Do you strip? The strip wash cleaning craze sweeping Australia
The simple cleaning hack that pulls this much dirt out of your clean clothes
- by
Eliza Scanlan
How often do YOU wash your bras? It’s a question that’s been in the news lately since leading fashion designer Stella McCartney revealed she rarely washes her bras - encouraging others to do the same.
But while hygiene expert Lisa Ackerley recommends washing your bras after every second or third wear, it seems women all have very different cleaning regimes when it comes to their undergarments.
Well now one Aussie mum has highlighted just how much dirt and grime could be hiding in your bra - and how she used a $6 Coles product to get them squeaky clean.
Posting on the amazing Mums Who Clean Facebook group, Emma revealed how she did a strip soak hack on six bras AFTER she’d put them through the washing machine - resulting in a very surprising outcome.
Sharing a photo that showed just how murky the water had become after soaking the bras in a mixture of Sard Wonder Power Stain Remover - available from Coles for just over $6 - along with Cold Power washing detergent and cold water, it was enough to shock even Emma.
She writes: ‘I did the soak thing on 6 of my bras..... ewwwww.
‘I did just a tablespoon of Cold Power and a tablespoon of [Sard] soak stuff. Diluted that first in cold water. Added my bras and soaked for hour and a half ....’
Emma couldn't believe the colour of the water after soaking her six bras.
Image: Mums Who Clean/Facebook
The colour of the water was enough to convince many of the group’s followers to follow Emma’s lead and do the hack on their own bras.
‘Wow I can’t believe that come out of bras ....’ said one. Added another: ‘Omg I have to do this!!That water scares me of what mine would look like.’ Added a third: ‘I feel dirty right now... in my freshly washed pjs 🥺’
Another had a lighter take on the post, though, writing: ‘Wait. People wash their bra? Don't you take it off, pop it on the laundry pile, pick it up and put it on again the next day and repeat for 100 years?’
Ha! The ‘Strip Clean’ hack has taken Aussie households by storm in recent months since it was created by the Clean Cloth Nappies Facebook group. It basically involves soaking anything - from rugs to curtains to clothes and school uniforms - after they’ve been washed, to take out any of the grim and dirt that’s still lurking.
A Mums Who Clean member showed how the Strip Wash hack worked on her curtains!
Image: Mums Who Clean
And while traditional recipes involve using borax (see recipe below), Emma has proven that her Sard hack is a winner too. For other techniques, Clean Cloth Nappies suggest using this method for front loaders, this method for small scale strip soak or this method for a top loader.
Now, where are my bras and bucket!? For more great ideas, make sure you’re following Mums Who Clean on Facebook - click here for more.
Image: Clean Cloth Nappies/Facebook
Eliza ScanlanEliza Scanlan is a contributor on New Idea.
