How to bleach gray and yellowed white things at home with soda and peroxide?

The radiance of whiteness evokes in people associations with purity, freshness and celebration, but sooner or later light-colored clothing loses its former appearance. Experienced housewives know how to whiten white things, removing yellow spots and gray plaque. Each type of fabric and degree of contamination has its own means and methods.

Traditional method - boiling

Our grandmothers used it when there were no automatic washing machines. Only cotton and linen fabrics are allowed to boil. It is advisable not to use this method for clothing.

We recommend bleaching the following items using boiling water:

• bed sheets;
• kitchen and bath towels;
• tablecloths;
• panties, bras;
• socks;
• baby rompers and diapers.

Only dishes with an enamel coating or stainless steel are suitable for bleaching. After boiling in galvanized aluminum buckets, reddish-brown stains may remain on the white.

For 1 kilogram of things take 10 liters of water.The procedure is as follows:

1. Dissolve half a piece of laundry soap and 2 tablespoons of baking soda in a bowl of warm water. Soak white items for 3 hours.
2. Remove the laundry and rinse thoroughly in clean water.
3. Pour cold water into a large container and place the items that need to be bleached at the bottom. You can add a little ammonia or hydrogen peroxide, soap shavings.
4. Turn on the burner.
5. Bring the solution to a boil and then turn the heat to low. Boil things for 1-1.5 hours.
6. Cool and rinse the laundry thoroughly.

A common mistake made by housewives is immersing white clothes in boiling water rather than cold. This causes the yellow stains to become “sealed” onto clothing and bedding.

How to bleach laundry without boiling at home?

It is worth resorting to boiling laundry only when there are strong and old stains. This method is not suitable for frequent bleaching, as it leads to thinning and destruction of tissue.

Luckily, the store sells commercial bleaches in liquid and powder forms. Some are suitable for hand washing clothes in warm or cold water, others are suitable for automatic washing.

There are many home remedies that allow you to restore the whiteness of white things without boiling: soda, salt, ammonia, aspirin and others.

The best way to whiten

There is no universal product that is suitable for bleaching all types of fabrics and items and removing all types of stains. The best method is the one that is selected for a specific case.

To make it easier for you to navigate whitening products, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the table:

How to bleach things with soda and hydrogen peroxide?

At home, it is better to start whitening with folk remedies that every housewife has in her kitchen. They are safe for health and do not require large financial investments.

How to use baking soda?

1. Fill a 10-liter bucket halfway with warm water and add 6 tablespoons of baking soda. Pour in a spoonful of ammonia and stir.
2. Place clothes (bed linen) at the bottom of the bucket. Leave to soak for 2-5 hours depending on the degree of contamination.
3. Rinse white items thoroughly and machine wash them at 60 degrees.

If the contamination is significant, use a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide, which is sold in any pharmacy:

1. Pour a tablespoon of solution into a 3-liter bowl of water.
2. Soak white items for 30-60 minutes.
3. Rinse thoroughly and dry. If the weather is sunny, hang your laundry outside.

Using hydrogen peroxide, you can remove individual stains on cotton. To do this, treat the yellow area with the solution and wait 5 minutes. Gently scrub the fabric with a bar of soap and rinse with water.

Using aspirin to lighten tissue

A white T-shirt (shirt) has a gray tint due to frequent washing, but you don’t want to ruin your favorite item by bleaching it? Choose gentle methods, which include aspirin. The active ingredient is acetylsalicylic acid. It penetrates deep into the tissue, removes residual powders and concentrates.

How to use aspirin for whitening?

1. Crush 5 tablets into powder. Dissolve in two liters of hot water.
2. Soak a white T-shirt or shirt in the solution overnight.
3. In the morning, wash the item by hand with regular soap or put it in a washing machine. You can add 2-3 more aspirin tablets to the washing powder. By the way, this method is suitable for preventing fabric tarnishing.
4. Shake and leave the item to dry.

The cheapest way is salt

Most often, salt is used to prevent yellowing of bed linen and kitchen towels: once a month, before washing, white items are soaked for 2 hours in a solution of warm water with the addition of 2-3 tablespoons of salt.

If you need to bleach grayed items, salt is used in combination with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, ammonia or boric acid.Sodium chloride enhances the effect of these bleaches.

The procedure is as follows:

1. Add 3 tablespoons of salt and hydrogen peroxide, a teaspoon of ammonia and a little washing powder to a bowl of hot water.
2. Place items in a basin for 2 hours and then wash.
3. Rinse and leave to dry.

Delicate whitening – potassium permanganate

Use this method if you want to return sparkling whiteness to silk blouses and dresses. Potassium permanganate acts gently and does not destroy delicate tissue. True, it will not help get rid of old stains.

1. Prepare a solution of 10 liters of water, half of baby soap and 4 crystals of potassium permanganate.
2. Soak the item for 6-8 hours.
3. Rinse and dry.

Use of mustard powder

Mustard is the best home remedy for removing grease stains from white clothes. Housewives use mustard powder to care for cotton tablecloths, towels, and kitchen curtains.

The procedure is as follows:

1. Dissolve a bag of mustard powder in 5 liters of hot water.
2. Leave things in the solution for 3 hours.
3. Rinse with clean water to remove any traces of mustard and place in the washing machine.
4. Dry white items.

Citric acid and lemon juice

These products perfectly remove gray and yellow plaque, but are harsh, so they are only suitable for cotton fabrics. Also, using citric acid, remove stains on shoes: sneakers, textile ballet shoes.

1. Dissolve 10 tablespoons of citric acid or juice from two citrus fruits in a 10-liter bucket of hot water.
2. Soak white items for 5-6 hours.
3. Rinse and leave to dry.

Chlorine bleaches

In the past, our mothers and grandmothers often used the industrial chlorine product “Belizna” for bleaching. And now it can be found on sale in liquid or powder form. It costs mere pennies, but it perfectly removes grayish plaque and any old stains, including those from sweat, grease, blood, wine, and grass.

But “Whiteness” also has a number of significant shortcomings.

• not suitable for wool, delicate fabrics, synthetics, white items with bright patterns;
• with frequent use it leads to thinning of the fabric, the formation of holes, abrasions, and yellow stains;
• causes allergic skin reactions in some people;
• It smells bad;
• Chlorine vapors are unsafe for the respiratory system and irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes.

Use chlorine bleach only with rubber gloves. You should try not to inhale the smell, and after treating white things, ventilate the apartment.

How to whiten white things using “Whiteness”?

1. Soak the laundry in water and soap (half a piece) for 2 hours.
2. Wash by hand.
3. Pour cold water into a 3-liter basin. Add a tablespoon of bleach.
4. Pour the resulting liquid into a container with white things. Leave for 15-20 minutes.
5. Rinse and dry the laundry thoroughly.

Chlorine reacts with metals and can damage your washing machine. Although some manufacturers leave the “Automatic” mark on product packaging, it’s not worth the risk. Wash white items with “White” by hand.

Oxygen-containing bleaches

The main advantage of such products is delicate whitening. With their help, grayness is removed even from silk blouses and dresses. Oxygen-containing bleaches disinfect fabrics and remove unpleasant odors.

The substances are easy to rinse out, so people do not experience allergic skin irritations later. Suitable for whitening children's clothes.

But oxygen-containing bleaches also have two disadvantages: high consumption and high cost.

Optical brighteners

They are quite expensive. After washing with optical brightener, clothes acquire a crystal clear appearance. But this impression is deceptive.

The fact is that optical brighteners contain fluorescent substances that cannot be completely rinsed out and remain on the fabric. Once dry, the particles reflect light, and bedding and clothing emit a white glow. Unfortunately, fluorescent substances can cause allergies upon contact with skin.

It is recommended to use optical brighteners when you urgently need to give things a snow-white appearance.

Prevention of gray plaque and yellow spots

Unfortunately, frequent bleaching causes fabrics to become fragile and thin. In the end, the item cannot withstand exposure to aggressive substances and deteriorates.

And sometimes clothes are so hopelessly damaged that it is no longer possible to bleach them. Therefore, it is important to regularly care for your things and follow the rules of washing and drying.

We suggest you familiarize yourself with a few tips:

• Place white clothes in the machine immediately; do not wait until the basket is filled to the brim with dirty laundry.
• Wash colored and white clothing items separately.
• Once a month, add salt, baking soda or powdered oxygenated bleach to the machine before washing.
• Rinse your laundry thoroughly: residues of powders and concentrates lead to the formation of a gray coating on clothes.
• Do not wash cotton and linen at the same time as wool or synthetics.
• Do not mix clothes with other things: bed linen, kitchen towels, panties and socks.
• Follow the temperature range indicated on the label.
• If possible, dry clothes in the sun.
• Do not put damp wardrobe items in the closet, otherwise they will become dull.

Conclusion

Whitening is a delicate matter. If you lose sight of even one detail, you can ruin a white thing forever. Before choosing one or another method, be sure to study the fabric composition and permissible temperature conditions on the label. Always start whitening with gentle methods, and if they do not help, move on to more severe ones.