N otice in this stripping laundry recipe video that the water in this user's tub is discolored even before adding chemicals.

In the United States, 85% of citizens' homes have hard water, meaning that the water contains a high concentration of minerals, usually calcium and magnesium. However, the opaque color is actually due to a reaction between hard water and detergent. What is the Science Behind the Water Becoming Cloudy?Īt first glance, it would be reasonable to infer that the mucky water from laundry stripping is caused by the fabrics having been previously soiled. You might be surprised to learn that the color change isn't caused by the original dirt on the clothes, but rather a more complicated chemical reaction. In watching #laundrystripping videos or stripping your own laundry at home, you will see that these laundry stripping ingredients cause a stark change to the color of the water, even when laundry stripping with baking soda or detergent. If you would like a more exact method for stripping clothes, Erica Gremminger in her video provides this popular clothes stripping recipe :Īfter hearing that most people are stripping clothes with borax, you might hesitate in following through with these recipes, as many sources such as Medical News Today report that even though borax is a naturally-occurring salt, 'a person should strongly consider not using products that contain borax when possible.' If you are curious if there is a laundry stripping recipe without borax, Laundry Detergent Ideas says instead of borax laundry stripping, you can use both a ½ cup of laundry detergent and ½ cup of washing soda for each gallon of hot water. At least on TikTok, many laundry stripping recipes are just an eyeballed hodgepodge of stripping laundry with borax and detergent, sometimes with washing soda, oxygenated bleach, or fabric softener. Though video creators vary in their recipes, laundry stripping TikTok videos all share a common process-fill your bathtub with water, dump in enough chemicals that would make an apothecary blush, and let your clothes soak for approximately five hours. What is the Best Laundry Stripping Recipe ?

Read below as we uncover the surprising science behind the trend. What has sparked people's horror (and fascination) with TikTok laundry stripping is the almost-instant transformation of the bathtub water from crystal-clear to a murky brown when the clothes are added, caused by the crud being purged from the laundry, or so it seems.Īfter learning about or seeing firsthand the plethora of viral videos covering everything from stripping towels to stripping sheets, you might be asking yourself how stripping laundry is done correctly, what sort of chemical reaction is actually taking place in the tub, and if there are any better alternatives for deep-cleaning your laundry. Have you been on the 'cleaning side' of TikTok (or #CleanTok, as some affectionately call it) or Facebook Watch? If so, you were bound to have encountered videos of 'l aundry stripping ,' where people soak dirty fabrics in their bathtubs mixed with a flurry of chemicals to 'strip' the grime the textiles had accumulated over time.

Laundry stripping recipe bathtub