What Is Laundry Stripping? How to Do It the Right Way, According to Cleaning Pros

If laundry stripping has popped up on your social media feeds recently, you’re far from alone. The viral cleaning strategy took off on TikTok in 2020 and has remained popular ever since. But if you’re wondering if laundry stripping is worth it, keep reading.

Laundry stripping is a deep-cleaning process that takes your textiles and removes residue that’s built up over time from things like excess detergent, natural body oils, fabric softener, and other sources. It can be time-consuming, but it can also be strangely satisfying (as you probably know from watching videos about it!).

While this method is effective in getting built-up grime out of your towels, sheets, and clothes, the pros at the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab note that you can save yourself a lot of time and energy by preventing this residue from building up in the first place.

Ahead, learn whether pros think laundry stripping is ever worth it, the best products to use, and how to prevent your textiles from taking on oils, excess detergent, and more. For more laundry tips, read up on the mistakes cleaning experts say can ruin your clothes, the laundry hacks pros actually use, and the best water temperature for laundry.

Laundry stripping is a deep-cleaning technique that can remove residue build-up from textiles. This build-up can come from hard water minerals, natural body oils, fabric softener, or leftover detergent that's become trapped in the fibers of clothing, towels, or sheets.

The cleaning method is pretty involved. First, your towels, sheets, or clothing soak in a tub of hot water, borax, washing soda (sodium carbonate) and laundry detergent until the water has cooled completely — which is likely to take at least four hours.

• Colorfast Towels, Sheets, and Pillowcases (can be cleaned in hot water without fading)
• Cotton Comforters and Duvet Covers
• White and Light-Colored Clothing

What You'll Need:

• Borax​
• Washing soda​
• Laundry detergent

1. Fill your bathtub, sink, or a large bucket with hot water. Add borax, washing soda (sodium carbonate — not baking soda), and laundry detergent in a 1:1:2 ratio. For a bathtub, add ¼ cup borax, ¼ cup washing soda, and ½ cup laundry detergent. Stir until all three ingredients dissolve completely.
2. Submerge "clean" towels or sheets in the mixture and soak until the water has cooled, which usually takes at least four hours. Stir them occasionally to help dissolve and release the build-up from the fabrics into the water.
3. Drain the murky water, wring your items, and run them through a full wash cycle without detergent or softener. If not a full wash cycle, put them through at least a rinse and spin cycle in your washing machine. Tumble dry the items without dryer sheets.

Avoid washing colored fabrics, delicate items, and fabrics prone to shrinking with this method. Always check an item's care tag—any item that requires a cold, cool, or warm water wash may fade or shrink from the high temps required to laundry strip.

It's not recommended to soak colored textiles, because the dyes can run—which partly explains why the water often turns dark brown or gray during the stripping process. If you decide to soak colored textiles, don't combine them with whites to avoid accidentally transferring dye.

We don't think so. While laundry stripping can be effective, you shouldn't have to strip towels and sheets on a regular basis if you're washing them correctly. Plus, the process of laundry stripping can be time-consuming and inconvenient. There are some instances where laundry stripping may be necessary, especially if you notice buildup after washing with homemade detergent, frequent use, or over-use of dryer sheets or liquid fabric softener or you live in a hard water area and don't have a water softener installed.

If you're able to prevent build-up in your fabrics, there's rarely a need for laundry stripping. Follow these smart laundry practices with each load:

• Use a deep-cleaning detergent, like GH Seal Star Tide Power Pods.
• Don't overload the washing machine. In order for items to be washed thoroughly, they need room to move and circulate.
• Don't use too much detergent or fabric softener. Always measure and follow label recommendations based on the size of your load and how dirty it is. You can skip fabric softener or dryer sheets every few loads.
• If you see suds left in the washer tub, run a second rinse cycle.
• Use proper laundry sorting techniques to avoid depositing soil from one item to another. Wash very dirty items separately from less soiled ones.
• If you notice residue or want to prevent buildup, add borax, washing soda, or a rinse to a regular load during the wash cycle following the label directions for your size load and type of machine.

The bottom line, according to Carolyn Forté, former executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Home Care and Cleaning Lab: "If you have a lot of towels or sheets that need help, laundry stripping is a good way to tackle them quickly. Make sure to follow good laundering habits afterward, so you don't have to do it again!"

Alyssa Gautieri

Senior Gifts Editor

Alyssa Gautieri (she/her) leads Good Housekeeping’s gift guide strategy. She writes and edits commerce content, where she analyzes lifestyle trends, shopping data, and works closely with the Good Housekeeping Institute to recommend top-tested products. Previously, she was the associate lifestyle editor for GH and wrote for publications including ELLE Decor, BobVila.com, and Unique Homes Magazine. When she’s not tracking down buzzy products, you can find her walking her dog, Skye, around Jersey City.

Monique Valeris

Home Design Director

Monique Valeris is the home design director for Good Housekeeping, where she oversees the brand's home decorating coverage across print and digital. Prior to joining GH in 2020, she was the digital editor at Elle Decor. In her current role, she explores everything from design trends and home tours to lifestyle product recommendations, including writing her monthly column, "What's in My Cart."