It is 100% the guests responsibility to ask for white linen. How on earth would hosts know otherwise? The sick thing is I could have prevented the whole problem if she hadn’t kept the damaging products a secret.
I have received a payment and an apology from the guest. I said for her to come back and I will use white linen (she works at a nearby hospital sometimes).
I saw an online article by Proactive where they were advising customers to use a white towel or pillowcase. There should be a warning in bold on the packaging.
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Regarding Oxyclean, Mrs. Stewarts and Borax for whitening items: I feel that none of these products can preform miracles on already dingy whites so I use it from the start. The only product I’ve found to really whiten something that is old and dingy is bleach and even then it takes multiple washings. YMMV.
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@Jess1, I honestly did believe my guest didn’t know. Indeed, she did see the stains, and did not mention them, but she seemed to honestly be puzzled by them and have no idea that she caused them. Maybe I am naive, but she was very sweet while she was here, and she paid up without blinking an eye.
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Ah so she saw them but thought they were there before. That’s strange. Imho companies like proactive should put big warnings on the packaging. I think people find it staggering something like that would be sold.
I agree. I switched over to white towels and sheets years ago for myself (though I still have colors as well for personal use.) I have used Oxyclean with every wash for the last 15 or so years and have no problem with dingy whites, except when I’ve had to bleach them. I think repeated bleaching will start to yellow the whites for sure.
I had a string of room mates on and off over the years, and my colored towels were always showing up with bleach stains. I always just thought they (roommates) were careless with cleaning products, or there was a problem with my washer or the towels themselves… Thanks to this forum, years later I now know it was due to the acne products. Two of my roommates I know for certain used Proactive.
I bought some blue towels and sage towels early on thinking that it might be nice for guests in the same party to be able to have different colored towels to be able to distinguish one person’s towels from another in the bathroom. Dumb move. Blues were destroyed by the acne products, so everyone gets white towels again!
I used Rit brand to dye Thanks @Stagestop to get the towels back to blue. Worked like a champ. BUT, after several rounds of laundering with different techniques (add salt to the bath, e.g…) I still can’t get the blue dye to entirely set. They are still bleeding the dye! Any suggestions on this?
Salt? Use a colour catcher sheet in the wash subsequently? Dylon dye instead.
Rit website and others recommend using a ton of salt. (Vinegar if dying nylon or nylon blends). Yes, I’ve used a box of color catcher sheets almost. Never heard of Dylon? Is that the brand you used for the beige?
Dylon is the market leading machine dye in the UK. I don’t know if you can get it with low postage elsewhere. I have found it colourfast.
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Thanks @Jess1 I’ll look for that for my next project. Towels look great so hopefully eventually they will set before they fade.
As far as the make-up/tanner/bronzer/foundation/mascara all over white towels, I have found this to really help a ton (and much less towel usage now that I offer hair towels.)
I totally stole/plagerized this from @Cabinhost (Thanks)
(Do I ever tire of talking about towels/sheets/laundry?) My friends and family think I’m a kook!
These oversized wash cloths I found are actually softer than salon towels, I snagged a couple for myself!
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When I started Airbnb they just got what I had on hand. When I started buying special for the rental I got white thanks to reading this forum. To me white says “professional,” even hotel like if you want to put it that way. Colored towels say “staying with grandma or at a friend’s.” It’s more “homey” and if that’s the vibe you are going for, colors are great. For practical reasons, white is the way to go.
I use Oxyclean regularly as well as other products designed to restore whites. I only use bleach if I know or suspect the guest has been sick.
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Yes, and they say “clean” and “crisp” as well, IMO
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thank you for this post! one of guests bleached my sheets and I could not for the life of me figure out what might have caused it! it was on the pillows!
i went white after that for the sheets. doesn’t help on comforters and shams thought!
so sorry!!
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I have some slate grey towels
Is that still grandma ish?
I’ve got white towel envy. Sounds so convincing but I just couldn’t keep them white. Shame because my laundry is otherwise competent. Borax was the only thing I didn’t try. Are people washing them at 60 degrees?
I’ve never used Borax, I haven’t checked, admittedly, but not sure it’s that common in the states? I wash my towels (and sheets) in warm water (never hot unless I’m bleaching which is almost never), gentle cycle, always with a scoop of oxyclean and a mild detergent (arm & hammer).
I think a HOT dryer could yellow them as well. I dry on the lowest possible heat, use New Zealand woolballs, which makes everything dry twice as quick. Wool balls are also in lieu of any fabric softener, which leaves a plastic coating on laundry. (Lavender essential oil on the balls for scent.) I wonder if fabric softener could contribute to dingy whites over time? Hmmmm 
Yes I am still puzzled. Yes I do use a little fabric softener but I have no tumble dryer. I usually wash at 40 degrees.
This was my thinking too since two bedrooms shared one bath. I had each room color coordinated with matching sheets and towels. Sigh… it was sooooooo pretty, at least to my mind. Now everything is white. Boring.
Another issue for some of us (a reason not to use white) is being on a well with high mineral content water. This is where Borax helps me.
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Bingo! I live in a very hard water area, this might be why I can’t keep towels bright white
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Yes. For the record my own sheets and towels are various colors and patterns. It almost seems like you took “staying with grandma” which is warm and comforting and tried to make it into something vaguely undesirable. I very clearly stated why I use white so I don’t know why you care what I think of your towels. I was referring to my airbnb rental. When I choose an airbnb rental the color of the linens is not one of my considerations. I’ve stayed at several airbnbs that don’t have all white linens and they were fine.
As for how I keep them white and you can’t keep yours white, I don’t know. All I know is that the ones I have that are 2 years old are just as white as the ones I bought this summer, same brand. What they are not is the same degree of soft and fluffy as the newer ones.
Just curious on your opinion of colour.
I do find white towels attractive and was upset that I ended up having to dye several bales. They were extra large bath sheets which cover a massage couch so would have been a lot to throw out. Now the beige looks respectable but I think it looks dated.
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