The problem of bleaching linen worries many housewives, since white clothes give us a feeling of cleanliness that we don’t want to lose. But white linen gets dirty quickly, with frequent washing it loses its attractive appearance, and stains that appear on it are difficult to remove. Of course, there are many popular ways to cope with this problem. Let's try to figure out how to whiten clothes at home - you can choose the best method for yourself from the options proposed in this article.
Traditional methods of whitening clothes
There are many different ways on how and how to bleach white linen at home.
Boiling
The oldest and most proven method, which some people successfully use to this day. To do this you will need an old bucket or large saucepan:
- You need to add laundry soap to the water, which copes well with all types of contaminants.
Important! Some housewives add a little blue or starch, depending on what they want to get out of it. Blue gives linen a bluish tint, and starch makes it crispy.
- Things must be placed in water before the container is on the stove.
- When the water boils, the fire must be reduced.
- While boiling, things need to be stirred periodically.
Important! The boiling process itself lasts about 1-1.5 hours.
- After the procedure, the laundry should be rinsed thoroughly.
- For severe contamination, you can add bleach. To do this, dilute a spoonful of this product in a liter of water, then pour the solution into a boiling container, and then put the laundry there.
Important! You should not use this product too often - it leads to rapid wear of the fabric. Children's clothes are boiled using baby soap.
Laundry soap
Not everyone likes to boil laundry; many consider this method outdated, tedious and prefer to use other methods. How to bleach white laundry at home without boiling? The simplest, most affordable and effective remedy is laundry soap, which, as a rule, can be found at any housewife. You can use it alone by dissolving it in water and soaking things in this solution, or in combination with other components.
Laundry soap plus soda
Grate the laundry soap and add the same amount of soda. You can add lemon zest for flavor. Dissolve the resulting composition in water and soak things in it.
Laundry soap plus potassium permanganate
How to bleach white underwear? For this case, we suggest you use a simple and safe recipe:
- Rub 50 grams of laundry soap and add a few grains of potassium permanganate.
- Pour this mixture with several liters of warm water, thoroughly dissolve the composition in the water.
- Place your laundry in the solution for an hour.
- Then wash it as usual.
Soda
How to bleach bed linen at home in a washing machine? Baking soda will help you, however, it will only cope with fresh stains. Just add it to the compartment of your washing machine when washing, and your clothes will shine white.
Important! This method also works for hand washing. But to enhance the effect, it is better to use soda in combination with other substances, for example, ammonia.
Soda plus ammonia
How to prepare a bleaching mixture based on soda and ammonia?
- Take half a glass of soda, add two tablespoons of ammonia. Fill everything with 5 liters of water.
- Mix the solution thoroughly.
- Pour into a basin and place the laundry there for several hours.
- Rinse and then machine wash normally.
Soda plus vinegar
There is a very simple way to bleach things using baking soda and vinegar - they will remove all stains:
- Moisten the problem area with water.
- Pour in baking soda.
- Pour in vinegar.
- Machine wash the product.
Ammonia plus hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide perfectly removes yellow stains and also disinfects laundry; you can use it yourself by diluting it in water and pouring it onto the problem area. But in combination with ammonia it gives the best effect:
- Take ammonia and hydrogen peroxide in a combination of 1 to 2 and dissolve this solution in several liters of water.
- Place your items in the solution and leave for several hours.
- Stir occasionally.
- Rinse the laundry and then wash as usual.
Mustard
When whitening bed linen at home, mustard is used. Some people find this method quite effective:
- Dilute mustard powder in water and put the laundry in it.
- After some time, take out the laundry, rinse and wash as usual.
Eggshell
Few people know about this method, although it is also considered quite effective:
- Take 100 grams of eggshells, sew them into fabric and put them in the drum with dirty laundry when washing.
- After washing, you will notice that your clothes have become much whiter.
Vegetable oil
Oddly enough, the problem of whitening bed linen at home can be solved with the help of vegetable oil:
- Pour water into the container and put it on the fire, bring it to a temperature of approximately 90 degrees, but do not boil.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil, salt, bleach, one tablespoon of soda ash, 1 cup of washing powder to the water. Mix the composition thoroughly.
- Place the items in a large container, fill with the solution, and boil for half an hour.
- After the laundry has cooled, rinse it in cold water.
Important! You can do without boiling, then you need to fill things with the solution and leave for a day.
Ready store products
Nowadays you can find many different whitening products on store shelves, which can be roughly divided into three groups.
Optical brighteners
These products contain reflective components, so they simply create the illusion of whiteness. No actual whitening occurs. Such bleaches are often included in powders.
These bleaches are the oldest, inexpensive and effective, but they have one big drawback - chlorine greatly damages the structure of the fabric. Therefore, if you often use such bleaches, even the best and highest quality materials become thinner and quickly tear. You cannot sprinkle or pour them directly onto the fabric; they must be properly dissolved in water, and washing machines also have a negative attitude towards such substances, and you will have to bleach them manually.
Important! Synthetics, wool, and silk cannot be bleached with chlorine bleaches.
Oxygen bleaches
This is the most modern and effective type of bleach, which has a number of advantages. They do a good job of bleaching, do not spoil fabric fibers, do not harm health and do not cause allergic reactions. They can even be used in machine wash.
To ensure a successful whitening process, use our recommendations:
- Wash white items separately from colored items.
- It is advisable to sort things not only by color, but also by type of fabric.
- Remove stains immediately - fresh stains are easier to remove than old ones.
- Even new items can turn yellow from long-term storage, so review your supplies from time to time.
- If there are rusty stains on things, it is better not to treat them with chemical bleaches.
- Do not soak items with metal fittings for a long time or in hot water. The maximum temperature for this case is 40 degrees.
- It is best to use plastic dishes to bleach laundry.
- When choosing a bleach product, check the label to make sure it can be used on the item.
If a white item has turned yellow or gray, you can bleach it using citric acid, laundry soap and other folk remedies.
All housewives are faced with the problem of faded and yellowed white things. But you really want your husband’s or son’s white shirt, your own blouse or your daughter’s blouse to shine with whiteness, to be, as they say in advertising, whiter than white!
How store products work
Manufacturers of washing powders or special bleaching agents for washing are inventing more and more new ways to achieve the whiteness of fabrics that are washed. It must be said that these products are quite effective, and many modern women enjoy using them. The result is good and impressive - snow-white shirts and other items of clothing and linen can be pleasing to the eye.
IMPORTANT: The whole point is that manufacturers add special reflective particles to washing powders, thanks to which the effect of bright whiteness is achieved
- After all, all housewives are well aware that special powders for white linen and powders for colored fabrics are now on sale, designed to preserve their color
- So, for those who want to have white white, and colored clothes colored and not faded, advice: when purchasing, choose the appropriate laundry detergent and do not mix white clothes or linen with colored ones. Wash them separately
- And for those people who do not recognize modern chemical additives in washing powders and want to use the good old, as they consider, non-chemical agents, our advice
IMPORTANT: In order for a white item not to be washed and look like new, you need to wash it on time, without storing it for later. Dirt, dust, sweat, etc. “eat into” the material, so that later it is difficult to remove them efficiently and achieve the original whiteness of the fabric
How to bleach a faded white item at home?
You can bleach an item using available products at home using:
- Regular laundry soap. If a stain appears on a white item that needs to be removed, you need to rub it with laundry soap and leave it in water for a while. If you need to return the whiteness of the entire thing, then you first need to grate the soap, pour it into water and completely dissolve it in it. Place the laundry there and leave it to soak for several hours. Then wash and rinse
- Whiteness. Whiteness must be diluted in cold water in the proportion indicated on the label and the white item should be kept in it for the time also indicated on the label.
- Ammonia. To be honest, this is an extreme method of whitening. Also, this method is completely based on the influence of a chemical substance, which is also very caustic and has a strong odor. For those who want to experiment, we provide the proportions: a bottle of ammonia per 10 liters of water. Soak and rinse well afterwards
- Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Dilute baking soda in hot water and add perhydrol (a teaspoon) to it. Place the item that needs bleaching into the solution and keep it in it for a while. Afterwards, rinse the item thoroughly
Baking soda is one of the home whitening products. You can also hold the item in this solution, and then put it in the washing machine, setting the temperature to 60 - 70 degrees and wash it at this temperature without powder.
IMPORTANT: After any exposure to any bleaching agent, such as industrial production or home method, the item(s) must be thoroughly rinsed several times
White things became dyed during washing, how to bleach them?
First of all, you need to remember the rule and always adhere to it: under no circumstances should white things and colored things be washed at the same time, in the same water.
This is especially true for new, unwashed colored items. They must be washed separately from items of other colors. For example, a pink item should not be washed together with blue or yellow items, even if you are confident in the durability of the dyed fabric.
If your white items are stained in the wash, try:
- boil a white item in a solution of laundry soap
- boil the item in powder or in a solution of laundry soap, adding a few drops of lemon juice or dissolving a little citric acid
- add table salt and citric acid to the laundry soap shavings
RECIPE: Homemade bleach
You need: 1 tablespoon of soap, half a glass of salt, 1 tablespoon of citric acid, 1 tablespoon of potato or corn starch
- mix the ingredients
- apply the mixture to a faded stain or stain
- leave for several hours
- then rinse thoroughly.
How to whitewash a white item with a pattern?
If you need to bleach an item that has a pattern on it, it is still better to use a special store-bought product.
VIDEO: How to restore the whiteness of washed clothes using folk remedies?
What and how to bleach yellowed white things?
Unfortunately, white things turn yellow over time. This is due to:
- frequent washing not in clean spring water, but in water in which various impurities are mixed
- natural human excretions
- remnants of protein deposits that eat into the fabric and give it such an unkempt appearance
To achieve relative whiteness of yellowed white things, you will need to carry out several cycles of the following procedure:
- wet a white item in cool water and leave it for several hours (remove any remaining protein that is removed in cool water)
- pour hot water onto the fabric, rub the item with laundry soap until foam forms. Leave it like that for another hour
- rinse several times
How to bleach graying white clothes?
- By ancient boiling
Place a large container of water on the stove, add washing powder or laundry soap to the water, put in the white things that need to be tidied up and leave to boil on the fire for 30 minutes. - Soaking
Before washing, soak items in a solution of water with ammonia or turpentine. Leave for a couple of hours to soak. Afterwards, rinse the item and wash it in a machine, adding powder for white items. - Soaking in hydrogen peroxide and further rinsing and washing, as in the previous case
It is recommended to boil things that have turned gray. How to bleach white clothes with hydrogen peroxide?
Hydrogen peroxide is an excellent household bleach. RECIPE: Perhydrol for whitening things
For a five-liter basin of water, prepare 2 tablespoons of perhydrol and soak the white thing in it. Leave for 2 – 3 hours. Rinse it out. Additionally, machine wash the item on the white cycle.
How to bleach white things with white?
Only items made from natural fabrics (cotton, linen) are suitable for bleaching whiteness. Whiteness, as a product containing chlorine, is not suitable for synthetic and semi-synthetic fabrics. Also, chlorine-containing bleach thins the fabric, so it is not recommended to use it constantly.
To bleach white items, it is better to add white to cool or slightly warm water.
How to bleach white things with potassium permanganate?
It turns out that a weak solution of potassium permanganate in combination with washing powder can perfectly whiten a yellowed or grayed item.
Pour washing powder into hot water and add a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate to it. It is advisable to use a washing container with a lid. After you have placed the white items in it, cover the container with a lid and leave to soak until the water cools down. Then rinse things several times.
VIDEO: The Old Way to WASH White Linen and REMOVE Any Stains
How to bleach white things with citric acid?
Citric acid not only promotes the process of whitening things, it also softens them.
- You can bleach things using citric acid by pre-soaking them in water with powder and 2 tablespoons of citric acid.
- After 2 hours, the items should be rinsed and then machine washed as usual.
- You can also use one of the methods described above
How to bleach children's white clothes?
You need to be especially careful when bleaching children's clothes. Although there are now special hypoallergenic children's washing powders, all home remedies that are safe for children can still be used for bleaching. These include:
- salt
- potassium permanganate
- baking soda
- baby soap
- laundry soap
- lemon acid
- hydrogen peroxide
Things are pre-soaked in one of the mentioned products and left for a while.
Things are then rinsed several times. This is followed by traditional washing and repeated rinsing again.
VIDEO: How to whiten baby clothes (soap, soda, water)?
Using bleach on bed linens is a reliable way to remove serious stains and stains. There are two types of bleach used in the home: chlorine-based, or sodium hypochlorite, and oxygen-based, or sodium percarbonate.
Through an oxidation process, bleach turns dirt into soluble particles that are washed away with detergent during washing. The product helps whiten bedding and lighten fabric, and some bleaches disinfect the material by killing bacteria. It also allows you to restore freshness to your sheets and duvet covers.
How to use chlorine bleach on bedding?
Chlorine bleach is a 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite solution and the most powerful household bleach. The liquid version is the most common, but dry bleach also exists. Both types should be diluted with water to be safe for use on fabric.
When chlorine bleach is used in laundry, it acts as a disinfectant against bacteria and viruses and will typically bleach most natural fiber fabrics such as cotton. Care must be taken to use bleach effectively by adding it at the right time and at the right temperature. Liquid chlorine bleach has a limited shelf life. If the bottle is opened for more than six months, it loses its effectiveness due to exposure to light and air. Old bleach may have no effect on stains, loses its disinfecting properties and must be replaced.
Chlorine bleach should always be added to the water and mixed well before adding to the washing machine compartment. Never pour bleach directly onto fabric as it can completely remove the color and actually dissolve the fibers. If you use bleach to remove stains, bleach the entire item to prevent stains.
How to use oxygen bleach?
Oxygen bleach is often called all-purpose bleach because it is safe for most fabrics and colors. Oxygen bleach should not be used on silk, wool or leather. It works slower than chlorine bleach, but has disinfecting properties sufficient to kill bacteria.
Oxygen bleach is most effective when used in powder form, which is activated when mixed with water. The liquid version of oxygen bleach may lose its effectiveness over time.
When mixing powdered oxygen bleach with water, use warm water to make sure all the bleach is dissolved, then add cold water if necessary. Completely submerge the stained item in the solution and allow it to soak for as long as possible. Oxygen bleach works slower than chlorine bleach, but patience will give you great results.
How to use hydrogen peroxide for laundry?
Hydrogen peroxide is most often sold in pharmacies, in three or six percent water-based concentrations.
Hydrogen peroxide helps whiten sheets at home and disinfects laundry. Add one cup of hydrogen peroxide when washing white bedding in the washing machine to whiten it. But remember that peroxide can permanently remove color from dark fabrics, so it is better to test its effect on a fabric sample before use.
What should you remember when using bleach?
- Always test fabric for color fastness before using any type of bleach by following the instructions on the product label.
- Never pour chlorine bleach into a machine drum full of clothes, even if you are only washing whites.
- When adding any bleach, stir it thoroughly into the water before adding clothes.
- Never mix any type of bleach with ammonia. The mixture will produce dangerous, corrosive fumes.
- Do not use chlorine bleach on silk, acetate, wool, spandex, polypropylene, some types of flame retardant or rubberized fabric. This will weaken the fibers and cause them to break down.
- Oxygen bleach should not be used on wool, silk or leather.
- Repeated use of chlorine bleach can weaken the fibers of cotton and linen.
- Repeated use of chlorine bleach may cause fabrics to yellow.
- Bleaching bed linens is not always better at home. Dry clean delicate fabrics.
How to whiten sheets at home?
Bleaching bed linen is a procedure in which it is unlikely that you will have to do without the use of bleach. It is easy to bleach white sheets at home - to do this, you need to choose one of the types of bleach. This can be done based on the information indicated on the product label.
Classic white bed linen can be called out of fashion. However, it is difficult to find a family that does not have white sheets and duvet covers that have been preserved from Soviet times. Therefore, the relevance of the question of how to whiten bed linen does not decrease. True, the task has been simplified many times over.
Few housewives now boil laundry in a tank on the stove to achieve impeccable cleanliness. But our grandmothers also blued it, starched it, and ironed it with simple irons at home without any newfangled steam cleaners.
Soviet-era pillowcases and sheets are surprisingly durable, which is why they have survived to this day. True, some objects have turned gray or yellowed - I don’t want to make such a bed. There are several methods that will help you quickly whiten old bedding, and we’ll talk about them.
Simple, fast, expensive
The easiest way is to take your laundry to the laundromat. In this case, you will not be at all concerned with what means the household service workers used to achieve cleanliness, what they used to bleach - you will receive perfectly ironed sheets and duvet covers in your hands, and save time. However, professional washing is not cheap. And you can’t be sure that your bed wasn’t washed in the same machine as someone else’s. Therefore, it is preferable to bleach bed linen at home. For this use:
- chlorine bleaches;
- oxygen bleaches.
A prominent representative of chlorine bleach is liquid “Whiteness”. Whitens perfectly, however, with frequent use it makes the fabric weak and thin. If you want to tidy up old sheets, pillowcases, etc., use “Whiteness” after or before the main wash. Dissolve 2 – 4 caps of the product in hot water and soak the bedding in it for an hour and a half. Don't forget to stir things during the bleaching process.
Important! Use chlorine bleaches only for natural fabrics (cotton, etc.) without a colored pattern!
Oxygen bleach is an effective solution. It can be both dry and liquid. The product is expensive, but it is gentle on fabrics and does not corrode colors. If you
If you are willing to pay some money for the result, you can use oxygen bleaches. There are oxygen bleaches that can be combined with powder when washing in an automatic machine.
Much cheaper and no more complicated
At home, we suggest bleaching bed linen using the following means:
- hydrogen peroxide and ammonia;
- soda and it with variations;
- turpentine;
- laundry soap and boiling;
- salt.
Now let's look at each method in more detail.
Peroxide + ammonia
For 10 liters of water you need to take 3 - 4 tablespoons of alcohol and peroxide. It is good to dissolve both ingredients in hot water, immerse things and leave in the solution for 5 - 6 hours.
Important! This method is universal. It can be used for both colored and silk linen.
Afterwards, wash on a quick cycle. If you are experimenting with colored linen or bedding with added synthetics, monitor the water temperature. Thin fabrics cannot be washed in hot water.
Soda
Baking soda and soda ash are used to bleach any fabrics. Delicate fabrics are bleached by pre-soaking in non-hot water with soda (100 grams/10 liters). Natural duvet covers and sheets can easily withstand high temperatures.
Important! If you add 2 tablespoons of ammonia to the soda solution, the bed linen will whiten better.
You can not only soak in soda, but also wash and boil clothes. In the first case, 3 - 4 tablespoons of soda are added to the washing powder directly into the compartment with the powder, in the second - into a container with soapy water where the laundry will boil.
The amount of soda in the solution can be reduced by replacing it with salt. Mix salt and baking soda in equal proportions and soak the laundry before washing.
Turpentine
Homemade bleach is prepared using turpentine for the most washed and yellowed parts of bed linen. Turpentine is mixed with ammonia - 2 tablespoons of each product per 5 liters of water, and the pre-washed bed is immersed in the solution. The procedure smells bad, but the result is excellent.
Laundry soap
Indispensable for boiling with bleaching function. Grate half a bar of soap and dissolve in hot water. After immersing the bedding, boil for 1 hour. You will like the result.
Important! Boiling in laundry soap is the safest method. Use it to whiten baby sheets, diapers and pillowcases.
If the fabric is delicate, for example, you need to bleach a sheet with embroidery, wet the item well, soap it with laundry soap, and leave it overnight in a basin or other plastic container. Wash it carefully afterwards. By the way, this method is also suitable for bleaching faded items.
Salt
Table salt is used before the main wash. 5 - 7 tablespoons of salt are diluted in 10 liters of water, and the laundry is immersed in the solution. It is better to arrange “salting” at night.
Salt soaking will not cope with old stains and yellowness, but if you need to bleach fabric without boiling, then sodium chloride is quite suitable.
Delicate whitening
If you need to bleach synthetic fabric, try using dry mustard. Just dilute a few spoons of powder in warm water, soak the laundry, and then wash. Soaking should not be too long - 4 hours is enough. We really like this method - it refreshes paint, preserves and enhances whiteness, and is environmentally friendly.
Our opinion about exotics
Many people recommend bleaching laundry with potassium permanganate. We do not recommend! It is difficult to carefully dilute potassium permanganate; it still settles in the form of small dots at the bottom of the container. If such a “dot” accidentally gets on your sheet, the stain will remain forever.
We recently learned about a method of bleaching eggs with shells. We don’t know, we didn’t have to try it, because... We didn’t collect 100 grams of shells, they were too light. But if someone has a lot of shells on their household, take 100 grams, sew them into a linen bag, and put it in the washing machine, directly into the drum. They say that the product perfectly whitens clothes during washing.
Use the suggested tips and remember that it is much easier not to “wear out” an item than to bleach it afterwards.
We often deny ourselves the purchase of a white item. It smudges quickly, it is difficult or impossible to remove stains, it needs to be washed separately from other things - these are common arguments against white. But is it so difficult to return things to snow-white color? Here are some tips on how to whiten laundry at home.
To bleach or not?
Stains on white things will upset any housewife. After all, your husband’s favorite blouse or shirt can be hopelessly ruined! The question arises: how to save a thing without harming it? You can, of course, turn to specialists by taking your laundry to the dry cleaner. But it is not always possible to do this. Then you just need to choose a suitable means and method of whitening, fortunately there are not so few of them.
Preparing for washing
To ensure that the laundry becomes white and all stains are removed from the fabric, you need to prepare things for washing. It is better to do this by soaking them first. Pour warm water into a wide basin, add washing powder, bleach (if the fabric allows) and place the laundry. Leave the items to soak for 4-5 hours, and then proceed to washing.
If you plan to use a certain bleaching product, do not be lazy and test its effect on an inconspicuous area or a separate piece of the same fabric so as not to spoil the laundry.
How to bleach things at home: traditional methods
In every housewife's arsenal there will probably be such a household chemical item as bleach. There are different types of bleaches, so read the instructions carefully. We list the most popular and widespread means for removing stains from white things.
The most popular brands are “Belizna”, “Ace”.
The main component of “Whiteness” is active chlorine. This is what removes stains and whitens the material. In addition to chlorine, Belizna may contain surfactants that enhance the effect of the product. Using “Whiteness” you can bleach only cotton and linen items. Silk, wool, and synthetics will not tolerate washing with “Whiteness”. And before bleaching cotton and linen fabrics, you should carefully read the instructions and follow the exact dosage. Otherwise, things will quickly wear out and become unusable.
Whiteness perfectly whitens dense fabrics
“Whiteness” is used only for hand washing! Do not add the product to the washing machine!
Use “Whiteness” depending on what result you plan to see after washing. If you want to maintain the white color or update it, rid things of yellowness, do the following:
- In 10 liters of cool water, dilute 2 tbsp. l. Whiteness.
- Soak the laundry for 20 minutes. Soak the laundry for 1 hour if you want to remove the yellowness and return the original color.
- Rinse the laundry thoroughly.
- Wash it.
If you need to remove a stain from thick fabric, for example, from a bedspread:
- Apply Whiteness to the stain.
- Hold for one minute.
- Soak the item with washing powder for 4-5 hours.
- Rinse.
- Wash it.
When working with Belizna, take precautions: wear gloves, avoid contact with eyes and respiratory tract.
By the way, “Belizna” retains its cleaning properties for six months and cannot be stored in the cold. Use the opened bottle within 6 months and store in a dark, warm place.
Oxygen bleaches
Oxygen bleaches are less aggressive than chlorine bleaches. The active ingredients in their composition are hydrogen peroxide and sodium percarbonate. Surfactants and conditioner can also be added to the bleach. Therefore, as a rule, oxygen bleaches are produced in liquid form. But there are also powder products. Brands of oxygen bleaches:
- Shabondama;
- EcO2;
- Vanish;
- Persol Extra;
- Ace Oxi;
- Clax Sonril conc 40A1;
- Ecover;
- BOS Plus and others.
Oxygen bleaches can be used for hand washing and machine washing. Bleaching agents of this type are intended for both white and colored laundry.
If you machine wash, add oxygen bleach and laundry detergent into the dispenser. Calculate the portion according to the instructions.
Optical brighteners
Optical brighteners are not represented by any separate products. They are included in washing powders and stain removers. The principle of their action is tinting. That is, the spots do not disappear anywhere, but are simply painted over with fluorescent paints.
When choosing bleach, carefully read the instructions, which should indicate the types of fabrics for which they are intended. Remember that chlorine bleaches should not be used when washing delicate fabrics.
Traditional methods of whitening
It happens that there is no traditional bleach in the house. Then you can turn to unconventional whitening methods. Some of the products were used by our grandmothers, others are identical to industrial ones, simply prepared at home.
As you remember, hydrogen peroxide is part of oxygen bleaches. Therefore, you can trust her with your things. Hydrogen peroxide can be used to bleach cotton, linen and synthetic fabrics:
Hydrogen peroxide will be used to whiten clothes
- Add hydrogen peroxide to the washing powder while washing in an automatic machine (10 ml per 25 liters of washing powder or gel for five minutes at a temperature of 70–80 degrees). If conditions cannot be met, wash by hand.
- To whiten underwear, dilute three tablespoons of 3% peroxide in 12 liters of hot water. Soak clean laundry in the solution for one hour, then rinse and dry as usual.
- To bleach wool and silk items, you need to prepare a solution: 250 g for 12 liters of warm water. salt, 30 gr. washing powder and 1 liter of hydrogen peroxide. Soak things for 3-4 hours, and then rinse well.
- For washed items, this method is suitable: rub the item with laundry soap and dip it in hot water. Add hydrogen peroxide to the water at the rate of 40 ml per 5 liters of water. Bleach in this way for 3 hours and then rinse the laundry.
- To return the original whiteness to grayed tulle, add 1 tbsp to 10 liters of water. l. ammonia and 2 tbsp. l. peroxide. Soak for 5 minutes, then rinse in cold water. You can boil bed linen in such a solution. (35 grams of ammonia and 35 grams of peroxide are added to an aluminum or enamel basin with water, boiled for 40 minutes).
- In combination with lemon juice, peroxide removes yellow stains on synthetic items. The juice of one lemon is mixed with 1 tsp. peroxide and apply to stains, rinse after 30 minutes.
Boiling
Grandma's old method is boiling. The method is really effective if done correctly. Only cotton and linen items can be boiled. A zinc or enamel container is suitable for boiling, with a white cloth placed at the bottom. Powder or soap is well dissolved in water, and the stains are soaped. The laundry must be covered with water. To enhance the effect, you can add a tablespoon of ammonia. Boil for at least 30 minutes. It all depends on the degree of contamination of things. During the process, it is better to stir the laundry with a wooden stick.
Instead of boiling powder, you can use a mixture of grated laundry soap and soda ash (lye) in a 1:1 ratio. Another solution is to mix one teaspoon of bleach with a liter of water, let it sit, and add the clear solution to the boiling water. But this product can damage the fabric, be careful!
Boiling laundry video
Vegetable oil and mustard
Kitchen towels often get dirty. For them, experienced housewives suggest using the following product:
- 2.5 large spoons of vegetable oil;
- 1 large spoon of bleach (usually used dry);
- half a glass of washing powder;
- 5 liters of water (not boiling water, but hot).
Soak the towels for 2-3 hours and then wash as usual.
Another way is to soak them in mustard water. To do this, add mustard powder to boiling water. As the water cools, it will settle, so put towels in it, after filtering the water. For 3 liters of water you need 3 tbsp. l. mustard powder.
Vegetable oil is also useful for soaking towels.
For white socks, golf, T-shirts, a solution of boric acid is perfect: 2 tbsp. l. for 4 liters of water. Soak items in the solution for 2 hours, then wash. This remedy also helps fight fungal diseases.
Boric acid not only washes, but also disinfects laundry
Soda will also help whiten laundry without harming the fabric. Even children's clothes can be bleached with soda. To do this, you need to soak them for several hours in water with the addition of soda (one third of a glass per 10 liters).
Ammonia will help enhance the effect of soda: 5 tbsp. l. alcohol, 10 tbsp. l. soda per 10 liters of warm water. Soak the laundry for three hours and wash.
Baking soda gently whitens things
For bleaching, you can use potassium permanganate, or simply potassium permanganate. To do this, dissolve 100 grams in five liters of hot water. washing powder and 2-3 crystals of potassium permanganate. First dilute the potassium permanganate with water until it turns pink. Soak your laundry overnight. Rinse in the morning.
Washing powder can be replaced with 100 grams of grated laundry soap.
Potassium permanganate will refresh the appearance of linen
The principle of bleaching with citric acid is similar to the others: add 2-3 tbsp. l. citric acid in 5 liters of hot water, add 100 gr. washing powder or laundry soap and soak the laundry in the resulting mixture for 2–3 hours. Afterwards, rinse the laundry.
Citric acid fights stains on white linen
Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) will help remove yellow sweat stains on white shirts or T-shirts. To do this, dissolve two tablets in half a glass of warm water and soak the stains with the solution for two hours. Then wash as usual.
A solution of aspirin tablets will help remove yellow spots
Turpentine can be used to bleach cotton items. For 5 liters of warm water, add 5 tbsp. l. turpentine and soak the laundry for three hours. Then wash it.
Turpentine can be used to bleach cotton items
Whitening using blue has been done for a long time. But even now the method has not lost its relevance. Dilute the blue in water until it turns pale blue and rinse the grayed items in it. Blue has a tinting effect.
Blue is one of the ancient folk remedies for whitening
You may not even realize how many whitening products you have in your arsenal! Just remember that some products must be used with caution so as not to harm not only the fabric, but also your health. For example, you should never inhale vapors of ammonia while boiling.
Bleaching in a washing machine
The above products are usually used for hand washing. But what if there is no time for this? Of course, you can bleach things in the washing machine. First of all, this can be done using traditional oxygen bleaches. They are poured into the bleach dispenser. If the machine does not have one, then it is better to select the “Pre-wash” mode and pour bleach into the powder compartment, and powder into the pre-wash section. Pour liquid bleach a little time after the start of washing, when the powder has already been washed off.
It turns out that a product such as Domestos can also be involved in whitening. It is poured into a dispenser with powder according to the instructions.
To enhance the effect of the powder when washing, you can add 2-3 drops of dishwashing detergent.
You can also add baking soda to the powder in the dispenser. It will not only soften the water, but also enhance the whitening effect.
Bleaching in dry cleaning
If it’s impossible to deal with stains on white items on your own or you simply don’t want to risk your favorite item, then contact a professional dry cleaner. Before taking items to the dry cleaner, pay attention to the labels. It indicates whether the item can be dry cleaned. Hand over items immediately after use to prevent stains from becoming old.
Features of bleaching various items of clothing and linen
When choosing a bleaching method, consider what item you are going to bleach.
Whitening underwear
It is better to wash underwear, especially lace ones, in warm water by hand to avoid a washed-out, gray look. If you still need to bleach your underwear, then the best remedy is hydrogen peroxide. For whitening, add 5 tbsp. l. peroxide in 2 liters of water, dip the laundry in this solution for half an hour, then rinse.
Bleaching painted items
It happens that along with a white item, a colored item ends up in the drum of the machine. A white item takes on a tint or is even colored. In this case, you can resort to a special tool “Antilin”, which will correct the error. But folk remedies should not be neglected. You can bleach painted items by boiling in a peroxide solution: 2 tbsp. l. for 4 liters of water.
The following mixture can also help out: starch, citric acid, salt, laundry soap in equal proportions. Apply the resulting paste to the stains from the inside for 12 hours. After time has passed, rinse things.
Bleaching polyester items
Synthetic items - underwear, blouses, tulle can also be bleached at home. But it is important to remember that they should not be bleached at high temperatures, chlorine-containing bleaches should not be used, and they should not be dried in the sun.
You can bleach polyester items using salt: add 600 grams to 10 liters of water. salt and soak the laundry in the solution. After two hours, rinse.
You can also use ammonia with soda: for 10 liters of water, 2 tbsp. l. ammonia and 10 tbsp. l. soda Soak for three hours. After soaking, be sure to wash.
Bleaching colored items
If you have white items with a colored pattern, then the issue of bleaching seems even more difficult. After all, bleaching the entire item can damage the print. In fact, there is a way out of such situations.
First of all, you need to remove stains from the white areas of the fabric. This can be done using stain removers. For example, Vanish or laundry soap. And then wash the item as usual.
If the problem is not stains, but that the laundry has turned gray and washed out, try the following method:
- combine 2 tbsp. l. hydrogen peroxide, 2 tbsp. l. ammonia and 4 tbsp. l. soda;
- add the mixture to the washing powder;
- wash your clothes as usual.
This product can be used both in hand and machine wash. Baking soda and peroxide will not damage colored areas, but will only brighten them and whiten white areas. Ammonia will enhance the effect.
How to change the color of clothes by bleaching