Mum-of-11 reveals simple hack to keep school shirts white
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@orourkesmaddnesandmayhem/Thomas Northcut/Getty Images
Over the last few years - since it blew up during the Covid-19 pandemic - TikTok has become a comfort blanket for many parents.
With experts, healthcare professionals and fellow mums and dads all across the globe sharing their neat tips and tricks when it comes to raising children, it's no wonder that #toddlertok has become it's own established community on the video sharing app.
And one nifty aid is once again doing the rounds on social media this week.
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Mum-of-11 Joanne O’Rourke clearly knows a thing or two about doing the washing, and last year shared a simple hack to ensure her children's white clothes stay as white as possible.
And with the Easter holidays coming, there will be a lot of white shirts needing a good clean before you know it.
As mentioned, Joanna kindly revealed her ‘washing hack’ online, to help others who are sick and tired of the pesky stains on white clothes, particularly the ones on the white shirts worn by kids.
The TikToker used to put 32 shirts in a bucket to soak to keep them ‘bright and white’ but her friend came forward with a different method for keeping them clean.
After using the tips she got from her friend, Joanne said she instantly knew that it was a much better method.
In fact, she hailed it a ‘game-changer’ that is ‘less hassle’ and just ‘brilliant’.
That's music to our ears!
The mum starts by putting all the white garments into the drum of her washing machine. Then you need to use washing pods and chuck them in with a ‘few scent boosters for good measure’.
She then adds Vanish Oxi Action into the washing machine dryer. This item can be picked up from your local supermarket. Joanne also adds fabric conditioner.
After turning the temperature up to 40 degrees, she then put the washing on for a 60-minute cycle.
"What I do now, I leave that machine on, on a Saturday night, for the first 15 minutes so it gets really soapy and really foamy," Joanne said.
"And then what I do, I pause the machine, then I leave the machine on pause for the whole night so the whites then sit there, and they sit there in the Vanish and all the bits that I've put in there, so it's just like an overnight soaking, so when I get up on Sunday morning, I then press un-pause and the wash will continue.”
Joanne called it a 'quick way to ensure the white clothes stay white while smelling amazing'.
When asked about her electricity bill by someone in the comments, Joanne said this method does make it go up ‘but it works for me’.
She replied to another TikTok user confirming that soaking the garments in the machine rather than a bucket ensures ‘it’s all out the way’.
Lots of social media users jumped on board, with one replying: “I wish I knew this years ago when mine were in school!”
Another person gushed: “Oh amazing! I’ll defo try this! Thank you.”
Someone else confessed: “I do this and I thought I was a weirdo which is why I didn’t share. Hated having to soak in a bucket to then transfer to the machine.”