Suggestion for washing linens...

Ok this may sound strange but does anyone has a particular detergent they like for washing their linens in? I am finding that my white sheets are all getting stained, I guess from the massage oil and then the stain turns yellow in the wash. Also, all of my towels have little stains on them and I swear it's from the hot towel cabby (almost like a burn mark if left in all day). I tried clorox at one point along with my detergent and that just made the yellow worse it seemed. I now bought a couple sets of darker sheets but I noticed that I am still getting the massage oil stain, but it's at least not noticeable. Maybe I need to switch my product that I use for massage too. Any suggestions there?

Thanks everyone! Hope you all have a great day!!

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Greenwood on May 2, 2012 at 8:46am

I don't buy the darker sheets because you can't use bleach. My white linens always come out spotless - sometimes my natural colored ones will have slight discolorations but not too often.

But - I would first check to see that you are not overloading your washer - I worked with a girl that did this and the water can't be agitated through the fabric when they are too packed.

Second - you must use hot water - chlorine bleach is most effective at higher temps (I got this from this months article in Massage & Bodywork) so that nixes using dark sheets - which I find ALWAYS show oil stains.

I use Arm and Hammer detergent - nothing special about that.

Regarding oil and product stains...If I use oil it is only jojoba - that will not stain. I would switch to a different product.

For product stains on your towels you can pretreat with a diluted detergent with oxyclean...if I am removing a product that I THINK might stain I remove with 4 x 4's instead and follow up with a steam towel. I noticed that when I used to use essential oils on my towels they would sometimes have yellow stains - I don't use eo's directly on towels anymore and amazingly no yellow spots.