I am so excited
because there is this major trend
that has been everywhere on social media.
I am talking from Gen Zers to everyone else on this planet!
Every age in between, it's called laundry stripping.
Now, this phrase is something you need to know
because it's sweeping the nation or the globe
and here to give us the scoop on this
is the director of Home Appliances
and Cleaning Products Lab at, get ready for it,
the Good Housekeeping Institute.
I can't even, I feel like I'm about to meet like a deity.
Carolyn Forte.
Hello.
(audience applauding)
Hi, Drew!
How are you?
So nice to be with you.
Now, will you please explain to us, Carolyn,
what is laundry stripping?
'Cause this is a new phenomenon.
How is it, what is it?
Why is it necessary?
Like you said, it's just unbelievable how
it's overtaken social media and the internet
and what it is, it's soaking in a hot water bath
and detergent, and some additives, clean clothes.
The clothes go in, you think are clean
but they have trapped residues inside of them,
body soils that haven't been removed.
So things like that will then come out into the water,
it gets this murky kind of gray, black look to it.
Oh, it does. And
it makes a perfect Instagram or TikTok picture
to show how dirty your clean clothes really are.
That's why it's taken off as it has.
If I said I was hot under the collar
I'd be making the understatement of my life.
Take me through this, Carolyn,
teach me how to laundry strip!
We're gonna do it one step at a time.
Now, first thing you do is,
most people do it in their bathtub.
So you'd fill the bathtub with hot water.
You've got a basin there,
so but you could do it in a basin,
you could do it in a sink.
Okay, so you got your hot water.
You ready?
(Carolyn laughing) (audience laughing)
Okay. Okay.
I do and now- Now, first thing
you're gonna do is you're gonna pour in some borax.
Quarter cup of borax.
You're going to add a quarter of cup of washing soda.
Yeah, you will Now-
(audience laughing)
Borax and washing soda are products
that you can use in your laundry usually
and for cleaning around the house.
So it's not unusual to put them in here.
And then you're gonna add your laundry detergent.
Half a cup. A half a cup
of, right, so you're gonna stir it around.
There you go, oh, that's nice.
I'm very, really invested in this, so.
So now you can put your items in.
Okay.
So just drop them in.
We recommend if you're gonna do colors
make sure that they are color-fast and won't fade
because the hot water can fade certain colors.
Yeah, it can. So keep that in mind.
You don't wanna do this on delicate fabrics.
That certainly would damage them.
But if you're gonna do colors, do colors together.
If you're gonna do whites,
which is really what we recommend it for,
if you're gonna do it at all, do those separately as well.
So now you're gonna let that soak
and that needs to soak about four or five hours.
So until the water cools off
In fact, we have done that, Carolyn.
Yes.
We thought ahead.
All right, ready?
Here we go, and a one, two.
(audience gasping) (terror-stricken music)
(audience applauding)
Oh, my gosh, look at that water.
Look at this.
I mean the water, it is like purpley blue.
Now, once you're done with that,
you have to take those clothes out,
put them in your washing machine,
rinse them and then put them in the dryer.
So, you know, you're not done yet once it's finished
after it's four hours in the tub
you still have some schlepping to do
to take your laundry to the washing machine to rinse it out.
But it's important to keep in mind
that if you don't wanna go through this process,
you shouldn't have to
just make sure you use a good detergent,
a good deep cleaning detergent.
Don't overload your washing machine
because that will contribute to residues.
If clothes can't move around and tumble
they're not gonna get clean.
You wanna measure your detergent and you've gotta sort
like we've talked about already, sorting is important,
and finally, you can always add some borax
or washing soda right in with your detergent
and it'll do the same job.
Carolyn.
So nice to meet you.
Carolyn, Carolyn, Carolyn,
you have my dream job.
You are a dream for me to meet.
It has been an honor and a pleasure.
I have literally been looking forward
to this segment all week and-
That's so sweet.
I just wanna thank you so much, and guess what?
Speaking of linens and laundry,
all of our VFFs are getting a bamboo bath towel set
and classic bamboo sheet set from Cariloha!
(audience applauding) (audience cheering)
I know!
And Cariloha has been a company
that has been kind enough to gift our VFFS in the past
and we love working with them.
So thank you and Carolyn.
My pleasure.
Happy to be here.
Thank you. Anytime.
Thank you so much.
Please...
Think of me when you're in the Good Housekeeping Lab.
I will.
Well, when we go back, you'll have to come visit.
I'd love to show you our lab.
(audience laughing)
When we're back.
Thank you, Carolyn.
(upbeat music)