Getting schools polo shirts sparkly white again. How?

[Suddengeekgirl]

Half term next week so thought I'd tackle ds' slightly grey white polo shirts. He's in reception so although the shirts have only done 6wks of school they have been battered!

Shall I soak in bleach or will that destroy the fabric?

What's your recommended method? :)

You'll have better luck if they're 100% cotton.

I don't know any way to get synthetic ones white and I've tried it all - including soaking in strong bleach (last ditch attempt) but even that didn't work.

Do you wash them with just whites?? If not , you can get colour run remover or a sachet to put in wash for brighter white ??

Napisan.

SJLTM - life's too short to sort laundry! :)
Although that may explain part ofthe reason why they're not too white anymore.

Right...
job one - check if they're cotton. Probably not as cheap supermarket ones.
Job two - buy napisan

If in doubt use a colour run sheet for mixed loads , they do work ...... Not sure how I would cope with all the pastels otherwise , I'm a bit anal with my washing the black tops with white collars are a nightmare !!!!

Relegate them to the duster/spares pile, depending on condition and start again, washing whites and lights alone, in future!

I've noticed that the polyester content of some of them gets higher every year. I bought DS1 a trutex one, the other week, in desperation because nowhere had blue ones in stock and he'd already trashed 2 of the 3 that he hadn't grown out of since July. Heavy and hangs beautifully but it's 70% polyester - and it wasn't cheap!

You don't sort your laundry?!

Sorry but your whites are a Lost Cause.

I bought the sainsburys stain guard ones this time round and they seem to be holding up much better than the normal ones even in mixed wash

I always do my whites on a nice hot wash. They still fade/go grey in time. Tis a fact of life.

And then a new school year comes round and they need bigger shirts and hey presto, you have nice white shirts again.

You do need to sort your laundry if you want to keep your whites white.

Soak them in some Napisan over night, then wash on their own or with other whites with a biological washing powder and some more Napisan on a 60 degree wash.