The bleach must be getting trapped somewhere in your washer. Try a nonclorine bleach or just washing soda to do your whites and a pretreater for spots. I'd do a double rinse to remove all traces of soap too. Leftover soap om your clothes makes them dingy over time

Do you have a top or front loading washer? Are you using bleach to sanitize, whiten, or both? Do you use hot water for washing whites? As with most things, there's not just one alternative, but I've included several and hope one helps you out.

-If you are not washing whites in hot water, that's a good place to start. If you switch to oxygen-type bleaches (like Clorox 2), they work best in hot water.

-Bluing doesn't whiten clothing - it covers the fabric with a blue dye that tricks the eye into thinking it sees white. It also washes out after a few washes and you still have gray or yellow whites. It doesn't remove stains, if that's what you are using bleach for, nor does it sanitize.

-Bleach can actually react to minerals in hard water and turn your whites yellow, defeating the purpose. Bleach is not recommended for whitening clothing in our area for just that reason. If you are sanitizing clothes, it only takes one or two tablespoons. If you are trying to remove stains, try soaking them before you launder them.

-Dry your whites in the sun to "bleach" them. Although it's a rather old-fashioned treatment, it still works well.

-Add 1/2-cup 3% solution hydrogen peroxide in the bleach dispenser to your laundry to "bleach" them. Use sparingly, it can damage fabrics.

-Since phosphates have been removed from our detergents, which worked very well in hard water to clean and whiten laundry, you can add 2 T.-1/4 c. dishwasher detergent to your whites, along with your regular detergent. Dishwasher detergents still contain phosphates. This is a method I use occasionally.

-If you need to soak whites, like cotton socks:

1/2 c. lemon juice
2 T. Cascade Dishwasher Detergent
1 gallon hot water.
Soak 30 minutes, or overnight if really stained.

-If your whites are turning gray, it can be caused by soap build-up, which often happens in hard water. Follow the advice given by oilpainter (above), or try this method.

To get clothes white again:
(source: Getting Clothes Clean - Guide C-503 - Cooperative Extension Service - Mexico State University)

*Wash the clothes again in hot water.
*Add enough water softener to make the water feel slippery (about 1 cup).
*If the water becomes sudsy, the clothes were not rinsed enough. Wash them again adding only water softener.

-Grainlady

Thanks!

I do use hot water to wash the whites, and I use the bleach to both whiten and sanitize. And I didn't think about the hard water aspect of it; we do have hard water here.

I'll try the soak and the water softener trick and see if that helps!

Thanks again! :)

Don't use the bleach dispenser.

Let the washer fill partway, then add the bleach to the water, swich it aorund, then add the clothes when the washer is at least 1/2 full.

Fill the washer completely with water, then add diluted blench. Don't glug the bleach from the bottle into the washer. That way if any splashes somewhere it won't be full strength. Keep a plastic pitcher in the laundry room. Pour carefully.

Why don't use the dispenser?

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