I totally get why you think this is fake. Pepper? As in the stuff you put on eggs? In laundry? Yep. Me too. But apparently, this was a real thing my grandma did, and not just one or two times. This was actually part of her laundry routine. She had a complete laundry jam going on, and one day I see her grab the pepper shaker, and I thought, what, is she nuts?
So I asked her, why are you adding pepper in the washing machine? And she looked at me like I just asked her why the sky is blue.
“Because it works,” she said. And she just went on humming and doing whatever she was doing like she had not just dropped the most confusing household hack of all time.
But I was going to stick around, watch, listen. And to be honest? Her clothes came out looking good. Like… really good. And now I get it. Or at least most of it.
So anyway, here’s what she told me—what pepper actually does in the wash:
It keeps the colors from fading
Apparently, the big one is this: pepper locks in dye. Not in a mystical permanent kind of way, but enough to keep your reds from turning pink, and blacks from slowly turning into “imprecise charcoal gray.” Something about the pepper helping to bust down residue, making the colors stay brighter. I didn’t believe her at first at all, but her laundry never even looked washed out! And she wore the same stuff over and over.
It removes stains (somehow?)
She said it took care of stains as well. And not just “this made my shirt a little less depressing”—like actually removed difficult stains like sauce, grass, whatever. Not as a stain remover, more like a companion that made your soap work better. I guess it has a little scrubbiness? I don’t know the science. Grandma just said, “It gets the gunk out,” and honestly, that works for me.
It gets rid of weird smells
Musty clothes? Basement smell? That gym shirt you forgot was in your bag for three days? Yeah, apparently pepper neutralizes a lot of that. Doesn’t cover up the smell—actually removes it. You’d think it would leave a spice smell behind—nope. The scent doesn’t stick. I asked her about it, and she just laughed like, “Of course it doesn’t. You think I want to smell like a soup?”
It makes things softer
This part was a little unexpected. Somehow, pepper helps break down residual soap that builds up in fabrics—you know that weird scratchy feeling towels get after they’ve been washed too many times? Yeah, apparently pepper mildly assists with this. It just leaves things softer. Towels, pillowcases, your sweatshirt you forgot had texture? All softer.
It’s strangely eco-friendly
Grandma didn’t call it eco-friendly because that wasn’t a term we had back then, but she was very into doing things the natural way. She didn’t trust all the newfangled sprays and detergent pods that started appearing on the shelves. Pepper was natural, cheap, harmless, and effective. That was her only criteria. And to be honest? I guess it’s still a pretty good one.
So, if you have suddenly found yourself wanting to start peppering your laundry (I know, I know), she said to keep in mind:
Use black pepper, finely ground. Not whole peppercorns unless you want a washing machine that sounds like it’s eating gravel.
Don’t go wild on whites. Just… don’t. It doesn’t dye your stuff, but why take that chance? Do coloreds or darks.
Don’t leave out detergent. This is not a replacement, but an add-on. She always added it with her normal detergent—not instead of it.
Test it out. If you’re feeling anxious or have that one article of clothing you love, do a small load to start with. See how it goes. Some fabrics are more sensitive than others, and Grandma was all about testing things out before committing to them.
So yeah. That’s it. My grandma put pepper into her laundry. It sounded ridiculous, it looked even more ridiculous, and yet… it worked. Her clothes were bright, did not smell, and were always soft enough to stop you mid-fold and say, “Wait, how?”
I cannot believe I am writing this like it is normal, but the more I try it, the more I get it. So if you are curious, try it out. Best case scenario, you unlock some laundry wisdom no detergent company will ever put on the box, and worst case scenario, your clothes smell like they always smell.
And one day, you will find yourself sprinkling pepper into the wash, and hear yourself say, “My grandma used to do this too…”
