White linen represents a real challenge in terms of maintenance! Our t-shirts, tank tops and blouses quickly become covered in sweat marks if you’re not careful. Also, a tablecloth or cloth will quickly become ruined due to rust, humidity or food splashes. Sometimes, wear and tear and the passage of time are enough to make a white item of clothing look old and tired. In short, white does not go well with stains, especially the famous yellow stains which ruin its bright appearance. So, how to remove this trace without chemicals? Here are grandmother’s natural solutions that will make the difference against a yellow stain to find a white “whiter than white” as the other would say!
Mustard stain, curry or saffron stain, peach stain, urine stain, rust stain… whatever the case, your solution is here, all without resorting to bleach.
1) Marseille soap, the first solution to test on white clothes
On white, this soap is a must and will work even better than its cousin black soap. Here you just need to moisten it a little and rub it on the yellow stain to deposit a layer. Then leave it on for one to two hours before washing. If the stain seems tough to you, you can definitely come rub your soap crust with a piece of lemon. Then let it act and head to the washing machine for cleaning and rinsing.
2) White vinegar to treat a yellow stain as soon as it appears
For Marseille soap like white vinegar, it is better act quickly to loosen the fibers. As soon as you notice the stain, you can dilute white vinegar (or spirit vinegar) in water and soak the white garment in it. After half an hour, head to the machine. Simple and very effective! In addition, it will eliminate bad odors linked to sweat.
3) Lemon juice to remove yellow stains
Both on the teeth and on our tissues, lemon juice is naturally whitening. To use it to remove a yellow stain, simply squeeze this citrus fruit and mix the resulting lemon juice with hot water. We can then use this mixture to dab the yellow trace. Leave for a few hours before machine washing. If it is a stubborn stain, you can also mix equal parts fine salt, washing powder, starch powder and lemon juice and use this mixture to rub the yellow stain on your white clothing. After rinsing, it will simply disappear.
4) Baking soda (or sodium bicarbonate), a classic against a yellow stain on white
To use this powder on stained white fabric, there is of course the solution ofmake a paste with water. In this case, you will have to leave it to act for an hour before proceeding with the usual wash. Otherwise, you can also replace the water with lemon juice or rub the water/bicarbonate paste with a quarter of this citrus fruit after a while. The advantage, when we use lemon with bicarbonate, we have less need to wait before putting in the machine ! After a few minutes at most, it will be ready to wash. Finally, for very large yellow stains on your favorite white t-shirt and encrusted stains, it is possible to mix baking soda, lemon, fine salt and powdered starch. You will thus obtain an unbeatable stain remover to regain clarity and whiteness.
5) Hydrogen peroxide to remove a yellow stain on white
Hydrogen peroxide (hydrogen peroxide) is a whitening product well known and it also works on yellowish marks. Here, simply soak the stain to whiten white laundry. Then, leave it to act a little before rubbing and rinsing carefully without further delay.
6) Soda crystals or percarbonate
These two products can be purchased at DIY stores and used in the same way. You can dilute a cup of soda crystals in a liter of hot water, then leave the soiled laundry to soak for at least a quarter of an hour. Then rub the stains and rinse thoroughly. Be careful, remember to wear your gloves when handling these crystals. You can replace them with sodium percarbonate (or sodium percarbonate, not to be confused with bicarbonate). This agent specializing in money laundering white clothes helps loosen them and revive their whiteness. It is therefore the ideal product for old linen yellowed by time.
7) For those who are not afraid of chemicals against stubborn stains…
We prefer the natural tips and remedies of our grandmothers. However, if you do not have not afraid of toxic productsit is possible to use rust remover, dishwasher powder or ammonia to remove yellow stains and sweat stains. In a glass, for example, you can mix a quarter of water with a teaspoon of fine salt and a teaspoon of ammonia. Then, rub your yellowed laundry with a clean brush soaked in this mixture to remove stains. On the other hand, don’t rely too much on bleach which tends to darken the yellow sweat stains on the laundry and causes it to turn yellow.
How to avoid yellow spots on white in the future?
Now that we have seen how to remove yellow stains from white laundry, it is interesting to ask why white laundry turns yellow? Very often, apart from everyday stains, the original whiteness tends to be lost and the fabric ends up yellowing over time. This is due to the presence of limescale in the washing water and humidity in the cupboard or storage room. Installing a water softener and taking measures against humidity would therefore make it possible to overcome this problem effortlessly.
However, unsightly yellow marks under the armpits generally have one and the same origin: your deodorant. In fact, whether your t-shirt is made of cotton, linen or polyester has no influence on the appearance of these stains. Perspiration is perfectly colorless. These are therefore indeed the aluminum salts contained in your deodorant which are the cause ! They interact with the mineral salts naturally present in sweat, producing this unsightly yellowish color that is particularly visible on white. You will have understood: the only solution is therefore to choose a deodorant without aluminum salts (« aluminium chlorohydrate » on the ingredient list). Also make sure it is completely dry before getting dressed.
Last advice, to wash white fabrics, we will favor washing powder which is more whitening than the liquid version. Finally, drying in the sun or, better yet, under the full moon will give shine to the white and remove the ugly stains that dull it.