As far as I know my mum never used bleach. It was always bluing to counteract the yellow. I remember her saying it would stain your hands if you weren’t careful. I’ll have to ask her more tomorrow but I’m pretty sure bleach was not widely used in her day.
Maybe there’s a difference between hard water and soft like here in Melb. My mum used bleach when she lived in London, which has hard water. She said it was for the yellowing, but idk as this was a good many years ago and I may be misremembering. I do know from personal experience that washing sheets etc. by hand with soap most certainly does cause yellowing and something has to be done about it or everything turns grimy yellow gray.
As far as I know my mum never used bleach. It was always bluing to counteract the yellow. I remember her saying it would stain your hands if you weren’t careful. I’ll have to ask her more tomorrow but I’m pretty sure bleach was not widely used in her day.
Maybe there’s a difference between hard water and soft like here in Melb. My mum used bleach when she lived in London, which has hard water. She said it was for the yellowing, but idk as this was a good many years ago and I may be misremembering. I do know from personal experience that washing sheets etc. by hand with soap most certainly does cause yellowing and something has to be done about it or everything turns grimy yellow gray.
Interesting because bluing was used in the UK as well. Maybe different strokes for different folks.