To want my whites to stay white!

[KeepingItTogether23]

Somebody help me please, where am I going wrong?

I wash my whites with just whites, sometimes they may have other colours on for instance a white tshirt with a print on or a sock with different colour at the heel and toe.
I use a gel and fabric softener and after a few washes they start going grey! I wash on a 40 all the time regardless what it is I'm washing.
I live in a hard water area (my grandma swears this us the issue)

Any ideas how to stop this? Am I using the wrong products? Do I need to add other products?
Is it so hard to keep crisp white t shirts crisp white 😭

I have a bucket and put all my whites in to soak in water and a scoop of bicarb or baking soda for a few days before washing. I always get complimented on how white my whites are.

One cup of borax and half a cup of oxy bleach powder straight into your machine without any detergent. Works magic!

Thanks @DuploTrain and @MonumentalLentil - I do already use a scoop of vanish in with my whites but I’ll be honest, by the grey tone of my whites I may aswell not be bothering!!
I only use powder detergent although mostly use fabric softener as otherwise they smell weird. Not when doing towels, tea towels or sports clothes though.
I think I’m just destined to be someone who’s really shit at washing tbh!

Thanks for all the advice, I will see which work best for me.
I dont use gel stupid me, its liquid my mistake.
I have eczema so I tend to stick with the aeriel or surf as they dont make me flare up

@Luckynumbereight i don’t think borax is something we can easily get hold of in the U.K.! I remember it being a pivotal part of slime making and instead I used to have to buy tiny bottles of some weird eye solution which had boric acid in them! (For the dc, not me 😂)

My whites stay very white and I often wash dark/light striped garments together. I use Ariel gel at 40 and nothing else. They never go grey. I am in a soft water area.

I use vanish and put an aspirin in every white wash.

You what?

Everyone says this but the sun never bleaches mine! I think my sun is broken..

Powders contain bleaches that help keep whites whiter and the drum cleaner. Liquids/gels/pods don't contain bleaches

As an aside, I hung a bolognaise stained sofa cushion in the sun yesterday - the wash hadn't got the stain out, and the stain had completed disappeared when it was dry - blew my mind.

This thread from a few years ago is so useful

I developed laundry detergents AMA www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA/3308661-I-developed-laundry-detergents-AMA

White wash is exactly that. No coloured bits on anything. 60 degrees or higher. Hang in sun if possible.

Definitely use powder, not liquid or gel. Powder contains bleaching agents that gels and liquids don't.

Agreed. Definitely whites together and as hot a wash as they can stand with bio powder.

Mine are all as white as the day I bought them and I live in a hard water area.

Well, this sun is going to swallow us up in 5 billion years, it's jolly well good we are getting some benefit from it now.

I put a cup of napisan in with mine, seems to work.

@CherryMaDeara - I read it in a laundry tip years ago. Works a treat.

I will try it!

I use eco bleach with eco laundry ( bio d), which solves the issue

Drying outside in the sun (when possible!) is the key im sure. I do one white wash a week and most weeks manage to get it outside and they stay white.

I only use Ariel gel because it works really well on stains etc

With whites I always add soda crystals or bicarbonate of soda

My whites are always sparkling white

I tend to wash bedding and underwear on 60 but they're still white on 40 or 30

But the enzymes in washing powder does denature above 40 degrees so bear that in mind if you're getting rid of any stains

Never mix polyester cotton with 100% cotton. This from a commercial laundry owner.