Prepare carefully for turbid waters.

If you have recently visited any social media platform, you may have seen a video showing a deep laundry method called "laundry stripping." These videos usually show a person’s bathtub full of water, everything from towels and sheets to stuffed animals floating in it. After pouring in several powdered cleaning products, the water in the bathtub slowly turned into a muddy rainbow of gray, brown, and black, because the contents of the bathtub were thoroughly cleaned-which was both disgusting and fascinating.

So, what exactly is undressing? According to an article published by Maytag on the subject, this aggressive cleaning method aims to remove large amounts of dirt, washing powder, and fabric softener from supposedly “clean” clothing. Washing peeling uses a combination of borax, powdered detergent and washing soda, plus hot water soaking, as a chemical cleaning. Although this is a satisfactory phenomenon, the Maytag article warns that it is certainly not safe for all fabrics, and it is not necessary if you wash your clothes correctly.

According to the article, in this technology, most of the debris that makes the water turbid is the residual detergent and fabric softener, which will accumulate in the fabric fibers over time. Use less detergent or fabric softener to avoid this build-up. For a normal laundry volume, you usually only need a tablespoon of detergent to fill the detergent cover to the first row. There will be specific washing instructions on the label of your detergent bottle.

Before using this method on your clothes, be sure to check that the care labels of your items meet the water temperature requirements. According to the Maytag article, dark fabrics, sportswear and wool should not be washed with this technique.

Dark fabrics may lose their color and leak dyes into the water, and sportswear, which is usually made of spandex, will not be able to withstand the pH of the washing products used. There is a protective oil on wool called lanolin, which is removed during the washing process, which can cause premature wear of the fiber.

"Because hot water is used to wash clothes, it should not be used on any clothing that says on the care label that it can be washed in cold water (the rule of thumb is that you can always lower the temperature at the recommended temperature, but you should not raise the temperature!) ," said Sammy Wang, MS, Senior Tidal Scientist.

Uh, not very clear. "We don't recommend undressing frequently because it will age prematurely and damage the clothes," Wang said. "Borax is often used for laundry stripping, which creates alkaline conditions, which will further weaken natural fibers such as cotton."

According to Maytag, light-colored towels and sheets are the most effective for stripping clothes because their size and bulk will cause more overtime, especially if they are not completely rinsed in the washing machine.

Fabrics that feel sticky, lose their softness, or have a noticeable odor may indicate that they can use extra deep cleaning due to the presence of hard water, Wang said.

Hard water exists in most household plumbing systems in the United States. "When hard water metals and body dirt are mixed together, they produce fatty acid salts (such as "soap scum"), which accumulate on clothes and produce unpleasant odors. Or extra residue, especially if you are using cheap cleaners," Wang said. "High-quality cleaners like Tide contain chelating agents that can help bind hard water metals and prevent the types of residues caused by hard water buildup."

Maytag recommends not to use a washing machine for undressing. They also recommend using traditional detergents to soak hot water in the washing machine for a long time, then perform a rinsing cycle, and then try the complete laundry stripping process. If you find that your sheets do require a longer soaking time, this is the procedure suggested by Maytag:

Again, this process can only be used for certain fabrics and clothing. You should always check the care labels of items before continuing to use this method of washing.

If you are looking for ways to avoid the accumulation of clothing, make sure not to use too much detergent or fabric softener in your clothing. You can also add additional rinse cycles to the clothes. Do not fill the washing machine more than three-quarters full, as this will ensure that all laundry is thoroughly rinsed.

"If you are still interested in the laundry soaking step for certain items, we recommend that you use a laundry product like 9 Elements, which is designed to help purify the hard water that accumulates in the fabric," Wang said. "To use 9 Elements Purifying Softener as a laundry soak, please mix at least 1 to 10 mixtures of 9 Elements Purifying Softener in room temperature water, and then soak the clothes for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

"Then use 9 Elements detergent and 9 Elements Purifying Softener to wash the clothes in the washing machine cycle," Wang said. "When used with 9 Elements Laundry Detergent, 9 Elements Purifying Softener is like detoxifying your clothes, removing hard water residues and helping to soften fabrics and restore color."

Just as satisfying as the undressing Internet trend is that those muddy water can do more harm than good, so make sure to soak your sheets or towels for a long time before taking the plunge.