Why oh why is my son in love with white?!

elaine amj

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 26, 2012
My DS16 has decided white is the color of choice right now. Over the past couple of years he has been gradually accummulating more white clothes. His latest purchases this past month have included a pair of white mesh running shoes and two days ago...a bright white hoodie.

As a mother who loathes laundry (and is not good at it lol) I have been trying to find ways to help him keep his stuff white and clean. Ugh ugh ugh.

I just found out I could have sprayed his white mesh sneakers with some kind of protectant spray. But now it is a bit too late as his 2 week old shoes are pretty dingy. I think they are goners. Plus I scrubbed them a little too hard the first time and there's a bit of a fray in the toe. Next pair will be grey lol. Those at least don't get ruined after 2 hours haha!

His white hoodie got tinged with blue the first night - I am thinking they must have come from his navy blue comforter (odd as it is old and has been washed multiple times). He followed that up with dripping ketchup on it the next day. Thankfully it all came out when I scrubbed them with stain remover and a soft toothbrush and put them in the white wash with a lot of bleach.

Can u believe he actually wanted to take this new white hoodie camping yesterday?! I don't usually interfere in his clothing choices but I flat out put my foot down.

Sigggghhh... he's happy to learn how to to care for his clothes. But I am feeling a lot of responsibility as The Mother to know how to keep his white stuff white lol. And while I am no fashion hound, I do like staying reasonably up with the current fashion and have a soft spot for a teen feeling good about what he wears.

Why couldn't he be like me and stick to black? Or my DD who wears blue?

Any tips on caring for white clothes?
 
My DS16 has decided white is the color of choice right now. Over the past couple of years he has been gradually accummulating more white clothes. His latest purchases this past month have included a pair of white mesh running shoes and two days ago...a bright white hoodie.

As a mother who loathes laundry (and is not good at it lol) I have been trying to find ways to help him keep his stuff white and clean. Ugh ugh ugh.

I just found out I could have sprayed his white mesh sneakers with some kind of protectant spray. But now it is a bit too late as his 2 week old shoes are pretty dingy. I think they are goners. Plus I scrubbed them a little too hard the first time and there's a bit of a fray in the toe. Next pair will be grey lol. Those at least don't get ruined after 2 hours haha!

His white hoodie got tinged with blue the first night - I am thinking they must have come from his navy blue comforter (odd as it is old and has been washed multiple times). He followed that up with dripping ketchup on it the next day. Thankfully it all came out when I scrubbed them with stain remover and a soft toothbrush and put them in the white wash with a lot of bleach.

Can u believe he actually wanted to take this new white hoodie camping yesterday?! I don't usually interfere in his clothing choices but I flat out put my foot down.

Sigggghhh... he's happy to learn how to to care for his clothes. But I am feeling a lot of responsibility as The Mother to know how to keep his white stuff white lol. And while I am no fashion hound, I do like staying reasonably up with the current fashion and have a soft spot for a teen feeling good about what he wears.

Why couldn't he be like me and stick to black? Or my DD who wears blue?

Any tips on caring for white clothes?
Let him worry about doing his laundry for a while and maybe that will change his mind on the love of white. Help him see how his decision is creating a hardship and hopefully he'll broaden his color choice horizons.
 
He is totally willing to handle his white laundry. He currently handles his own laundry and often does my laundry too.

But I don't know how to teach him LOL! Plus I feel bad when he gets a bad stain and am ok jumping in to try to help.

Hoping for some tips on how to handle all these white clothes :)
 


Go and buy some cans of ScotchGard fabric protectant spray NOW. You want to wash new clothes first once, then treat them with the ScotchGard. After treatment, stains will come out easily without bleach, and yellowing will be minimized. Cloth sneakers can be treated right out of the box. Clothes should be re-treated after about every 40 washings.

Also, probably not a bad idea to buy a copy of Clean it Fast, Clean it Right to keep in the laundry room; it's kind of an old book, but absolutely the best when it comes to stain removal techniques. https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Fast-Right-Absolutely-Everything/dp/0875965091
 
Last edited:
Oh boy - just got dressed to go out and realized I can’t complain that much about my son as I am wearing a pair of white shorts and a small white leather crossbody purse (all recent purchases from my favourite thrift stores).

I need serious help with all this white!

@bgirl29 I will add some oxyclean to my arsenal.

@NotUrsula will the Scotchguard work on his white mesh shoes even if it is already a bit dingy? Or should I just give them up? Thankfully I got them from 6pm for $30. Definitely no more white shoes in his future!

I thought bleach would save the day but it hasn’t seemed to do a whole lot.
 


Oh boy - just got dressed to go out and realized I can’t complain that much about my son as I am wearing a pair of white shorts and a small white leather crossbody purse (all recent purchases from my favourite thrift stores).

I need serious help with all this white!

@bgirl29 I will add some oxyclean to my arsenal.

@NotUrsula will the Scotchguard work on his white mesh shoes even if it is already a bit dingy? Or should I just give them up? Thankfully I got them from 6pm for $30. Definitely no more white shoes in his future!

I thought bleach would save the day but it hasn’t seemed to do a whole lot.

ScotchGard will keep the shoes from getting worse, but best bet for them would be to soak in OxyClean solution for a few days, then run them through the wash again, then treat with Scotchgard to protect.

Regular chlorine bleach has a tendency to turn synthetic-fiber whites grey. It's great for cotton or linen, but not so much for synthetics.

Buy yourself a nice deep clear or white bucket JUST for laundry soaking; no colored buckets because you can't see the whiteness properly with those.
 
I was going to suggest Oxi Clean as well. My DD does her chefs coats on the “white cycle” (hot everything) and uses bleach. Those things are made to take a beating though.

Don’t use the blue Downey fabric softener, that turns things dingy and blue.
 
OxiClean is good to use on whites IMO. I use it and soak it for at least 6 hours for my whites (max listed on the container).

I don't think I would try and make him grow out of a color just let him do his own laundry and he'll decide for himself if he's ok with the effort. (Edit: I see you're just unsure how to teach him how to do whites).

I don't have an issue with white shirts, tanks, hoodies, socks or underwear or shoes for that matter but I personally stay away from stark white pants, shorts or skirts because of sitting down kind of thing as I feel it increases the risk of it getting really dirty (shoes kinda get dirty as just part of wearing them so I exclude that).
 
I have twin 16yo DS and one of the seems suddenly into white too! All of the sudden, he’s bought a bunch of white clothes and I’m all over trying to keep them that way... lol.
 
Oxyclean works well. You should pre-treat any stains as soon as possible. If you want a natural treatment, try adding a cup of either distilled white vinegar or lemon juice to the wash (along with your regular detergent) and use hot water. Dry on low (high heat can scorch and give a yellow tint.) Or hang it outside on a clothes line the old-fashioned way, and get some bleaching effects from the sun.
 
We just did this with white sheets, mattress pad, and martial arts uniforms. Soak item in 1/2 gallon of hot water, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup salt for 1-2 hours. Then without rinsing, put in direct sunlight and dry. Then launder as usual. I was skeptical but this totally worked. No amount of oxyclean got anywhere close to what this did. Obviously we won't be doing this every cycle, but it's nice to be able to whiten things up every once in awhile!
 
Or hang it outside on a clothes line the old-fashioned way, and get some bleaching effects from the sun.
I place certain things in sunlight if I need them dried faster but it's done inside but no way could I put anything outside.

Between the bugs, pollen, dirt kicked up in the air, twigs/tree stuff and storms that's just a waste to me :laughing:
 
ScotchGard will keep the shoes from getting worse, but best bet for them would be to soak in OxyClean solution for a few days, then run them through the wash again, then treat with Scotchgard to protect.

Regular chlorine bleach has a tendency to turn synthetic-fiber whites grey. It's great for cotton or linen, but not so much for synthetics.

Buy yourself a nice deep clear or white bucket JUST for laundry soaking; no colored buckets because you can't see the whiteness properly with those.

Some GREAT tips! I do have a shallow white tub I use for scrubbing and I also have a white bucket I can use for soaking. Thankfully only his hoodie and his shoes merit special treatment right now. Although I was thinking his white undershirts are getting dingy. Maybe some special treatment will help instead of tossing them out and buying new like I planned.

Don’t use bleach all the time, it will weaken the fabric over time.

GREAT point! I had no idea.

I was going to suggest Oxi Clean as well. My DD does her chefs coats on the “white cycle” (hot everything) and uses bleach. Those things are made to take a beating though.

Don’t use the blue Downey fabric softener, that turns things dingy and blue.

His white school uniforms and our white towels are getting very white and bright now lol. Just worried I will end up being too rough on the hoodie and shoes. I already frayed the toe of his white shoe scrubbing too enthusiastically (and I was just using a cloth! Not even a scrub brush! I have switched to a toothbrush and that seems to work better).

I don't have an issue with white shirts, tanks, hoodies, socks or underwear or shoes for that matter but I personally stay away from stark white pants, shorts or skirts because of sitting down kind of thing as I feel it increases the risk of it getting really dirty (shoes kinda get dirty as just part of wearing them so I exclude that).

This whole stark white thing is crazy.

I have twin 16yo DS and one of the seems suddenly into white too! All of the sudden, he’s bought a bunch of white clothes and I’m all over trying to keep them that way... lol.

I know! What's with this trend for white clothes?? All these years of buying black and suddenly I am tossed into this world of white. I sure am loving my white shorts though LOL!

Oxyclean works well. You should pre-treat any stains as soon as possible. If you want a natural treatment, try adding a cup of either distilled white vinegar or lemon juice to the wash (along with your regular detergent) and use hot water. Dry on low (high heat can scorch and give a yellow tint.) Or hang it outside on a clothes line the old-fashioned way, and get some bleaching effects from the sun.

I LIKE that. We have loads of white vinegar as that is what we use to clean our house and mop the floors. Haven't tried drying in the sun yet but will give it a go.

We just did this with white sheets, mattress pad, and martial arts uniforms. Soak item in 1/2 gallon of hot water, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup salt for 1-2 hours. Then without rinsing, put in direct sunlight and dry. Then launder as usual. I was skeptical but this totally worked. No amount of oxyclean got anywhere close to what this did. Obviously we won't be doing this every cycle, but it's nice to be able to whiten things up every once in awhile!

Now THAT sounds cool. Will definitely give it a shot.

I place certain things in sunlight if I need them dried faster but it's done inside but no way could I put anything outside.

Between the bugs, pollen, dirt kicked up in the air, twigs/tree stuff and storms that's just a waste to me :laughing:

I get nervous too lol.

Stop that! Just stop it! Right now! :)

Haha!!!

Just feels like such a Mom thing I should know about!
 
Doing laundry is one of those life skills. I'd nicely get him started managing his own laundry.

Yep. My 15 year old son does his own laundry...clothes and bedding. There are things going on there that I just do not want to deal with.

Did the same with the girls, around that age. Gotta have that lifeskill.
 
Definitely have him do his own laundry. He's 15, he's probably got his learner's permit for driving? He's learning how to operate a vehicle, he can learn to wash clothes.

If you're not sure how to teach him something, just have him there with you and explain why you're doing each step. And tell him to ask you any time he has questions. Kids are smart, he'll get it.
 
If he wants to wear all white clothes and isn’t being careful then he needs to help pay to replace them if he ruins them before they wear out or he outgrows them.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top