As the patron saint of germaphobes, it’s kind of a miracle that I more or less exclusively own a secondhand wardrobe. Let’s be real: There’s kind of an ick factor with thrifting clothes. But we’re only humans—we eat, we excrete, we get things dirty. While I skip pieces with obvious stains at the thrift store, I’ve bought my fair share of dingy clothes. And here’s the thing: Even if something has already gone through a laundry cycle and is technically clean, it might still look kind of gross.
What is OxiClean, and how does it work?
One of the greatest cleaning products I’ve discovered while combing through thrifting subreddits is, drum roll please, OXICLEAN. OxiClean uses sodium percarbonate, which is a combination of sodium carbonate (washing soda) and hydrogen peroxide. It basically releases oxygen when it’s mixed in with water, which then lifts stains. OxiClean also contains surfactants, allowing water to penetrate into the surface of the fabric you’re cleaning. I’m a messy cook, dog owner, and avid thrifter—suffice to say, it’s become a crucial part of my laundering routine.
Sorry, I’m starting to sound like Billy Mays. I swear I’m not sponsored! This stuff just works really well.
What is OxiClean White Revive?
This past weekend, I went to an estate sale and found two vintage cream-colored ramie and cotton sweaters. While the sweaters were in fair condition, they were a bit dingy, so I wanted to zhuzh them up. Naturally, I reached for OxiClean, specifically OxiClean White Revive PowerPaks instead of my regular stain and odor busting powder.
I like this particular formula because of its extra whitening power. What’s nice is that the lightening powder is still safe to use if you have other colors on your garment. I recently used it on a black skirt with white motifs and piping, and it didn’t cause the black to fade.
How to use OxiClean White Revive
My OxiClean White Revive package came from a last-ditch effort cleaning experiment last summer. I had a cute Pride Sesame Street shirt that turned a mucky brown color from my burgundy hair phase, and I wanted it to look nice and white again. To my surprise, soaking it in this OxiClean product for about six hours returned it to its original state.
I’ve used this product on white/cream slacks and blouses, and it’s worked like a charm every time, although set-in stains require a longer soak time. It’s very simple to use—all you need to do is pre-soak your garment in a solution of warm water (or the warmest your garment fiber can handle) and an OxiClean PowerPak before tossing it in the laundry. If you have an especially dingy piece, you could also use two packs. You could also toss it directly into your laundry load, although soaking is better for stubborn stains.
And by the way, the pods are the same as the powder. You’d just scoop out the powder if you buy the tub instead. Long story short, I couldn’t get the tub shipped so I ended up with the pods!
How to use OxiClean on thrifted clothes
Instead of pre-soaking my garments like I’ve done in the past, I went ahead and tossed two pods into my laundry machine drum with clear Tide detergent. Since I didn’t want to waste water, I threw in a light-colored blouse and comforter, too. I put everything on a regular cycle with warm water, since OxiClean works best with warm to hot water and my sweaters could handle a bit of heat.
I tumble dried ‘em on low and voila, new old vintage ready to wear! My sweaters looked STUNNING after a regular laundry cycle! Like celebrity veneers, virtually. (The OxiClean also lifted some stubborn lotion stains from my comforter!)
Other types of OxiClean
While I used the whitening version of OxiClean for this blog, you could get regular (the “versatile”) OxiClean. OxiClean also has an Odor Blasters formula for especially stinky clothes and a perfume-free one if you’re sensitive to fragrances. If you have a really dingy piece I recommend pre-soaking your garment the maximum recommended time before tossing it into the washer. Just remember that you can’t use it on certain materials, such as silk and wool.
Barring these fabrics and fibers, I 100000% recommend picking up a tub (or pods) of OxiClean if your wardrobe is predominantly secondhand. It’s easy to gloss over less pristine pieces at the thrift, but this powder can really work miracles.
