How can I get rid of mildew from delicates when I can't use bleach or heat?

Question

I have many clothes that say "Wash Cold, Tumble Dry Low (or hang dry), No Bleach". the problem is that without the heat and the chlorine bleach, the clothes eventually mildew. Is there something that I can add to the wash to kill the mildew that won't affect the clothes? Mostly I am having the problem with heavy items like designer jeans and thick cotton golf shirts. The real delicates, such as the rayon and silk tend to dry faster so I don't seem to have a problem with them.

I am not allowed to hang clothes outside of my home, according to the tennants of the homeowners association (and it's so humid and rainy in Georgia, that I don't think that would help much). And I don't want to buy an expensive dehumidifier for my home, which I am not sure would solve the problem entirely, anyway.

Any suggestions??? Does color safe bleach kill mildew? All of my mildew products seem to contain chlorine! Heeeeelp! :)

Answer 1

Clorox 2 has peroxide in it in lieu of chlorine. I believe that will do the trick. FYI: In the future, it is best to get your wash into the dryer as soon as the washer is done. Mildew usually results from the laundry sitting wet to long.

Answer 2

No, color-safe bleach does not kill mildew. It's the chlorine ion in bleach that kills mildew. Edit: perhaps peroxide will kill mildew; I don't know. You can find out by testing it, I guess.

Adding anything to the wash would only kill mildew that was previously on the clothes, but your problem is that the clothes are sitting around wet after they get washed. The mildew spores are just flying around in the air all the time, so they land on your wet clothes and grow if they have the right (wet) environment. It seems like the best solution, then is to dry your clothes quicker using a fan or something as has been suggested by other answerers.

You might want to seriously consider just throwing your delicates out and buying new ones.

However, ethanol (the kind of alcohol that you drink) will kill mildew. I have no idea whether it would work if you added it to wash, but you could probably soak the garment in question in some ethanol source. I would probably choose Everclear since it's mostly alcohol and nothing else. In my experience this type of alcohol doesn't seem to degrade other materials, but I have never tried it so I have no idea about whether the clothing will fall apart. Use at your own risk.

If you are adventurous, you can also try bleach. Depending on your delicates, it might not hurt them all that much. Chances are that the life of the garment will shorten and that it will probably yellow. You might find that preferable to just chucking it.

Obviously, with the jeans you won't want to use bleach. Why not just put them in the dryer? Yes, they will wear out faster, but with mildew they are unusable anyway.

What about hanging the clothes in the bathroom with the fan on? The fan doesn't dehumidify, but it will move the air around and hopefully help the clothes dry before the mildew sets in.

Answer 3

I do not know of a safe way to get mildew out of delicates, not even out of normal clothes. I have never been able to do this.
Do you have an air dry setting on your dryer, try that it will take a while.
You can buy a line dryer for your home.
Make sure that the clothes are not pilled on top of each other, each garment should be laid or lined without or very little overlapping. If you are laying them on a bed or couch, flip them over after a while. Try hanging over the doors in your home, this way air can reach both sides for drying a little better.
I throw my jeans and some other delicates in the dryer on low heat for no more than 3-5 minutes to get out the extra moisture out (and wrinkles for the washer). After that I take them out and lay them over something to dry. Hanging them up on hangers will not stop mildew unless you keep them far enough apart so that air can get through to dry (and even then you get hanger markers on the shoulders).

Answer 4

to scrub mildew make a paste of chlorine bleach and baking soda place it on the mildew. enable it to dry and then rinse it. try this in a properly ventilated section even if no longer deadly like your ammonia and bleach it may nonetheless generate some fumes. stick to it up with heated vinegar in a twig bottle.

Answer 5

You could try some white vinegar in your wash water. About 2 cups in cold water. Or possibly Borax mule team. (get it at your local Walmart) Are you drying your clothes on a drying rack so air can circulate around them? And is the room you dry them in well ventilated so the air moves freely, if not open a window or put a fan in there to circulate the air.

Answer 6

Woolite

Answer 7

If you have mildew on your delicates you may have bigger problems to worry about.

Answer 8

put lemon juice on it! it works!!