Anyone got any ideas for washing handkerchiefs

My mother boiled all the used handkerchiefs once a week in a huge old saucepan. We called it Hanky Stew!
I use real hankies, not tissues, and wash them with everything else at 30 degrees. I used to iron them but can’t be bothered any more.

Me neither, not sure if earlier on I mentioned my domestic science ( science?) double period ie 55 minutes, we had to wash and iron a single handkerchief.
Laughable but at the time it was apparently vitally important for us to learn.

I can’t believe this topic has generated so many replies🤔

What NotSpaghetti says.

Stansgran don't put tissues in the recycling (unless your council puts "food waste" in with paper products)?
Surely nobody seriously does this?
In the black bin I think.

Tissues are made from heavily processed, low-grade paper with fibers that are too short to be recycled into new paper products... also, to maintain wet tensile strength they are treated with synthetic resins.
Just looked this ip and usually it's
Polyamidoamine-Epichlorohydrin (PAE) or Polyacrylamide (PAM).
(!)

You need genuine cotton or bamboo tissues if you want to avoid this by the way - but obviously check with the manufacturer.

Ordinary commercial tissues (even with their PAE or PAM) will break down in your compost apparently.

You shouldn't be flushing them as they don't degrade quickly enough for water processing and behave more like "wet wipes".
That's why they work better than toilet roll for nose blowing.

BlueBelle

Every time I read this title I feel ick

Stop reading it!

kittylester I am always the culprit!

Nobody is "going through" recycling.

DH has a proper handkerchief clean and ironed every day. I do a month at a time . Wednesday is designated ironing day this week. I think paper napkins with snot in the recycling is disgusting for the people who have to go through it and flushing them down the toilet when we’ve been told only to flush toilet paper is a bit selfish. I do a hot wash and keep the old very soft ones for when people have bad colds and sore noses. Everyone’s idea of hygiene seems to be different.

Cool! Not just me then.

greyfur16

I just use a paper serviette from a coffee shop.

Yes, that's what I said last week that I do, greyfur16. It doesn't seem sensible to waste them, as they will just be thrown away in the kitchen, even if you haven't used them. Restaurants sometimes have thicker or bigger paper ones, and they are good if you have a cold!

I just use a paper serviette from a coffee shop.

Every time I read this title I feel ick

Boiling cotton handkerchiefs is the only thing I remember from school domestic science lessons! I wish I could do it now but the pan is too heavy for me to lift.

When my numerous white men's handkerchiefs get grubby and off white I put them in my BREAD BIN! Shock horror!

To be clear , I have a round white Judge bread bin with metal lid that measures approx 14" across. It is about 16" high and also doubles as a large quality saucepan. Ideal for pasta/potatoes/rice if cooking for the 5000!
I put them in with boiling water a small quantity of bleach, washing powder and if really dirty a GloWhite sachet. They are all good 100% cotton and they come out gleaming.

I just chuck them in with the washing, I've never had a problem

That is "sort of" what I was thinking, bit was too cowardly to say.

Three months of snot !!
What a way to have bacteria , viruses or just plain dirt on supply !
Doesn’t it smell ?
Please go buy tissues

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.

Where do you keep your three month stash of snotty hankies?

I remember someone interviewing a scientist on radio and he was asked what was tge best invention of the 20th century and he said paper tissues, both for the concrnience and their hygiene value.

I soak all our hankies in Napisan - it’s the powder that we used to use to sterilise terry nappies ‘back in the day’. It’s ok for soaking coloured fabric (unlike Milton which bleaches). I then drain it and pop them into a standard wash at a lower temperature. I often soak undies in Napisan, dishcloths. all the face masks went in during Covid, in fact I soak anything I think might have nasty bacteria. (Different soaking buckets depending on the item obviously). I tend to use a small container that was originally a food waste bucket kept in the bathroom. You can make a bucket full and just add hankies as you use them.
I think you can add the powder to the standard wash for the same results.

crazyH

kittylester - I’ve had one or those - in a dark wash 😩

Naturally! This was too. Worst thing about it was i think I was the culprit

I always use a washing machine antibacterial laundry sanitiser in all washes that contain bedding towels underwear etc.. I buy it in Lidl and it is not expensive and I never wash above 40 %

kittylester - I’ve had one or those - in a dark wash 😩

We always had a pristine hanky up our sleeve, but we were under strict orders never to blow our noses on them.