Stripping laundry is beating me

the usual recipe is a quarter cup each of borax and washing soda plus half a cup of powdered detergent in a bath of the hottest water you can get. stir till it dissolves, put the clean laundry in, leave it 4 to 6 hours stirring now and then, then drain and run it through a rinse cycle. whites and colours separately, and skip wool, silk or anything delicate. the brown water is mostly built up detergent and minerals, not dirt. if it was really gross, cut back how much detergent you use day to day.