# Why can't I get my socks white? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003 "2010-05-02T03:35:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/21 "2010-05-05T04:50:53Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Wear gloves; it dribbles and stains your hands. I know. The label is frightening to read. “Mix a few drops in a half gallon of water.” I don’t even have a half gallon container! And what exactly are those few drops going to do to a load of laundry? :eek: Powerful stuff, Maynard. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/22 "2010-05-06T00:43:28Z")
Definite thumbs up on laundry bluing. They look a lot better. Thanks everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Wash\_Fanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/49beb7/32.png) [@Wash\_Fanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wash_Fanatic)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/23 "2011-06-25T11:55:22Z")
Soak at least 2 hours preferably overnight. Use 1 cup powder dishwasher detergent and very hot water. After soaking wash in laundry detergent and bleach. I think you will be amazed at the result ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/24 "2011-06-25T14:33:07Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Keep in mind that for cotton socks, the original white color is fake. They’re dyed that way to look cleaner. So the more you wash them, the more that dye will wash out. Which means that next time you buy new socks, get “natural colour” instead of pure white. I also buy socks in bundles of several pairs, so when the washing machine eats one\*, or they develop holes, I can ditch some and still pair up the leftover singles. > [@](#): > > And if you’ve been sweating in the socks and leaving the sweat there, the bacteria will permanently change the fabric. You can’t fix that any more than you can undigest food. Yes, what’s once seeped in can’t be helped. Except dying things black once they get off-coloured. - Yes, socks do disappear in the washing machine, and yes, the machine does “eat” them. Or rather, the socks can slip during washing between the rubber seal and the drum (in a frontloader), move around the heating spiral and slowly wear away due to the motion of the drum and the heat. “Frag doch mal die Maus”, a knowledge show aimed at children, once showed this with a special washing machine where all cover parts had been replaced with clear acrylic. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/25 "2011-06-25T14:54:05Z")
I think it may be the water. I buy nice white shirt or socks and wash it, it’s dingy looking. Everyone at the gym has such nice clean sock and underwear. Mine are clean but they’re all grayish-white. I bought a water softener thing to put in but it didn’t help. Nothing does. I just went to buying gray socks after that. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/26 "2011-06-25T15:11:33Z")
i’ve been trying to get my white socks white for over a year now and it hasn’t worked. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/27 "2011-06-25T15:31:25Z")
\*\*Alert: this is an old thread, so addressing any of the first 22 posts directly may not get you a reply. \*\* That said, there’s one more tip I have that I don’t see mentioned: [TSP](http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&xhr=t&q=tsp+cleaner&cp=5&qe=dHNwIGM&qesig=iYEmi2L8R7UkvNz_NK-oWg&pkc=AFgZ2tm72a-HRpWHb6wV290XtRfb-4MZVIACRVxLHgrnC21pzYGZf2YbJaPmI3k0YMYUBJFsBJuaApQoheWjJMmwzDzF7RMMGg&pq=tsp&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1252&bih=548&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=3207055238852896863&sa=X&ei=Pv4FToiUL-fY0QHZgozDCw&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQ8wIwAQ). I use it to presoak the teenager’s socks, and they get a surprising amount of teen boy funk out of socks that haven’t seen the outside of combat boots for a week. A bucket of water and a “scoop” (I dunno, maybe a heaping tablespoon?) of TSP and an overnight soak. Way cheaper than all the pretreaters and oxygen cleaners and whatnot I was using before, and much more effective. I’ve got to buy it at a hardware store, 'cause it’s been banned as a laundry aid, but it’s awesome stuff. Dirt rings can also be addressed with Borax, which helps break up the skin oils pretty well, but not as well as TSP, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/28 "2011-06-25T22:00:12Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Keep in mind that for cotton socks, the original white color is fake. They’re dyed that way to look cleaner. So the more you wash them, the more that dye will wash out. And if you’ve been sweating in the socks and leaving the sweat there, the bacteria will permanently change the fabric. You can’t fix that any more than you can undigest food. Wow, what a great post! It was exactly what I was going to say when I saw the thread title. What genius of a poster wrote that? Oh. It was me. A year ago. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/29 "2011-06-25T22:26:55Z")
I’ve never tried this on socks, but Rit (the dye people) make a Color Remover. You can find it on the laundry aisle at most groceries and places like WalMart. I love cotton French-cuffed shirts, and this keeps them as white. I use it about once every 6 months or so, and you can do it at home in your washing machine. Bleach breaks fibers down pretty quickly, and can leave things looking yellow. UT ---
**Author:** ![shellofmyformerself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@shellofmyformerself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shellofmyformerself)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003/30 "2011-06-26T15:33:01Z")
I just always added some vinegar to the wash. It seems to get rid of the dinginess and also eliminates odor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-my-socks-white/538003.md?page=1)