Time passes and the laundry darkens. Far from the dazzling white of the first days, the color obtained with washing and the vagaries of life is hardly one to dream of. There are commercially available whitening products, but they often contain optical brighteners which immediately give the feeling of bright laundry, but which are very irritating and can cause allergic reactions. Let’s not even talk about chlorine-based products which also bring their share of irritations and bleach which is a real poison for people and the planet. Rather than resorting to these chemical solutions to whiten your laundry, first test the products you have at home. With these few tips, results are guaranteed while preserving the most sensitive skin !
Use lemon to whiten laundry
Tip 1:
In a large basin, put a good quantity of lemon and add very hot water. Leave your laundry there overnight and wash it as normal the next morning with your laundry detergent. The advantage of this technique is that you can do it again if you did not succeed in obtaining the desired whiteness the first time: lemon does not present any problem for your laundry. The sheets, curtains, towels and all the household linen are crazy about this grandmother’s solution that couldn’t be more classic! Moreover, in the days of hand washing in basins of water with Marseille soap shavings or black soap (well before the arrival of the washing machine), we already knew it.
Tip 2:
You can also add a cup of lemon juice to your machine (directly in the drum) when rinsing and let it dry in the sun. Indeed, dry white laundry and white clothes in the sun is a very effective way to chase away stubborn dullness related to yellowing caused by age and yellow spots under the armpits due to perspiration. On the other hand, we will avoid it with black clothes!
And why not white vinegar? ?
Mix a cup or half a cup of distilled white vinegar into your laundry detergent and wash your clothes as normal. If you only want to whiten certain areas, you can simply spray the vinegar on the area in question (collar, armpit, etc.).
Opt for percarbonate of soda (or sodium bicarbonate)
Not to be confused with baking soda (or sodium bicarbonate) which has no whitening power (but which helps preserve all colors, including white!). Add two generous tablespoons of percarbonate of soda (or sodium percarbonate) to your regular laundry detergent to make it work better and help dissolve stubborn stains on clothes or underwear and promote whitening. You can also soak your laundry in a basin of hot water with this ecological white powder. Only condition: use a water at 40°C minimum to activate its natural active oxygen!
Good to know: You can also pour a sachet of yeast into the laundry to remove stubborn stains and whiten the laundry!
Choose 3% hydrogen peroxide (or hydrogen peroxide) to whiten your laundry
This bleach without any chlorine added to your regular detergent can really whiten laundry. About half a cup will be enough of one of the best bleaches for all white colored clothes and t-shirts!
Test the ecological dishwashing liquid
Add a quarter cup to your regular laundry detergent to achieve the desired whitening effect. It may not be whiter than white like with other solutions, soda crystals or a few small aspirin tablets, but it will revive the laundry and remove white cotton without damaging it. Plus, it’s a good multi-purpose degreaser!
A recipe for homemade white detergent
With all this, you no longer need bleach or a dose of liquid detergent or active oxygen powder detergent for bright white bed linen or clothing! And above all, these more natural household products are safe, ecological, non-toxic and gentle on fragile skin and delicate laundry. You can also simply follow the recipe for special white laundry detergent to pour into the detergent drawer like traditional detergents!
How to keep laundry white so you don’t have to bleach it?
Certainly, these natural tips for whitening laundry have a very effective effect. However, the best thing is prevention to keep your laundry bright white. Here are some tips for doing without natural whitening!
Use your washing machine correctly to whiten your laundry
First of all, separating laundry is essential. So, always wash white clothes separately from colored clothes to avoid color transfer. Furthermore, you must use the right temperature. So wash white laundry at an appropriate temperature. Here, the high temperatures help remove stains and dirtbut check clothing labels to avoid damaging delicate fabrics. Also, you should not do not overload the machine. Overloading the washing machine washes less efficiently. So make sure you leave enough space for water and detergent (ideally specially formulated for white laundry and rich in bleaches) to circulate freely around the clothes.
The extra thing… Avoid water that is too hard! If your water is very hard, use a water softener or add a little white vinegar to each wash to prevent limescale from tarnishing the laundry. Either way, add a cup to the rinse cycle to help soften laundry, remove soap scum, and maintain whiteness.
Other tips…
Add half a cup of baking soda to your laundry to boost the cleaning power of your detergent and help keep clothes white. Furthermore, favor drying in the sun. UV rays actually a natural whitening effect and help disinfect laundry. Also make sure that the white laundry is well rinsed to remove all detergent residue, which can dull fabrics over time. Washing balls or dryer balls, on the other hand, help to aerate laundry during washing and drying, which can improve cleaning efficiency and maintenance of whiteness.
Finally, remember to pre-treat the stains well. Treating stains immediately with a suitable stain remover before washing the garment is indeed crucial. Stubborn stains (like red wine, coffee, or blood) may leave marks if not treated quickly.