Laundry stripping is a long, hot soak that pulls built-up detergent, fabric softener, body oil and hard water minerals out of fabric. The usual recipe is 1 part borax, 1 part washing soda and 2 parts powdered detergent in a tub of hot water. Soak for about four hours, then run a rinse cycle with no detergent.
As a mother of two young kids and a guardian of two rambunctious dogs, I often feel like my life revolves around laundry. Sometimes clothes, towels or sheets I've washed thoroughly still come out of the machine feeling kind of funky. I went looking for a way to get them properly clean, and that's how I found laundry stripping.
What laundry stripping does
Over months of washing, fabric holds onto a little of everything: detergent and softener that didn't rinse out, skin oils, deodorant, and the calcium and magnesium in hard water. Towels end up stiff and stop absorbing, whites look grey, and gym clothes smell again as soon as you warm up in them. Stripping loosens that layer with very hot water and strong alkaline cleaners, and the rinse carries it away.
Why people are drawn to laundry stripping
Dull, dirty-looking clothes and linens straight out of the wash are hard to take, especially if, like me, you put a lot of time and effort into cleaning everyone's clothes. Search for why your clothes smell or still look dirty after washing, and laundry stripping is one of the first suggestions you'll see.
It has also caught on through viral social media posts. When your clothes aren't as clean as they used to be and a video of someone stripping their laundry pops up in your feed, it looks like the answer. It's worth reading up on whether it's the best option for your family's laundry before you start stocking up on borax and washing soda.
What you need
For a bathtub about half full of hot water:
- ¼ cup borax (sodium borate)
- ¼ cup washing soda (sodium carbonate)
- ½ cup powdered laundry detergent
- rubber gloves, and a long spoon or stick for stirring
Washing soda and baking soda aren't the same thing. Washing soda is sodium carbonate and much stronger. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. The recipe needs washing soda, which you'll find in the laundry aisle. For a large sink or bucket, halve the amounts.
How to strip laundry
- Strip items that have already been washed. Stripping removes buildup, not everyday dirt.
- Run the hottest water from your tap until the tub is about half full.
- Add the borax, washing soda and detergent and stir with a swooshing motion until it dissolves.
- Push the laundry under the water. Don't pack the tub so tightly that the water can't move around.
- Soak until the water has cooled, stirring about once an hour. This should take around four hours in total.
- Drain the tub and gently wring out what you can. Wet laundry is heavy, and a laundry basket next to the tub helps.
- Wash the laundry on a normal cycle in cold water to remove any dirt or cleaning ingredients still on the fabric. Do not add detergent to the cycle.
- Dry as usual in your dryer or on a hanging rack.
The water usually turns grey or brown. Some of that is old residue and some is dye coming out of the fabric, which means dark water alone doesn't prove how dirty things were. The dye is also why whites and colors should be stripped separately.
Stripping laundry in the washing machine
A top-loader can do the soak for you. Fill it on the hottest setting, add the mix, let it agitate for a minute to dissolve, then stop or pause the machine and let the laundry soak for a few hours before finishing the cycle and running an extra rinse with no detergent.
Most front-loaders can't hold a soak. The door locks and the drum only fills partway. Use the longest, hottest cycle the care labels allow, with the mix in the drum, then run an extra rinse. Check your washer's manual before putting borax or washing soda in it.
Stripping towels and workout clothes
Towels are the best candidates. Cotton handles hot water, and fabric softener buildup is the usual reason towels stop absorbing. If you strip towels, stop using softener on them afterwards, or the buildup comes straight back.
Workout clothes are usually polyester, nylon or spandex, which hold onto body oils and the smell that comes with them. I have used the laundry stripping method on stinky workout clothes to help them last longer. My husband and I both run regularly and noticed that our running clothes would have lingering odors even after we'd washed them. Stripping got rid of the nasty smell, and we didn't have to replace our workout gear as often.
Hot water can damage stretch fabrics. Check the label and use warm water if it says so. A shorter soak of an hour or two is gentler too. Our guide to getting bad smells out of clothes has more ways to deal with gym kit.
Does laundry stripping work?
Yes, but keep in mind that it uses harsh ingredients to do the job. Expect visibly dirty water, cleaner and whiter clothes, less stiffness once dry, and fewer funky odors from sportswear. Towels often come out softer and more absorbent.
Several years ago, as a new mom, I used the laundry stripping method to clean my kids' cloth diapers on a quarterly basis. I could tell when I'd gone too long between stripping because the diapers would no longer smell fresh when they first came out of the wash. It was satisfying to see all the gunk left in the water afterwards. It showed me just how gross the diapers were, even though I soaked them right after use and washed them daily to keep them from getting too stinky.
| Good | Not so good |
|---|---|
| Removes detergent, softener and mineral buildup | Borax and washing soda are harsh on skin and some fabrics |
| Can bring back softness and absorbency in towels | Very hot water and strong alkali fade colors and wear out stretch fabrics |
| Helps with stubborn smells in sportswear | Takes several hours, plus a full rinse cycle |
Laundry stripping can damage fabrics and could speed up wear and tear over time. I've only ever used it when I needed to, and otherwise kept our clothes clean in other ways. With my kids' sensitive skin, I want to avoid anything that could give them a rash or make their eczema act up. Plus, as a budget-conscious mom, I want my clothes to last as long as possible to keep costs down.
Weigh it up before you strip. You will remove deep-set stains and odors and leave your clothes cleaner than ever. You'll also be putting harsh chemicals on your family's skin, and you may damage the fabric or shorten its life.
Safety tips
- Strip laundry a few times a year at most.
- Wear rubber gloves, and keep the room ventilated.
- Keep borax and washing soda away from children and pets, and don't leave a full tub unattended with small children in the house.
- Skip wool, silk, delicates, and bright colors that might run.
How to avoid needing to strip laundry
Buildup comes from what goes into every wash. Pouring extra detergent "for luck" is the biggest cause of residue, especially in HE machines. Our guide to how much laundry detergent to use goes through the right amount. Other habits that help:
- Wash clothes regularly so buildup doesn't get a chance to settle.
- Go easy on fabric softener, and skip it on towels and workout clothes altogether.
- Leave room in the drum. Clothes need space to move for the water to rinse them.
- Spot-treat stains straight away and you won't need heavier treatments later.
- Air-dry clothing when you can, to cut wear and shrinkage.
- In a hard water area, minerals are a big part of the problem. Our guide to the best laundry detergent for hard water covers what helps.
- Clean your machine. Residue inside the washer ends up back on your clothes. A washing machine cleaner tablet through an empty drum every two weeks does it.
- Choose a mild, eco-friendly detergent suitable for sensitive skin.
Donovan, a massage therapist, used to see residue from his old detergent on his massage sheets: "I used HeySunday once to rewash those sheets and the residue was gone." The best and safest alternative to laundry stripping is a good detergent that gets clothes clean and doesn't leave residue, dirt, odor or body oils behind. I switched to HeySunday laundry detergent sheets and haven't looked back. Each sheet is a pre-measured dose that makes few suds, so there's no overpouring and less is left in the fabric.
Hundreds of happy customers have noticed what I have. The cleaning is gentle yet powerful and it preserves fabrics and clothing fibers. The ingredients are environmentally conscious, safer for families and for sensitive skin, and there's no extra soaking or complicated process.
How do laundry sheets work?
A laundry sheet is detergent dried into a thin, flexible film. The cleaning agents, mainly surfactants that lift oil and dirt, are held in a base of polyvinyl alcohol and starch that dissolves when it gets wet. Drop a sheet in the drum and it dissolves into the wash water, then cleans the same way liquid detergent does. Our guide to how to use laundry detergent sheets covers the dose and where they go.
Frequently asked questions
Can you strip laundry in a washing machine?
A top-loader works best. If your machine has a Soak or Pre-soak setting, use that instead of pausing the cycle by hand, and still finish with an extra rinse.
Can you strip laundry without borax?
Yes. Plenty of people leave the borax out and use washing soda and powdered detergent on their own in the same hot soak. It's a little less strong but still shifts most softener and detergent buildup.
Is borax safe to use?
Borax irritates skin and eyes and is harmful if swallowed, which is why gloves and keeping it away from children matter. The EU lists it as a substance of very high concern because of possible harm to fertility, and that's one more reason some people skip it.
Can you strip colored clothes?
Test first. Soak one corner of a colored item in the mix for half an hour, and if the color bleeds, rinse it out and don't strip that piece. Colors that pass the test will still fade a little.
