The Sweetest Mother's Day Gift!

But Didn’t I Just Wash These Clothes?! Why You’ll Want To Hop on That Laundry Stripping Bandwagon—Like, TODAY.

3 Minute Read

By Scarlett Longstreet

Closing out month seven of a global pandemic and I found myself itching for another high. I had already ticked off most of the quarantine checkboxes: Tiger King, banana bread, getting in shape followed by getting back out of shape x2. We painted a room, we decluttered a space, there was even that one night I downloaded TikTok and tried to learn a dance. But alas, the itch needed a scratch.

Friends, family, and influencers were stripping laundry, vowing allegiance to @gocleanco and enlisting in the cleaning army, armed with Tide and bleach. Dirty water was popping up all over my social feeds and after my initial revulsion I became intrigued. What was this all about and why can’t I just wash my laundry and let it sit in a basket for three weeks like a normal person?

The answer: we are gross.

But Didn't I Just Wash These Clothes?! Why You'll Want To Hop on That Laundry Stripping Bandwagon—Like, TODAY.

Over time, detergent, fabric softeners, minerals from hard water, and body oil attach themselves to our textiles and don’t let go. Stripping laundry is a lengthy soak in hot, hot water and a special concoction of cleansers to remove all of that nastiness. I was bored enough and had seen enough brown bathtub water to give it a try.

What do you need and how much?

1/4 cup Calgon water softener
1/4 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda (this is not your run of the mill baking soda, although if you’re in a pinch you can substitute)
1 generous scoop of powdered Tide (must be powdered).
1/4 cup Borax

Some of these ingredients can be hard to find, but I promise you, several trips around town to dozens of different grocery stores and a few Amazon orders to procure the goods will be worth it. Don’t cut corners.

RELATED: Kids Are Gross: Mom Finds More Than She Bargained For in the Laundry

What exactly am I supposed to strip?

Sheets, towels, workout clothes, kitchen dish towels. Any item that gets a lot of wear is perfect. I did my queen-sized comforter, but it’s important to keep in mind that whatever you choose for the process has to fit in the washing machine after its soak.

How To:

Fill your tub up with the hottest water your faucet will produce, add your chosen articles and your stripping ingredients, give it a slosh until everything is dissolved. You’ll want to let it soak for 4-6 hours, stirring hourly. Once the time is up transfer everything to your washing machine for a regular cycle. Revel for a moment in the filth that was left behind.

Some tips from a laundry stripping addict:

Keep whites and colors separate. Use a large kitchen spoon or a broom handle to stir the clothes, the hot water and cleansers can hurt sensitive skin. Use a storage tub (not a laundry basket) to transfer your stripped goods from the tub to the washing machine, you’ll avoid dripping water through your house this way.

I had long since given up hope on my running shorts ever smelling fresh again, now I’ll get another 15 years out of them like a proper mom.

RELATED: Homemade Laundry Soap How-To

Recommendations in this post contain affiliate links. Her View From Home may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase.

So God Made a Grandmother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Order Now!

Scarlett Longstreet

Scarlett Longstreet is a stay-at-home mom, retired bartender, and wife. She lives in a suburb of Detroit with her husband and girl gang; toddler plus infant twins. You can follow her on Instagram.

It’s Never Too Late To Start Again

In: Living

From a young age, I knew what I wanted my future career to look like. I pursued a path in healthcare, determined to use my gift for compassion to help others. I loved it. Being a small part of someone’s life during vulnerable moments made me feel like I was truly living out God’s calling on my life. Until I had children of my own. The work I did was exhausting—physically, mentally, and emotionally. What I didn’t anticipate was how that exhaustion would grow once I had children waiting for me at the end of each day. I was giving...

Keep Reading

From a Mom Failed By the Medical System: Your Experience Matters

In: Living

I was pregnant with my first baby in 2023, and my pregnancy was “picture perfect,” or so I was told. I went to all of my appointments, and every time I was reassured that everything looked great. My weight gain was “normal,” my baby was measuring appropriately, and his heartbeat was strong. My blood pressure was always a little elevated, but no one seemed concerned. Everything was fine…until it wasn’t. Looking back, I knew deep down something wasn’t right when I gained 10 pounds between my May and June appointments. I brushed it off, blaming a recent trip to Texas...

Keep Reading

Maybe that “Mean Mom” Is Just Busy

In: Friendship

Ever since Ashley Tisdale wrote about leaving her toxic mom group, I have noticed something shift among women my age, moms in our 40s who built friendships through school drop-offs, soccer sidelines, neighborhood walks, and birthday parties. Here is the thing….no one wants to be labeled the “mean girls mom group.” Recently, I was out to dinner with a friend when she shared something that stuck with me. A woman had quietly left their local moms’ group and later treated them as if they were exclusionary. The final straw? She had sent a group text at dinnertime and no one...

Keep Reading

I’m Going to Tell You the Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

In: Living, Motherhood

During my oldest daughter’s freshman year of college, I started being haunted by a recurring dream of an old-fashioned suitcase—one of those hard-sided ones that’s as big as they come. In the dream, when I open the suitcase, it’s overflowing with clothing, shoes, and all kinds of stuff that belongs to me and each of my three daughters. Everything in the suitcase is all jumbled together. Nobody else in the dream is worried about sorting through everything, but I am totally stressed about it. To top it all off, I have to deal with this suitcase while preparing for a...

Keep Reading

Your Worth Is Not Someone Else’s To Measure

In: Faith, Living

Insecurity is something we all carry in one form or another. For me, it has probably always looked confident and outgoing from the outside. But internally, it can feel heavy, complicated, and exhausting at times. And when someone comes along whose behavior reinforces those insecurities, it amplifies what was already there. There was someone I had hoped to genuinely connect with, but it was clear from the start that the feeling wasn’t mutual. From the beginning, their wall was up. No matter how kind I tried to be or how carefully I showed up, it never came down. Their distance...

Keep Reading

My In-Laws Don’t Like Me and It Breaks My Heart

In: Living

Since I was a little girl, I dreamed of what it might be like to gain an entire family when I got married. My parents were lovely. I never wanted for anything, and I had very involved grandparents. However, any other family was far away, and much of my childhood was lonely. I dreamed of brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law and their spouses to do life with. Maybe we would go on road trips together or stay in and play games and have a few drinks. I dreamed of raising our kids together and giving my children the cousin memories I only...

Keep Reading

We Fell Out of Friendship

In: Friendship

It was just a normal Monday afternoon, sitting in the waiting room at the dentist’s office. I had one kid reading her Kindle quietly, one loudly proclaiming facts about the different fish in the large tank, and one arguing with her just because he could. I had completed all the forms online before our appointment, so we were simply waiting. Then you walked in. You, who used to be the sister of my heart. Summers of sleeping in tents in my parents’ backyard, while you told me terrifying stories. The smell of hairspray from ’90s dance recitals while we twirled...

Keep Reading

There Was a Shooting at My High School; Can I Keep My Kids Safe Anymore?

In: Living

Kids with backpacks in front of school, view from behind

It is enough. I have had it. I had thought this year would be better. I tried to will it. I tried to convince myself with my resolutions during that first week in January. I typed my goals up in a neat little list. I was specific. Looked at it each morning. My goals focused primarily on being a good person. On prioritizing spending time with the people I love and the people I am responsible for. My goals focused on seeking the good while I feel there is a foot in a heavy boot on the center of my...

Keep Reading

Every Neighborhood Needs a Baby

In: Living

Woman playing pat-a-cake with a baby as toddler looks on

My grandmother was astounded when I told her I had met so many of her neighbors after we had only lived in her house for a couple of weeks. Grandma had decided to move into a senior citizens’ apartment building, and the timing was wonderful. John and I had been renting a townhouse, but once our baby, Christopher, was born, the situation wasn’t ideal any longer. Christopher was very fond of being awake and vociferous during the night, and the paper-thin walls of the duplex were horrible. When Grandma broached the idea of us renting her small two-bedroom home as...

Keep Reading

God Carries Me Through the Deep Waters of Change

In: Faith, Living, Motherhood

“Ahhh!” My underwater scream garbled in my snorkel tube as the manta ray’s cavernous mouth swept a hand’s distance from my face. My fingers tightened around the surfboard until my knuckles ached. My arms trembled. I jerked my head side to side, searching for my daughters, Mia and Megan. Recent college graduates, they had joined me on one last mother-daughter vacation before launching their adult lives. They floated easily on the vibrant Hawaiian water, relaxed, trusting. I wanted to borrow their calm. Earlier, our guide had explained that the LED lights built into the surfboard attracted plankton the way college...

Keep Reading

One Day I Smiled Again

Grief

One Day I Smiled Again

To the Mom of a Lonely Teen

Motherhood

But Didn’t I Just Wash These Clothes?! Why You’ll Want To Hop on That Laundry Stripping Bandwagon—Like, TODAY.

The answer: we are gross.

What do you need and how much?

RELATED: Kids Are Gross: Mom Finds More Than She Bargained For in the Laundry

What exactly am I supposed to strip?

How To:

Some tips from a laundry stripping addict:

RELATED: Homemade Laundry Soap How-To

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Scarlett Longstreet

It’s Never Too Late To Start Again

From a Mom Failed By the Medical System: Your Experience Matters

Maybe that “Mean Mom” Is Just Busy

I’m Going to Tell You the Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

Your Worth Is Not Someone Else’s To Measure

My In-Laws Don’t Like Me and It Breaks My Heart

We Fell Out of Friendship

There Was a Shooting at My High School; Can I Keep My Kids Safe Anymore?

Every Neighborhood Needs a Baby

God Carries Me Through the Deep Waters of Change

Get It Now

So God Made a Mother

But Didn’t I Just Wash These Clothes?! Why You’ll Want To Hop on That Laundry Stripping Bandwagon—Like, TODAY.

The answer: we are gross.

What do you need and how much?

What exactly am I supposed to strip?

How To:

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

It’s Never Too Late To Start Again

From a Mom Failed By the Medical System: Your Experience Matters

Maybe that “Mean Mom” Is Just Busy

I’m Going to Tell You the Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

Your Worth Is Not Someone Else’s To Measure

My In-Laws Don’t Like Me and It Breaks My Heart

We Fell Out of Friendship

There Was a Shooting at My High School; Can I Keep My Kids Safe Anymore?

Every Neighborhood Needs a Baby

God Carries Me Through the Deep Waters of Change

Previous Post

Next Post

You May Also Like