How to bleach a bra at home from any fabric - 13 reliable ways to return your bra to its original color

All women feel more confident in beautiful and comfortable underwear. But keeping it in its original form is not easy. If you notice a change in color, you need to act immediately. Oxygen bleaches will help you whiten your bra at home. You can try to restore the color with ammonia, Aspirin tablets, salt or soda. The advantage of folk remedies is that they are always at hand.

Tips and recipes on how to bleach your bra - effective methods

Underwear grays and yellows faster than other clothing. This is due to direct contact with the body. Sweat, deodorants, creams, dead skin particles, friction and heat contribute to persistent fabric contamination. Regular washing is not enough.

To whiten a bra, you need to use effective methods:

Soak.Linen with visible dirt should be soaked before washing. Soaking softens dirt particles and helps clean the fabric better. Prepare a soap solution (1 tablespoon of detergent per 1 liter of water) and immerse the bra in it. Leave for 10 minutes.
Removing stains. Stains should be removed point by point. The stain remover is applied to the stained area for 5-15 minutes. There are many recipes and methods that can remove yellow traces of sweat, and even save a bra that has become stained from other clothes.
Machine washable. It is safer to wash your bra by hand. But when machine washed, it cleans more efficiently. The main thing is to choose the right settings and use a special case (bag for delicate washing).

Boiling

Many people associate the word “bleaching” with boiling. Previously, to bleach things, they boiled them - boiled them in a saucepan with soda ash and laundry soap.

High temperature enhances the chemical reactions that occur during the cleaning process. Detergents work more effectively in hot, boiling water. All particles of dirt are removed from the fibers of the fabric, yellowness and grayness disappear.

But there is one big “but”.

Most modern bras are made with the addition of synthetics. Boiling is contraindicated for them. You can only boil items made from pure cotton, without elastic straps.

Recipe: 100 g of soda ash and 100 g of 72% laundry soap per 5 liters of water. Place the enamel pan with the solution on the fire and boil. Reduce heat to low. Load laundry. Boil for 1-1.5 hours.

Laundry soap

Another grandma's method. But unlike boiling, it has not yet become obsolete.The classic brown bar of laundry soap contains fat and strong alkali that are not found in other laundry detergents.

Laundry soap has a good whitening effect and removes stains on white and colored surfaces.

The bodice is moistened with warm water and soaped.
Leave for 10 minutes.
Gently beat the foam so as not to damage the delicate product.
Wait another 5 minutes.
They wash their bra.

For a white bra, you can use laundry soap with a bleach additive. The effect will be even better.

Soda and salt

You can bleach your bra with baking soda alone or use a mixture of baking soda and salt. The method works well with slight darkening of the fabric. Recipe:

Prepare a solution of 1 liter of warm water and 2 tbsp. spoons of baking soda.
For greater efficiency, you can pour 2 tbsp here. spoons of table salt.
Immerse the product in the solution and “forget” for half an hour.
Rinse in warm water.
Wash in washing machine.

Ammonia

Ammonia has shown itself well in the fight against grayish plaque. It can be used to whiten white and colored bra. Need to:

Pour 1 liter of warm water into a bowl.
Add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of ammonia.
Soak the product for 3-4 hours.
Wash in a washing machine.

To remove stubborn stains 1 tbsp. a spoonful of ammonia is mixed with 0.5 tbsp. spoon of table salt and rub into the fabric. The bra cleans very quickly - it brightens right before your eyes.

"White"

In Soviet times, every housewife used “Whiteness”. This is a powerful bleach that can remove any stains, grayness and yellowness. But there is also the other side of the coin:

“Belizna” is a chlorine-containing product that has an aggressive effect on fabrics.

Only cotton can withstand bleaching with “Whiteness”.But even that can deteriorate over time - lose strength.
It is contraindicated for synthetics. The fabric becomes gray and cannot be restored.

The Whitening method should be used last. Recipe for gentle whitening:

Pour 1 tbsp into 5 liters of cold water. spoon of “Whiteness”.
Stir thoroughly.
Immerse the bodice.
Leave for 20 minutes.
Wash.

Aspirin tablets

Aspirin is a serious weapon against the dullness of things. It gently whitens delicate fabrics and removes almost any stain.

To whiten a bra, you need the most ordinary, non-effervescent tablets.

You should put 6 tablets in a mortar and grind them into powder.
To remove stains, the powder is diluted with water to a paste, rubbed into a cloth, and left for half an hour.
To whiten the entire product, dissolve 4 Aspirin tablets (crushed) in 1 liter of warm water and soak the bra overnight.
At the end, the wash is started.

You can quickly get rid of yellow and gray on your bra by adding 5 Aspirin tablets when washing in the washing machine. The crushed tablets are mixed into the detergent (powder or gel).

Blue

The previous generation of housewives could not imagine their life without bluing - a yellowness neutralizer. It was added to whitewash and white things were rinsed with it. Blue for fabric is like a tonic for hair. It consists of blue dye and starch.

For bleaching, powder or liquid concentrate is diluted in warm water to obtain a uniform light blue color.

A clean, washed bra should be soaked in the solution for 5-7 minutes.
At the end it is very important to rinse the product well.

Please note that the bluing works quickly, but the effect does not last long. After several washes the yellowness will return.

Use of oxygen agents

Oxygen-containing products have replaced “Whiteness” and bleach. They whiten and remove stains without damaging the fabric. When it gets into water, the stain remover breaks down into soda and hydrogen peroxide, which releases active oxygen. All dirt is pushed out, and soon the laundry becomes perfectly clean.

The use of oxygen products is safe for bras made of any type of fabric: synthetics, guipure, silk, cotton, etc. They return the original color to washed and faded bras.

The stain remover is diluted in water according to the instructions on the package. Linen is soaked for 10 minutes - 6-8 hours.

Popular oxygen bleaches:

BOSPlus Oxi;
Persol Extra;
Vanish Oxi Action;
Sarma Active 5 in 1.

Optical brighteners

Best suited for whitening white laundry. But they don’t harm colored fabric either. Optical brighteners contain synthetic dyes. When washed, they settle on the fibers. In the light, the fabric fluoresces light blue and appears snow-white.

Essentially, optical brighteners are a modern alternative to bluing.

They only mask the gray and yellow shades of the fabric. Plus, there is no visible staining.

Note. Optical brighteners are commonly added to premium laundry detergents and oxygen stain removers.

Hydrogen peroxide

Famous home remedy for stains. Hydrogen peroxide can remove traces of blood, fat, drinks, fruits, gel pens and many others. It works as an effective bleach and helps restore the brightness of colored fabrics.

To remove stains, pharmacy 3% peroxide is dripped from above, wait 10 minutes, and wash the bra with soap.
A gray bra can be bleached by soaking it in 1 liter of water with 3 tbsp. spoons of hydrogen peroxide. You need to leave it for 30 minutes and then wash it.
You can get rid of yellowness by mixing 2 tbsp. spoons of hydrogen peroxide and 4 tbsp. spoons of lemon juice. The fabric is impregnated with the product. Exposure time is 20-40 minutes.

Table vinegar

The acid contained in vinegar helps soften gray and yellow plaque. It gently whitens and eliminates unpleasant odors. Recipe:

Add 2 tbsp to a glass of warm water. spoons 9% vinegar.
Soak the bodice.
Wrap in a plastic bag.
Wait 12 hours.
Wash the bodice in the washing machine.

Boric acid

At the pharmacy, boric acid costs only 7 rubles. At the same time, her action is amazing. It effectively removes grayness and yellowness from improper washing, and saves white items that have yellowed from storage.

To restore the whiteness of your bra, dissolve 1 tbsp in 1 liter of water. spoon of alcohol solution of boric acid. Soak the product for 2 hours. Wash as usual.

You can buy boric acid in powder and mix it with the powder when washing in the washing machine (10 g). But you only need to load white and light-colored things into the drum.

Pencils

Stain removers in the form of sticks are very convenient to use. They are easy to apply to fabric and work quickly. In 15 minutes, any stains, yellowness, or grayness disappear. For whitening bras and underwear, housewives highly praise the pencil from Faberlic. It costs approximately 250 rubles. Contains active oxygen. These pencils are suitable for all types of white and bright colored fabrics.

Basic rules for bleaching depending on the fabric

We all know that you can't wash black and white together. They care for wool with silk and cotton differently.Applying the same approach to them is unacceptable.

The type of fabric is of decisive importance when bleaching. What bleaches cotton can ruin synthetics forever.

To ensure that you are pleased with the results of bra whitening, we advise you to adhere to the following rules:

Do not throw away the tag (label) from a new bra. You need to sign it and keep it in a box somewhere. It contains valuable information: the composition of the fabric, at what temperature to wash the product (including removing stains), how to dry it, whether it can be bleached with bleach.
If possible, use store-bought bleaches with a gentle composition. They behave more predictably than home remedies and rarely damage the fabric.
Bras made of different fabrics or different colors should be bleached separately.
Conduct the test in an inconspicuous place. You will spend 15 minutes more time, but you will be sure that the method will work and the bra will remain intact.
At the end of the procedure, rinse the product thoroughly. Otherwise, allergic skin reactions are possible.

Cotton bodice

Cotton is more durable and resistant to aggressive substances. High-quality and dense 100% cotton can be bleached well by boiling, bleach, or bluing. But there is one “but”.

Modern bras are not made from pure cotton. It is combined with synthetics to achieve softness and elasticity of the fabric.

Therefore, it is better to leave aggressive means as a last resort. First, try to return the white color with laundry soap, soda and salt, peroxide or commercial bleach (oxygen, optical).

Silk bodice

It is better not to experiment with an expensive natural silk bra. Use oxygen-containing bleaches.As a last resort, try bleaching a silk bodice with vinegar.

Synthetic bra

A synthetic bra is very easy to ruin - just wash it in hot water or use bleach. It is recommended to bleach synthetic bras with oxygen and optical brighteners. Folk remedies you can use are peroxide, ammonia, salt and soda, laundry soap, vinegar, boric acid, and Aspirin.

How to bleach a guipure bra?

Guipure is made from synthetics. Accordingly, the same bleaching agents are suitable for guipure bras (see above). But there is one caveat: the products should not be rubbed, especially with brushes. The lace may fray.

With filler

Gel inserts and foam filling in the bra can lose their elasticity from exposure to aggressive bleaches and hot water. Even if the bra is cotton, you need to bleach it with something gentle: oxygen-containing stain remover, peroxide, boric acid, soda and salt, vinegar.

How to remove sweat stains?

Yellow marks in the armpits often appear when using antiperspirant. Sweat and deodorant mix and form permanent stains. Not only do they look unsightly, but they also emit an unpleasant odor.

Fortunately, stains are easy to remove. Fresh dirt is especially easy to remove. You just need to soap them well with laundry soap and leave for 5-10 minutes. After this, you can throw the laundry into the washing machine or wash it by hand as usual.

You can use the following recipes:

1 glass of water, 1 tbsp. spoon of salt. Dissolve salt in warm water. Dampen a cloth and rub the stain. Wait 15 minutes.
2 tbsp. spoons of lemon juice, 3 tbsp. spoons of water. Prepare the solution. Soak stains.Leave the bra on for 1 hour.
1 teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. Moisten the sweat stain with water. Rub dish detergent into the fabric. Wait 10 minutes.

After removing the stains, wash the bra as usual. Aspirin, vinegar and ammonia with salt are also good for removing sweat.

Machine washable features

Modern washing machines can wash things very carefully and much more efficiently than a person. To ensure that the bodice is washed well without being damaged, you need to use delicate modes.

It is very convenient to bleach your bra in the washing machine. You need to add oxygen bleach to the powder compartment.

Features of machine washable bras:

Using a case (container, bag) for washing. This useful device maintains the shape of the bodice and prevents the bones from falling out.
Selecting the “Delicate”, “Hand Wash” modes. It is characterized by slow drum rotation, no or minimal spin, and low water heating temperature.
"Double rinse" It is important to completely wash away any remaining detergent from your bra. Otherwise, it may begin to turn gray and cause itching and irritation on the skin during wear.
Fastening your bra before washing. The hooks must be fastened. If this is not done, they may cling to the fabric and leave holes.

Questions and answers

How to dry your bra correctly?

To prevent the bra from becoming deformed, you need to dry it flat out on a horizontal surface. As a last resort, the bra is hung by the bridge between the cups, but not by the straps. For quick drying, you can use a radiator and a dryer (rack). It is forbidden to dry products with a hot jet of a hair dryer or an iron. Bras should not be twisted.Excess moisture can be removed with a terry towel (gently blot the bodice).

How to care for underwear?

Proper care of your laundry will eliminate the need to bleach it. You need to change your bras every 2-3 days, and do not let them “stale” - wash them immediately. It is better to use liquid detergents for washing. They don't clog the fabric. If the tag is cut off and lost, the water is heated to 30 degrees. It is also important to wear white bras only under light-colored clothing, and wash them separately from colored and dark-colored items. Underwear should be stored in a separate drawer.

Whitening your bra at home is a simple matter. The product is soaked for some time and then washed. There are many products, both folk and commercial, that perfectly remove traces of sweat and return fabric to its original color. The main thing when choosing the appropriate method and means is to pay attention to the information on the tag. By following the manufacturer's recommendations, you will get the result you were waiting for - the bra will take on a fresh look, without losing its firmness and elasticity.