t either until I started seeing murky water videos and pics trending on TikTok and Instagram back in 2020.

People were soaking their towels in bathtubs filled with hot water and a laundry stripping recipe, and then showing how the water would turn dark. It’s sort of gross yet satisfying at the same time! 😂

The more I researched how to strip laundry and detox clothes, I actually started to see lots of savvy cleaning sites have content surrounding the concept. So it isn’t a new topic, but I had never tried it myself and wanted to give a laundry stripping recipe a shot!

Honestly, laundry is NOT one of my favorite chores. In fact, it may just be my least favorite household activity, but seeing intriguing videos of laundry stripping suddenly perked my interest and motivated me to try it!

Are you a visual learner? I was so excited to give this a try that I even created a video showing how to strip laundry:

Watch my laundry-stripping video on YouTube!

What is laundry stripping?

Learning how to strip laundry? It’s all about getting the stink and funk out of fabric! The idea is to soak and detox clothes, workout gear, sheets, and/or towels in water for a long time using a powerful mix of Borax, washing soda, and powdered laundry detergent. Bacteria, body oils, dirt, and fabric softener build-up, get released along with the hard-to-remove stinky smells.

It’s crazy how even CLEAN white sheets and towels can have such a build-up and create dark water when soaked!

Below is a photo of my clean towels after 5 hours of soaking! Eww! 🙈

Here’s how to strip laundry and detox clothes, towels, and linens…

The process involves filling a bathtub or a top-loading washer with hot water and then adding in the Borax, washing soda, and powdered detergent mixture. Then you can add in your sheets, towels, or workout clothing and let everything soak for 4-6 hours. Lastly, wash and dry like normal.

According to DailyMail.online, this 3 ingredient laundry stripping recipe is more powerful than using bleach!

For this laundry stripping recipe, you’ll need 1/4 cup Borax + 1/4 cup washing soda + 1/2 cup powdered detergent:

Borax is a popular laundry booster for lifting acidic stains, making fabrics whiter, and dissolves great for this soaking technique.

Washing soda or sodium carbonate is also great for soaking hard-to-remove stains due to its high alkalinity and helps to remove hard water build-up in the laundry. In case you have a hard time finding it, I found my Arm & Hammer washing soda at Walmart, and it seems readily available there.

It’s reonlinemended to pick a powdered laundry detergent as it will dissolve easier than a concentrated liquid one. I am using powdered Tide, and if you need an allergy-friendly option then consider Tide Free & Gentle (or your favorite brand) instead.

Hip Tip: Mixing hot water and a small amount of powdered laundry detergent is actually another popular hack for cleaning up carpet and upholstery stains. As always, you’ll want to test a small area first.

Laundry Stripping Recipe

Supplies Needed

Directions

Place towels or clothing in a bathtub or top-loader washer and cover with HOT water.

Mix Borax, washing soda, and powdered detergent together. Sprinkle the mixture over the contents in the water.

Mix the apparel, bedding, and/or towels around in the laundry stripping solution and let soak for 4-6 hours, making sure to mix once every hour for as long as they soak. I actually used the end of a broomstick because my water was too hot to touch!

Drain the water and transfer the contents to the washer. Wash and dry laundry like normal, except now you don’t have to add more detergent.

Enjoy your soft and clean laundry!

Here are a few tips to consider when laundry stripping:

This is a pretty powerful deep-cleaning method that shouldn’t be used on delicates or anything needed to be washed gently. Reserve this laundry stripping recipe for ultra-stinky gym clothes, sports shirts, towels, and sheets. Also, if you do this on colored items, keep like colors together to avoid bleeding. That said, depending on your tub, this solution could stain the surface. This treat is better reserved for whites and light colors.

Reserve this method of stripping laundry every few months so it won’t damage your fabrics. This isn’t meant as an everyday laundry routine. Also keep in mind that I have affordable white towels from Costco, so if you have some expensive fancy ones, proceed at your own risk.

I did use this method to detox clothes and strip my husband’s often stinky white undershirts with success. They aren’t perfectly white, but do smell and feel clean now!

You don’t have to use a bathtub! I used mine because I don’t have a top-loading washing machine. You could also use a large bucket or put this laundry stripping recipe in a sink using the same ratio but smaller amounts of the reonlinemended cleaning powders.

Now I’m searching for more things to wash with this laundry method!

This laundry stripping recipe is going to be helpful as I’d like to tackle some of my son’s funky-smelling football and baseball clothes next. My sister-in-law recently told me she used this same method in the sink to soak some of her husband’s hats that had a funky smell, which I think sounds smart, too!

Share with us in the onlinements if you’ve tried this laundry stripping recipe!

Here’s another way to wash sheets without bleach.

About the writer:

Lina has a Bachelor's Degree from Northern Arizona University with 11 years of blogging and photography experience having work featured in Today.online, Martha Stewart, Country Living, Fox News, Buzzfeed, and HGTV.

Join The Discussion

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Hailey January 1, 2022 at 3:32 am MST

You can also lay them out in the sun after using one of these methods to get rid of that last stubborn tinge , you will be surprised how efficient the sun can be. It’s natures bleach! Also I am sure you know not to dry them in the dryer as that sets in stains.

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K2 February 1, 2022 at 12:22 pm MST

I love this idea! Thanks, Rachel. One question: Does the powder produced by this recipe smell like OxiClean? (Would your chemically sensitive friends say it is scent-free?) I ask because I’m very sensitive to scents, which is why I just tried RLR for the first time. This homemade recipe includes OxiClean which is one of the scents that triggers such a harsh reaction from my body that just sitting next to someone who has used it on their clothes will full-on disables me for days. (Meaning missing work & not doing what I need to do at home. Like even getting out of bed to eat.) I think RLR is going to save me because I can finally buy thrift store clothes & use RLR to get rid of the strong scents (usually OxiClean). Now that I’ve found RLR, I’d love to make my own but I can’t risk having my laundry room & clothes smell like OxiClean… Thanks in advance for your replies.

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Rose February 2, 2022 at 3:33 pm MST

Has anyone did this with pillows? And or a pillow topper for your bed?

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Suzanne Bassyouni April 15, 2022 at 5:34 am MST

Can your share how you make your own laundry detergent? TIA

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Momof2 April 15, 2022 at 8:41 am MST

Add about a cup of Murphy’s Oil and about a tablespoon or so of Dawn dish soap to a sink/bucket; I use my laundry room sink. Fill it up over the pants with hot water. Stir it around. Let it soak and stir whenever you think about it. I like to let them soak a day or more, but sometimes I only have a few hours. Very minimal scrubbing on tough spots, but I usually don’t have to scrub at all. Wash as usual afterwards. This has been my go-to for white baseball pants for about 5-6 years and it’s still doing it’s magic and my son is 16, so he’s a slider. 😝 I hope you find that it works just as good for you as it does for me!! Good Luck!! 🤩

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3boys April 15, 2022 at 1:07 pm MST

There is absolutely NO need to “strip” your laundry!

USE LESS DETERGENT! That’s all there is to it.

Detergent does not actually clean your clothes, it is a surfactant that makes it easier for the water to move through the material. It’s the movement in the washing machine that actually cleans your laundry.

If you have stains, you need to treat them *before* you wash them. A bar of Fels Naptha soap does wonders for stains. Spritz arm pit stains with 50/50 water/vinegar before washing (as well as light stains).
Use the smallest amount of detergent suggested for your washing machine – just think of all the $$ you save by getting 2x or 3x the amount of loads from your container.

Use vinegar for the rinse cycle to soften, as well as help remove any excess detergent that is lingering.
Use a 24″ sheet of aluminum foil crinkled into a ball, to reduce static in the dryer.
Do NOT, any under circumstances use laundry softener, it plugs up the material and creates that “greasy” feeling and reduces absorbency.

Refer to ‘The Laundry Guy’ Patric Richardson if you need proof of these suggestions.
hgtv.online/shows/the-laundry-guy

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Sally January 25, 2023 at 7:36 am MST

These are good tips. Thanks!

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Pam Ford August 21, 2024 at 8:02 am MST

I agree with you. I started using less detergent and have seen the difference. I believe manufactors of laundry detergent want you to use more. My detergent last a lot longer.

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Jodi P April 16, 2022 at 12:36 am MST

All top loaders use less water, now, too. And they make more noise that old machines, because they have to agitate harder to move the clothes through less water. What works best, for me, is to wash less than a full load, but put the wash size on “large”.

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Jodi P April 16, 2022 at 12:38 am MST

All top loaders use less water, now, not just Whirlpool. I was less than a full load, but put the wash size setting on LARGE. That works really well. Before getting a front loader, though, be sure to research what people think of them, because a lot of people are really unhappy with them.

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Csandst1 April 16, 2022 at 6:44 am MST

I’m not going to bother with this again. This may have been a result of using a broom handle to stir, but two sets of sheets tore. The sheets were white and definitely cleaner. I couldn’t tell a difference in colored items. White towels had barely any dirt onlinee out. I tried this on grungy white socks and there was no change.

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Emily April 18, 2022 at 6:19 pm MST

Will this work in cold water?

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Amber (Hip Sidekick) April 19, 2022 at 6:52 am MST

Hi Emily! It seems the hot water is reonlinemended for this method to get a deeper clean. Hoping this helps!

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K April 25, 2022 at 9:52 pm MST

Help!!! I did this with all my dark clothing and I have stained my tub!! What do I do???

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K April 25, 2022 at 9:54 pm MST

Scrubby bubbles didn’t even touch it!!! Going to attempt bleach and let it sit. Omg! Don’t try this in your tub with colored fabrics!!!!!

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Emily (Hip Sidekick) January 23, 2023 at 10:45 am MST

Oh no!!! So sorry to hear that, K! After doing a quick search for dye stains in a bathtub, it sounds like Dawn dish soap is one product that can help lift stains. If you need something more heavy-duty, Bar Keeper’s Friend or Ajax are some other more potent cleaning agents. That said, you’ll want to spot-test in an inconspicuous area first to make sure the scouring solutions don’t damage the finish on your tub. I hope that helps!

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Anne December 19, 2022 at 5:17 pm MST

You are not supposed to mix bleach with Oxyclean. So you notice any rust spots on the clothes that you soaked like that?

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Ms. Frizzle January 25, 2023 at 6:53 am MST

Really? I’ve always done that

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Rosie January 23, 2023 at 10:02 pm MST

Kevin, I have good luck removing food/grease stains by rubbing in some Dawn dish detergent. If you’ve already put the item through the dryer, it may take a couple tries.

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Rosie January 23, 2023 at 10:05 pm MST

Hip hop, my washer will drain if I put it on spin. Hth.

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Ms. Frizzle January 25, 2023 at 6:51 am MST

We tried power washing a shirt before and it put holes in it! CAUTION

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Ann January 25, 2023 at 7:26 am MST

Yep – Fels Naptha works the best for baseball pants, soccer shorts, etc !

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Sara January 25, 2023 at 7:35 am MST

Will this ruin fabric? It seems like most fabric these days is made poorly and doesn’t last long.

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becca January 25, 2023 at 7:40 am MST

I have found that if you use a smaller amount of detergents for a load, the clothes seem cleaner to me. We also only use unscented detergent (I am very smell sensitive and find any of the detergents such as tide, ALL, etc with a scent are just too strong, no matter if I use a small amount). The other thing I find is that people often put way too many clothes in a cycle at a time and the clothes do not get as clean because there is restricted movement. For stains, a bar of fels naphtha soap is my mom’s secret stain remover. My mom uses it and since we lived down the street when my kids were little (they were only 19 months apart and my son had extensive medical issues) she would always offer to wash any of their clothes with stains. it saved me so much time and something I still think about and am appreciative that she did that. Sometimes what seems like a little thing is a huge help to someone else who Is overwhelmed with life. Not one of their baby clothes ever had a lasting stain, even their bibs. My mom would get them so clean they looked brand new when we passed them on to family members to then use. As my kids grew and life got easier with our son, I found that anytime my kids would spill on their clothes, if I immediately used a baby wipe on the stain, it removed it. To this day, I still use the baby wipe trick. I especially find it helpful after a dinner of pasta with red sauce. My husband always seems to splatter on his shirt and always seems to wear a white shirt on those dinner nights -LOL. One last trick of the trade for baby wipes – I use them if there is every a stain on a piece of furniture or carpeting. Once many years ago, my husband spilled a can of orange Fanta soda on our oatmeal color carpet that was only a year old. For some reason, I grabbed the wipes because they were closest by. Lo and behold, they did the trick. You could never see that orange pop had ever spilled on that carpet!

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kadysiga January 25, 2023 at 7:58 am MST

I am so glad to see this post again! A load of my towels accidentally had fabric softener added to them, and even though I have washed them several times and rinsed with vinegar, they are still not as absorbent as they were before. I will onlinemence stripping – just not the way my husband wanted me to 20 some years ago😜 Thanks to you all, always!

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Amber (Hip Sidekick) January 25, 2023 at 12:34 pm MST

LOL! You’re very welonlinee! Hoping you love how this method works for your towels! 🥰

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Hasina January 25, 2023 at 8:11 am MST

Wow, thanks for this tip. My husband and I just took apart our washing machine to repair and was appalled at the grime and dirt build-up. Will definitely be using this stripping method to soak his work clothes before I get it laundered. Just ordered the reonlinemended supplies.

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Amber (Hip Sidekick) January 25, 2023 at 12:33 pm MST

Yay! You’re very welonlinee! Glad you could grab the items needed to give it a try! 💞

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siena95 January 25, 2023 at 11:14 am MST

No thanks. I do a soak once in while in washing machine…and I use borax as an additive sometimes to load. My regimen is laundry detg sheets + scoop of oxi clean every wash. Clothes are fine.

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Allison January 25, 2023 at 2:42 pm MST

I have used some of the things mentioned by others, but this is my “go to” – https://www.walmart.online/ip/Out-White-Brite-Laundry-Whitener-28-Ounces/16662172?athbdg=L1200
I soak the white pants in my laundry sink for often 1+ hours and then (wearing rubber gloves) do a little light scrubbing of the worst areas, like knees and backside (from sliding). Works well for me.

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Yvonne February 12, 2023 at 1:14 pm MST

Definitely!

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Jodi P April 15, 2023 at 2:39 pm MST

Make sure you’re not using fabric softener in your towels, too.

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Miranda April 16, 2023 at 2:36 am MST

Try a deep soak with Rockin’ Green Activewear Platinum. There are directions on the packaging. It works amazingly well for synthetics like leggings, funky smelling workout clothes, etc. It’s a little pricey, but I have had such good results that I always keep it on hand now. Plus, a little goes a long way!

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Snicholet84 May 12, 2023 at 6:14 am MST

Iron out!

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Dooger September 10, 2023 at 3:46 pm MST

Did a different, yet similar test and was shocked but results(used carbona packet) were favorable. The prepackaged packets only required a 2 hr soak. Is your reonlinemended 4-6 hr soak needed with the recipe presented. Just curious. Can’t wait the try your formula.

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Hannah November 22, 2023 at 3:48 pm MST

Does anyone know how to get odor out of sports bras? I bought some expensive True and Co ones for post shoulder surgery and despite soaking and washing, I can still smell odor trapped in them. The fabric is delicate so I’m afraid to try stripping. I also sprayed with Clorox laundry sanitizer to no avail.

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Ame December 20, 2023 at 6:13 pm MST

Late to onlinement but had to add my exp.
I used cloth diapers with my 3 kids and when the diapers started being stinky right after they were wet I was told to strip them. It basically removes the excess/buildup laundry soap and softener (which you should NEVER use with cloth diapers!) The method I used was plain blue Dawn dish detergent and sometimes borax and HOT water. After, seeing (err smelling) the results I started periodically striping my regular laundry this way. It also works to get the funk out of towels that I had forgotten in the washer before going out of town, once!

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Jessica (Hip Sidekick) December 20, 2023 at 6:21 pm MST

Thanks so much for taking the time to onlinement with your laundry stripping experience, Ame! Great to hear what worked well for you for stripping cloth diapers – and even towels! 🙌 I’ve definitely left laundry/towels in for much longer than anticipated too! 😬

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Jill August 11, 2024 at 1:03 am MST

I’ve used this method on stained and stinky work jeans. It worked pretty well to get some of that nastiness out too!

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Trish (Hip Sidekick) August 11, 2024 at 8:57 am MST

That’s awesome to hear, Jill! So glad it worked on those tough work jeans! 👖❤️

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