Laundry Stripping 101 - How To Strip Your Laundry

This simple method of how to strip your laundry will literally change your life and rock your world! Powdered Tide, Borax, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, and Calgon for laundry stripping 101!

Ok. This is a super random but not so random non-food-related post. Laundry Stripping 101. All about how to strip your laundry - everything and anything you need to know about it.

If you follow me on Instagram then a couple of weeks ago, you saw me sitting in my bathroom, stirring a tub full of black absolutely filthy water with clothes in it.

You can watch my full story highlights on how to strip your laundry here!

Let's back up to give you the context.

I had seen someone I follow on Instagram "strip their laundry" on their stories. I thought she was crazy. I had never ever heard of this before. But I was intrigued so I watched everything.

She was stripping her running clothes, which I know she runs a lot, so I was even more intrigued. At the end of the 2-minute long story, I was running out to my car to go find everything I needed to start stripping everything in our home. #truth

You see, for the past 4 years, I have STRUGGLED to figure out how to get the horrid smell out of our workout clothes.

Our running pants, shorts, shirts, tanks, and sports bras get LOTS OF LOVE! Working in a gym and coaching track and field for the past 10 years, plus being an avid runner and lifter myself, I live in my workout clothes. It's what I wear 90% of the time.

There is also no one on this planet who sweats more than Justin Bilyeu, so his clothes get equally as much love.

I will also preface this by saying all of our workout gear is Lululemon. I use to work for them a couple of years ago (it was such a fun job, and I miss it sometimes), and I swear up and down by their products. They are in investment - trust me, I know. From someone who doesn't love to spend money on herself, take it from me: this is all I wear, and for good reason.

Since I do live in these clothes, pre-Lululemon I would have to replace pants, shorts, etc. on a yearly basis. I have my Fast & Free Tights which is the ONLY thing I will run in for 4 years and they still look brand new still.

That comes from not only the quality of their products but also I take such good care of them.

This goes for any workout gear you have. You should NEVER, I repeat NEVER, dry your Lululemon or any workout clothes you have. You are basically pouring money down the drain by doing that.

Always wash them

• on cold
• delicate cycle
• no fabric softener
• no drying

That is the key to washing and taking care of your workout clothes, Luluemon clothes, and how to get them to last for a very long time.

Now, back to the whole stripping-your-laundry deal.

Since you know understand how much our clothes get used, and worn, and how obsessive I am about taking care of them. For 5+ years now I have been in an ongoing battle to figure out how to get the nasty smell out of them.

After a while, you literally can't get the funk out of your gym clothes. If you know, you know. I have tried everything from

• hanging the worn clothes up to let the sweat completely dry before washing
• to hand washing
• to every single kind of laundry detergent, laundry beads, and everything in between

Nothing worked!

So without making the background of my never-ending laundry endeavor any longer - let's get back to how stripping your laundry will solve all your stinky laundry woes.

Also, I did not come up with this method. After seeing my friend do this and digging around, I found out that @gocleanco is the master genius behind this all. This is her recipe and instructions. I just followed to a T and give her all the glorious laundry credit. Bless you @gocleanco! Bless you! YOU MUST FOLLOW HER NOW!

Jump to:

• What Does Laundry Stripping Mean?
• Laundry Stripping 101: How Do You Strip Your Laundry?
• Reader Review
• How Do I Separate My Workout Clothes For Stripping?
• What Else Besides My Workout Clothes Did I Strip?
• Can I Strip Anything?
• Laundry Stripping Without Borax
• Can I Use Liquid Tide Instead of Powdered Tide?
• Where Did You Find All the Ingredients You Need To Strip Laundry?
• How Often Should I Strip My Laundry?
• How Do You Strip & Wash Bed Sheets?
• What If I am Allergic to Tide? What Else Can I Use?

What Does Laundry Stripping Mean?

Depending on where you live and how hard your water is, there is hard water buildup on your clothes over time. Who knew!

Also, there is soap build-up, and if you use fabric softener (which you shouldn't be on your workout clothes) that gets built up along with other random dirt and odors.

I honestly asked myself after all of this - what job does my washing machine actually do?!

Just kidding. But it doesn't make you wonder.

But over time, with wear and tear, these gross things get built upon our clothes making it hard to actually get them clean.

That actually makes sense.

This process of laundry stripping helps remove all that junk so that your clothes are actually clean.

What a concept!

Laundry Stripping 101: How Do You Strip Your Laundry?

How to Strip Your Laundry - Ingredients & Supplies Needed:

1. ¼ Cup Borax
2. ¼ Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
3. ¼ Cup Calgon
4. 1 Heaping Scoop of Powdered Tide

All links above are Amazon affiliate links. These products can be found at Walmart or other stores for cheaper if need be.

Reader Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I tried this on all of my night gowns. I clean when I get up, and in my pj's because I don't want to get dirt, or bleach on my clothes. I wear a new gown each night, and I shower after cleaning, but they were a bit dingy, and a bit mildew type of smell. I was blown away by the water after just an hour, and again after 3 hours. I only used 2 scoops of arm and hammer super washing soda, and 2 scoops of oxiclean. Absolutely unbelievable.

- KATHY

Process of How to Strip Your Laundry:

1. Fill your bathtub up with HOT HOT water. I like to run my facet for a couple of minutes to make sure it is super hot before shutting the drain.
2. Dump your clean clothes inside. Yes clean. Grab them straight from the drawer and put them in the tub.
3. Mix together the ingredients above and dump them into the tub filled with hot water and clothes.
4. Using a sturdy spoon (a thick wooden spoon works but not on towels, think thick heavy-duty metal kitchen spoon) stir the clothes and laundry mixture together.
5. Let soak for 4-6 hours, stirring every hour.
6. After the time is up, wring each item out and place it in the washing machine. Run a load of laundry just like you normally would. ** Run a full cycle - not a quick wash AND you DO NOT have to add any SOAP since these have been sitting in the soap for hours.**
7. Air dry as normal.

How Do I Separate My Workout Clothes For Stripping?

One of the biggest questions I got was how I separated everything when I did this and if anything bled.

The answer is both yes and no. This is how I did it.

1. A load of all our running pants, shorts, & my tennis skirts.
2. A load of my sports bras, our running tanks, and shirts.
3. Separate small load in the sink of my white tops.
4. Separate small loads in the sink of my Lulumeon tanks that are Nulu, Pima Cotton, or a soft fabric in pinks, reds, and purples.

Did my clothes bleed?

Our first 2 loads of pants, shorts, tanks, and shirts - NO.

These fabrics are all sweat-wicking (or the breathable slick material) and do not bleed. Our pants and shorts are mostly dark colors anyway - but not our tops. I did not have any problems with this but this fabric does not bleed.

However, my loads of pinks/reds/purples did. But they are a different, softer material. So I figured they would and that's why I did them in the sink.

My whites I wanted to do separately because they are whites. Honestly, I was skeptical this would work and I have the hardest time keeping my whites, specifically Lululemon whites, looking bright and not dingy.

I have 3 white love tees and 2 white swiftly that looked horrible. Yellow pits and dirt all over my long-sleeved thumbhole swiftly. And nothing I did would ever get the gray grime off of it or the tees not looking dingy. So this was a test to see if it would really work, and OMG, IT DID!

PRO TIP: if you own Lululemon Swiftys or any of their products with Anti-stink Silverescent® technology, then you CANNOT use Oxiclean on them. It had a weird reaction and caused stains that cannot be removed (without stripping them - which removed all of that! ?? )

I WISH I had a before and after picture so bad. This was the true test knowing laundry stripping is gold and works! My white love tees look brand new and I got every gray dirty grimy dingy thing off my Swifty!

What Else Besides My Workout Clothes Did I Strip?

• White bed sheets and blanket
• White towels and washcloths
• Kitchen towels and hot pads
• All of our underwear and my workout headbands

I want to do our dog's bed and toys next, then pillows, beach towels, and socks next.

Can I Strip Anything?

As far as I know, any clothes that you wash can be stripped. @gocleanco even stripped her feather pillows which were wild!

Laundry Stripping Without Borax

Now. When I first did this, I completely forgot to get Borax AANNNNDDD I was too lazy to go back to the store to get it.

So I used Fels-Naptha * instead.

If you have never heard of this or used it, go get yourself some now! It's 0.97 cents and is a must-have laundry ingredient for tackling stains! If you're a Fels-Naptha fan, then you know!

I just took my lemon zester and shaved ¼ cup into the tub with the Arm & Hammer, Powdered Tide, and Calgon and it worked like a dream!

Can I Use Liquid Tide Instead of Powdered Tide?

This was the second most asked question I got, and the answer is NO.

You need to use powdered Tide for this only.

Some people are allergic to Tide. If you are using another powdered laundry detergent. Tide is best, and powder is a must.

Where Did You Find All the Ingredients You Need To Strip Laundry?

I found everything at Walmart!

Powdered Tide was the hardest to find. I had to go to 2 Walmarts to find everything.

Kroger didn't have most of the stuff. Just go to Walmart.

Some people had a hard time finding Calgon. They sell this on Amazon too if you just want to order for there (affiliate link).

How Often Should I Strip My Laundry?

Every 3 months for your workout clothes that are worn all the time.

Every 6-9 months for things like towels, blankets, etc.

How Do You Strip & Wash Bed Sheets?

Just follow the recipe above. Ours actually wasn't that bad. Which is a good thing, I guess lol.

What If I am Allergic to Tide? What Else Can I Use?

I have seen several people tell me that they are allergic to powdered Tide. If that is the case, try using Tide Free and Gentle * (still the powdered kind). I have not done this, so I am not sure if others will work the same or not. If you do use Tide Free and Gentle or another kind, please let me know how it works!

Show Me Your Pics of How You Are Stripping Your Laundry!

Make sure to check out @gocleanco Instagram page for more info on laundry stripping AND if you're a clean freak like me you will be sucked into a 45-minute binge-watching of all of her highlights!

Send me all your dirty water pics because I have been LOVING seeing them and connecting through how gross and dirty all of our clothes are! ?

Disclosure. Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link, I may receive compensation. This compensation comes at no additional cost to you, and as always I only recommend products I trust! Heather Bilyeu is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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