Grey undies....

I'm the same Katek, the good intentions don't even get off the ground sometimes

I do however find that a 40° wash with only whites and a scoop of so called oxyclean seems to do the trick (so far), also I use bio washing liquid.

Only other thing to do is buy coloured undies but I find beige nude still goes an odd colour after multiple washes, sort of a 'grunge' colour, not nice!

Black is best.

I do have black but you can't wear black under some things. Well, you can, but I'm not a fan of visible underwear. (Think Calvin Klein boxers!) I also bought 'nude', but as you say LL they too develop a strange shade of dirty beige!

It makes you wonder if it's a deliberate manufacturers ploy to ensure we are forced into replacing bras long before they give up the ghost!

Think you might be onto something there....surely today's technology can devise a fabric which doesn't turn grey. Off white maybe, but not grey.

Just had another thought (dangerous, I know!) do more expensive bras retain their colour longer than cheaper makes?

I don't have a problem with greying, but I do tend to buy my knickers in batches. As a result, the elastic goes all floppy in all of them at the same time.

i love dying old undies, white shirts, Ts etc -it's like getting new for 0! And you can get the colors you never see i the stores.

How about if they started producing more 95% cotton - some are very expensive - I'd like to be able to buy cotton as they are so much more comfortable in hot weather. They didn't seem to go grey as quickly as synthetics do.

I have a sister who used to stay with me for weeks at a time, years ago, while her OH was away working. I noticed all my underwear was going grey - she was in charge of laundry. I realised after DBH complained that she was putting all the whites in with the coloureds. I started to buy grey cotton underwear! I still do, if I see it. At that time, luckily for me, it was everywhere.

I only buy underwear with a high percentage of cotton. It lasts very well, but I never buy white.

absent same problem here with knickers, getting close to major replacement.....lots of very dodgy elastic.

I'm sure the assistant in a bra shop I used to go to told me to always wash bras in warm'ish water, not hot, to keep the colour and keep the white ones white. Not sure why though.

For years I hand washed my bras until it dawned on me it didn't seem to make a ha'porth of difference as they still went grey and stretchy so now I bung them in with the white wash but in one of those washing 'bags'.

I put my white bras in with a mixed load on 40 delicates with a Persil colour-tab. Seems fine. I do use a water softening tablet though. I think hard water discolours clothes.

I buy 'colour catchers' from Lidl and put them in if I have a mixed load. They are absolutely magic. No grey undies in this house

I heard a radio programme where someone from a charity said they were crying out for bras grey or otherwise and to please always put them in the charity bag (not the knicks obviously). I have a friend who is off to Malawi to work in a school in a few weeks and his wife has been all over town begging for bras for him to take as they are in very short supply. they are very happy to mend any that need it. They especially need larger sizes. It was a lovely excuse for me to throw out my ones I reserve for golf buy some new ones- which I can't wear yet as they are too pretty!!!

What about men's underpants? DH likes white, which is quite a challenge, but we keep a bucket of water in the bathroom, with a little bit of whitener powder, and that helps. Put my knicks in there too.
My friend says can't be bothered with all that, makes her husband wear black or navy.
When my FIL was widowed he used to bring his washing to me, and he wore cream woollen boxers, sometimes longjohns - not easy!

Apparently, if you are knocked down, nothing is said about someones' underwear.
But there is, if there was no underwear!

Perhaps it was about showing your underwear soon, especially as women rarely wore trousers/jeans then?

I've always washed whites separately, and never had a problem. Interesting to hear that hard water might cause greying. Our water is very soft.

Ours is very hard, I rarely remember to add a 'Calgon' tab to a wash, so could very likely be the cause.

soon I can imagine!

Beware of men without underwear as this story in a news paper warns. :-

Subject: THE VALUE OF UNDIES

Here's your weekly safety brief:

Be careful what you wear (or don't wear), when working under your vehicle...especially in public.

From the NORTHWEST FLORIDA Daily News comes this story of a Crestview couple who drove their car to Wal-Mart, only to have their car break down in the parking lot. The man told his wife to carry on with the shopping while he fixed the car in the lot.

The wife returned later to see a small group of people near the car. On closer inspection, she saw a pair of male legs protruding from under the chassis. Although the man was in shorts, his lack of underpants turned private parts into glaringly public ones.

Unable to stand the embarrassment, she dutifully stepped forward, quickly put her hand UP his shorts, and tucked everything back into place. On regaining her feet, she looked across the hood and found herself staring at her husband who was standing idly by.

The mechanic, however, had to have three stitches in his head.

Thanks for starting my day with a really good laugh, pompa