# Laundry Q: Sheets are Yellowed. Any Cure? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392 "2009-06-10T23:14:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/1 "2009-06-10T23:14:21Z")
I have these sheets, eggshell blue in color, which have gotten yellowed, to the point where the yellow is canceling out the blue entirely in some areas. I looked at laundry bluing, but it only has instructions for a top-loader, and my machine is a front-loader in which it is not possible to fill the machine with water before adding clothes, nor is it possible to add anything to the wash except at specific points in the cycle when water flushes through the “add stuff here” drawer. I would really like them to be blue again, but I don’t want to ruin them. They are 600-count sheets that were a wedding gift, and only a year old. I have tried washing the sheets with dark wash blue jeans on the theory that laundry bluing is blue dye, and jeans are dyed with indigo, to no effect. Ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/2 "2009-06-10T23:32:08Z")
[Dylon cold fabric dye](http://www.dylon.co.uk/) doesn’t require a washing machine, only a large pot. Still, your sheets are going to be darker. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/3 "2009-06-10T23:38:22Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I have these sheets, eggshell blue in color, which have gotten yellowed, to the point where the yellow is canceling out the blue entirely in some areas. I looked at laundry bluing, but it only has instructions for a top-loader, and my machine is a front-loader in which it is not possible to fill the machine with water before adding clothes, nor is it possible to add anything to the wash except at specific points in the cycle when water flushes through the “add stuff here” drawer. > > I would really like them to be blue again, but I don’t want to ruin them. They are 600-count sheets that were a wedding gift, and only a year old. I have tried washing the sheets with dark wash blue jeans on the theory that laundry bluing is blue dye, and jeans are dyed with indigo, to no effect. Ideas? Don’t laundromats have top loading washers? ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/4 "2009-06-10T23:41:03Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Don’t laundromats have top loading washers? Laundromats also typically object to using dyes and such in their machines. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/5 "2009-06-11T14:13:51Z")
Have you tried [bluing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Stewart%27s_Bluing)? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/6 "2009-06-11T14:16:10Z")
Do you have rusty water? I use Iron Out in my laundry to get the yellow rusty dingy-ass haze off my stuff. It’s hard on color, though. Use it sparingly. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/7 "2009-06-11T14:53:14Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Have you tried [bluing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Stewart%27s_Bluing)? You mean like she mentioned in the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/8 "2009-06-11T15:44:39Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Have you tried [bluing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Stewart%27s_Bluing)? > [@zweisamkeit](#): > > You mean like she mentioned in the OP? She mentioned she looked at it but couldn’t use it in her machine. This sounds like exactly what bluing is made for. I would suggest finding a top-loading machine (friend, neighbor, family, laundromat) and using it. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/9 "2009-06-11T15:56:53Z")
I thought bluing was for whites only. However, I’m a serious laundry scoff-law, so I could be wrong on that. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/10 "2009-06-11T16:15:37Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > She mentioned she looked at it but couldn’t use it in her machine. > > This sounds like exactly what bluing is made for. I would suggest finding a top-loading machine (friend, neighbor, family, laundromat) and using it. Well.. maybe I’m just dense, but if she mentioned she looked at it but couldn’t use it in her machine… then it seems pretty obvious that she hasn’t tried it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/11 "2009-06-11T16:23:23Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Well.. maybe I’m just dense, but if she mentioned she looked at it but couldn’t use it in her machine… then it seems pretty obvious that she hasn’t tried it. Or more likely I was dense and misinterpreted your meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/12 "2009-06-11T16:26:59Z")
If the yellowing is the result of body-oil stains, a cup or so of ammonia in with the wash might be helpful. (It will saponify the oils and loosen it right up.) (Please don’t be offended if the yellowing is from something else.) …and then I reread the OP. Try a laundromat, eh? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/13 "2009-06-12T00:31:48Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > If the yellowing is the result of body-oil stains, a cup or so of ammonia in with the wash might be helpful. (It will saponify the oils and loosen it right up.) Do you think soaking in ammonia(+water), like in a bucket, first and then washing as normal would work? Just trying to avoid an epic quest for a top loader. I know for sure the laundromat closest to me only has front loaders. ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/14 "2009-06-12T00:34:34Z")
Are you sure you can’t use bluing? Does your washer have a little place to put fabric softener? I always put bluing in there, figuring that’s got the best chance of being left in the clothes at the end of the cycle. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/15 "2009-06-12T01:29:28Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Don’t laundromats have top loading washers? Oh yeah, do that. I don’t use laundromats ant longer, but I really do appreciate the kind folks who decide my clothes need a change. Free tie-die, eh? :mad: Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/16 "2009-06-12T01:41:31Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > nor is it possible to add anything to the wash except at specific points in the cycle when water flushes through the “add stuff here” drawer. I’ve never had a front loader. Why can’t you add the dye at that point, then stop the machine once it fills? Sheets are pretty large. Maybe a dry cleaners or (chinese) laundry would be the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/17 "2009-06-12T01:54:05Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I’ve never had a front loader. Why can’t you add the dye at that point, then stop the machine once it fills? You can’t stop the machine at any point. Maybe on some front loaders its possible, I don’t know. But not on the one I use, which is the same machine used by the nearest laundromat. (I don’t have a machine in my apt – my building has a laundry room which contains only commercial-type double loader Wascomat front loaders). FTR if ever I was do do any nontraditonal washing I would run at least one clean cycle in the machine afterwards. I’m not a monster. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/18 "2009-06-12T02:11:44Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > FTR if ever I was do do any nontraditonal washing I would run at least one clean cycle in the machine afterwards. I’m not a monster. Ach. I was having unpleasant laundromat flashbacks inspired by **notfrommensa’s** suggestion. I drop to my arthritic old knees in abject apology. So, how about a professional? Sounds like the sheets might be worth it. C’mon, let’s get this economy turned around. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/19 "2009-06-15T21:57:52Z")
ok, so I got some ammonia, I was going to try it out on some pillow cases for just-in-casies. But, with my limited knowledge of laundry chemistry, I hit a roadblock. Everyone knows you can’t mix bleach & ammonia because of the extreme deadly poison risk. However, can you mix Ammonia with “Tide with Bleach Alternative?” What the hell is Bleach Alternative anyway? (I have it in my head it’s a fluorescing agent, but I don’t know where I heard that). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392/20 "2009-06-16T00:23:18Z")
Whatever that is. (it’s little bugs that eat your stain) But forget all that. Forget the egg shell blue. This nice lady has a [color](http://www.fabricdyeing.com/colors.html) made just for you. It’s the one on the bottom right. Oh yeah, Tides customer service: Toll-free at 1-800-879-8433 Monday through Friday, 9:00AM to 6:00PM EST [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-q-sheets-are-yellowed-any-cure/499392.md?page=2)