Has anyone used hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach to wash whites?

[eleny]

A while back I got one of those emails about how to use a particular thing in new ways. This one was for hydrogen peroxide. It was asserted that it was better to use for a whites laundry since it did a good job and was easier on the environment.

I've used it several times and the bottoms of the white ankle high athletic socks don't come any cleaner with bleach. So I guess it works. But I wonder if using nothing but soap would do the same.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

1. Isn't oxyclean just dried hydrogen peroxide?

I would love to get away from bleach also. Does anything else disinfect as well as bleach or is the hot water enough?

[eleny]

2. I wash the whites in cold water since the dryer gets everything hotter than heck

And the hp is supposed to disinfect. I figure that if I use hp for minor scrapes and cuts, it should be good enough to help cleanse the cotton sheets.

In the warm weather I hang the wash outside to dry. I figure that the hot sun does some disinfecting during those months.

[troubleinwinter]

3. I don't know about HP in laundry.

But I used to keep a bottle at the work office... one or another of us frequently arrived at work with a coffee stain on clothes from the morning drive. A few applications and stain was gone, never harming colored or print fabrics. I also use it on carpet stains... never discolors the carpet.

Liquid HP in laundry sounds expensive to me.... to get enough of it into the machine to have much effect?

The Oxyclean stuff seems to work pretty well on organic stains/dirt.

[eleny]

5. I found large bottles of it at Walmart very cheap and use about 1/4 cup for whites only

We don't have more than one whites wash here for the two of us. It's our cotton sheets, pillow cases and a few tee shirts. So it's lasting a long time. It's probably a little bit pricier than bleach. But the large bottles of HP were under a dollar each.

[Warpy]

4. The only thing I've used it for

is removing fresh blood from clothing. It doesn't work well on dried, but will cause fresh blood stains to fizz and vanish.

(Don't look at me like that. I was a NURSE.)

[eleny]

6. That's good to know!

We do our own yard work around here and I'm always getting minor scrapes and boo-boos.

Having been a nurse you've seen a few boo-boos. :D

[Ilsa]

9. Yeah, I've used it HO to get bodily fluids like snot or blood off my kids' shirts. nt

[pengillian101]

7. hydrogen peroxide...Warpy

Warpy...works great cleaning out ear wax buildup. You being a nurse already knew that little tip, eh?

:hi:

[kestrel91316]

8. I use peroxide for persistent stains on whites and some are taken care

of nicely by it. I use it as part of my handwahsing routine - first a good long soak in my homemade laundry soap (with borax and washing soda in it), then one good rinse, then if I want to tackle any special stains, I soak in water with a good glug or three of peroxide. I may even let it sit overnight in the peroxide rinse. I rarely use bleach on fabrics anymore because it's so hard on them, but I make an exception occasionally for my linen napkins.