Anyone got any ideas for washing handkerchiefs

At home I usually make do with a piece of kitchen roll but like to have a proper hanky when going out, so I use them frequently.

I soak them overnight in bio liquid or powder and then they come out of the machine nice and clean even after a 30degree wash.

I use a mixture of Hankies & tissues I'm like you, very phlegmy in summer.
Soak them in washing powder solution (cool), rinse then wash them with the rest of the load is what I do.

Just put them in a bucket of Milton solution, or unbranded sterilising solution. Then I would wash In one of those net bags (mine end up in the rim) with your whites.

I read of a machine cleaning regime somewhere, involving soda crystals on a 90º wash cycle. So I do this every 3 months or so and put the hankies, as they are, in for that cycle.
2 jobs in one.
I needed to have enough hankies to see me through that long.

Back in the 1950's when I helped my Granny with the washing she had an old saucepan which was kept just for boiling handkerchiefs. She added a chunk of Sunlight soap to the water and let it simmer for an hour or two before rinsing.
I'm sure times have changed since those days, Notagranny44 but you have brought back a fond memory of post-war wash days.

I inherited my mother's preserving pan - the only thing I have ever used it for is boiling handkerchiefs!

I don't use cloth hankies but haven't bought tissues for years. If I'm out for a coffee or a meal, I keep the paper napkin (unless it's covered in curry) and bring it home for use as a tissue - after all, the restaurant staff will just throw it away. Napkins are also usually bigger than tissues, so more use for a cold or a seriously runny nose. In the summer they end up in the compost bin and in the winter they go in the fire. During lockdown, I bought a packet of cheap paper napkins for the same purpose.

I shall now retire behind the sofa and wait for someone to say that they find that disgusting or something.

I just lob them in my machine!

My DH has never used anything else but white mens hankies.

They get washed with all the other whites at 90c.

And ours do. In fact, I often do what I think of as a boil wash at 60° with lots of Biotex in it. We are fairly healthy despite that.

I always carry a hankie with me because I’m really sniffy, especially if I go from outside to inside. Never actually blow my nose into it though. I think everyone should be made to carry a hanky by law; just think how many trees it would save. If I used it properly I would soak it beforehand in Milton, though. If I do have a cold ( last time I had one I was blowing my nose for what seemed like forever) I use toilet paper and then burn it in the garden incinerator.

I ve not seen a hanky for donkey years just use tissues

Thank you all for your suggestions. I don't want to make a lot of work for myself, just send less to landfill, although I think we are pretty good at recycling anyway! The napkin idea would really be no different to tissues though.
I think I'll get a few cotton hankies and try putting them to soak in a bio washing powder solution and see how I go.
In the old days we didn't have bio anything to deal with the slime, did we?

DH’s hankies go in the washing machine on a 60 degree wash. I go through a lot of tissues so maybe I need a re-think …

grannyjan2

I read of a machine cleaning regime somewhere, involving soda crystals on a 90º wash cycle. So I do this every 3 months or so and put the hankies, as they are, in for that cycle.
2 jobs in one.
I needed to have enough hankies to see me through that long.

I cleaned my old washer that way & next wash I did was towels all came out covered in black gunk 😩
So it does work!

midgey

I just lob them in my machine!

Yes all the male resident hankies all went in a mixed wash-cross contamination no doubt 😂

Sarnia

Back in the 1950's when I helped my Granny with the washing she had an old saucepan which was kept just for boiling handkerchiefs. She added a chunk of Sunlight soap to the water and let it simmer for an hour or two before rinsing.
I'm sure times have changed since those days, Notagranny44 but you have brought back a fond memory of post-war wash days.

Ooh bet it was like porridge 😂

Whitewavemark2

My DH has never used anything else but white mens hankies.

They get washed with all the other whites at 90c.

On the program Sliced Bread they discussed whether washing at 90degrees makes any difference.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0030243

After years of dealing with my husbands snotty hankies I now refuse to handle them !! Revolting business. Simply not prepared to deal with them . I now bag and bin them .
I will probably get shot down in flames on this forum but its now tissues. His handkerchiefs are slowly disappearing- thank goodness !

Sorry, but IMO fabric handkerchiefs are gross.
I’d have to boil them, but preferably chuck them on to an open fire.
Thank goodness for tissues!

I’m all for reducing waste and recycling, BTW, but there are limits…

👍

My husband uses them every day, I've just been chucking them in the washing machine with the usual washing for the past 20 years

Agree! Good for you.

When I was very young, my mother boiled them all in a huge old saucepan.

It must have been all right then for a 7-year old to use an iron - I've just remembered standing on a stool and having the job of ironing them!