As a mother of two, I was shocked to learn that my children’s “freshly washed” socks were anything but clean
One mother was ‘disgusting’ when she found out the truth behind her children’s ‘clean’ socks – and wondered what she’d been doing wrong all her life.
Nisha, from Queensland, couldn’t get her kids’ socks to cake or harden, no matter how many times she put them through the machine.
The working mom finally decided to use one of her weeknights to give each pair a thorough cleaning and scrubbing, trying to figure out what was wrong, only to find mountains of dirt washing out of the socks.
She took a few pairs, soaked the “clean” clothes in Aldi’s Di-San stain remover for an hour, and scrubbed them — using just water on another batch to see if it made a difference.
Nisha eventually learned it was a mix of her kids wearing their socks on dirty surfaces, an aging top-loading machine and too much detergent – which can build up on clothes and trap dirt.
One mother was ‘disgusting’ when she found out the truth behind her children’s ‘clean’ socks – and wondered what she’d been doing wrong all her life
The mother was extremely frustrated at not being able to keep the socks clean and shared with her everything she had tried so far.
Nisha tried washing the socks on the hot and cold cycle and even took the drum out of her washing machine and cleaned it.
‘Why! “I have a Simpson top loader (he’s 7 years old) and I can’t imagine why I have to scrub and soak all my clothes before washing them,” she shared along with photos on a popular online community.
“It’s like the machine isn’t cleaning.” I’ve tried laundry detergent, different detergents, adding Di-San to the wash, Lectric soda and everything.’
The mother begged others to help her figure out what was going on, as she had two young children and didn’t have time to constantly soak and scrub their socks.
“The dirt and feel is just awful,” she said.
A few other moms had theories as to what the problem might be.
“It could be a fuss issue — small items tend to get wrapped up in larger items (towels, t-shirts, sheets) and then they don’t get cleaned properly,” one mum suggested.
She added, “Have you tried just washing small items together?” It can be difficult to get the machine full, but gather up all your underwear, socks, face wash and children’s clothes and wash small items once a week.
“Maybe the water isn’t hot enough,” said a second. “In warm/hot water, the fibers relax and the dirt is easier to wash out.”
“Detergents and fabric softeners that build up on clothes hold dirt in place. “If you use a poor quality detergent and fabric softener, it only gets worse,” suggested another.
“They need longer (and possibly warmer) wash cycles and less detergent,” repeated one man.
Nisha, from Queensland, couldn’t get her kids’ socks to cake or harden, no matter how many times she put them through the machine
Many suggested that she look for other washing machines that might work better.
“In my experience front loaders are good at getting things clean as I have both a top and front loader,” wrote one father.
“I recommend the German-made Bosch front loader.” Long warm/hot washes. “If you turn the socks right side out they come out pure white,” shared another.