Use White Vinegar to Refresh Your Whites
Add half a cup of white vinegar to your whites. This may be able to pull the grey or yellow hues that are staining your whites out of the fabric and help renew their original color. Alternatively, you may use a half cup of oxygen bleach to serve the same purpose.
Mix a half cup of lemon juice (from about four lemons) into one gallon of hot water. Add white laundry to the lemon water and allow it to soak for at least one hour. You can leave it soaking longer, even overnight, to whiten. Then wash as usual.
It's usually OK to put light grey laundry in the whites load with Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach. A couple of things to consider here: First, make sure the fabric can be safely bleached by checking the fiber content on the care label. Avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather and spandex.
Vinegar whitens, freshens, and softens fabrics. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of distilled white vinegar along with your regular laundry detergent. Don't worry about the vinegar scent- it will dissipate after drying. Vinegar may also be sprayed on spot stains and collar and underarm stains.
The acidic nature of white vinegar can be used as a fabulous clothes whitener and brightener of dingy white and colored clothes, and it provides a great way to whiten socks. Add a half cup of vinegar to your wash during the rinse cycle to brighten clothes.
What color do you get when bleaching Light Grey. Light Grey turns to pink or off-white when bleached.
To use bleach, start your washer and add 3/4 cup chlorine bleach to the wash water with your regular detergent, then add your load of laundry. Non-chlorine bleaches, such as oxygen bleach and hydrogen peroxide, are also good at whitening.
Leave your clothing submerged in the bleach solution for at least five minutes. Check it every minute to see whether it has lightened to your liking. Keep in mind that the color will be a shade or two lighter when it is dry.
Adding baking soda or vinegar to your laundry can help you clean both your washing machine and your garments better. Both of these pantry staples are an effective and inexpensive way to remove mildew odors, soften fabrics, and even brighten your whites.
In short, no – adding baking soda to your wash load will not bleach your clothes as harsh chemical cleaners will. What this pantry staple will do, however, is enhance bright whites and bring out the clarity of color in colored garments for a truly refreshed closet collection.
The Benefits of Using Vinegar in Laundry
To use it, soak the stained item for 30 minutes up to overnight in a solution of white vinegar and 1 Tbsp. liquid laundry detergent prior to laundering. Mold and Mildew Removal: Distilled white vinegar is also a powerful agent for removing mold or mildew from fabrics.
Get stained white socks and dingy dishcloths white again.
Add 1 cup white distilled vinegar to a large pot of water. Bring it to a rolling boil and drop in the articles. Let soak overnight. Some stains on clothing and linens can be soaked out using equal parts milk and white distilled vinegar.
Your grey clothes should go in the dark pile. The reason for this is simple. Your light pile of clothing is for pastel colours like pinks, light blues and lavenders, for example. The dark pile is for blacks, navies, reds and greys.
Just rub a little bit of liquid detergent directly onto the stain, let it soak in and then run it through the washer again. Some experts swear by liquid dishwashing detergent used in the same fashion.
When in doubt, go with a cool or cold water wash. For light wear and grime, your standard detergent will do just fine. If you're dealing with particularly worn whites, add a laundry booster — or use a stain-releasing detergent instead.
Use the right amount of bleach
That's ⅓ cup for a regular load, and ⅔ cup for an extra-large or heavily soiled load. If your bleach dispenser limits how much bleach you can add, when washing heavily soiled laundry try washing smaller loads and fill the dispenser to the “max fill” line.
Minimum soaking time is 30 minutes; longer, as much as overnight, may be necessary. If bleach is safe for the fabric, follow the tips below.
You can add bleach to every load of bleach-safe laundry along with your regular detergent to clean, whiten, remove stains and sanitize your clothes.
USE DILUTE - BLEACHING: To bleach whites: 20ml of Domestos per 5 litres of water, for overnight soaking. Rinse after use.
Using toilet bleach in your washing machine should really be avoided unless you have tried all other options. If you feel that you have no choice, then be sure to dilute the bleach before use and be very careful while handling the corrosive substance.
There are several effective alternatives to bleach for whitening clothes. Baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, white vinegar, and borax are all natural and effective solutions that can help keep your clothes looking bright and clean.
Before going further, we have to warn you: adding vinegar or baking soda to the wash along with your laundry detergent increases the risk of poorer cleaning performance, as detergents are optimized for a specific pH level, which is altered by the presence of these two household additives in the wash.