I love white! It’s practically my favorite color! It’s the color of peace, freshness and cleanliness and I wear it all the time… or almost! But my white blouse didn’t have that yellow halo and my white dress didn’t have that dull color… How awful! It’s normal, my grandmother told me, white loses its shine over time, it’s the fate of all light-colored clothes! If like me, you regret seeing your yellowed clothes, don’t stress! An infallible grandmother’s remedy will save your day for guaranteed shine…

Why do white clothes lose their colors?

Let’s first start by understanding why our white linen turns yellow! The truth is that there are several causes for this, but here are the main reasons:

• Bedding is stored in  damp  and/or poorly ventilated places.
• The clothes are not properly cleaned. In this case, the residues inside the fibers show yellow stains.
• Some fabrics are in contact with the hair and the body. They accumulate sweat and body fat that oxidize and give a yellow color.

Sodium bicarbonate

By knowing why your bedding and clothes turn yellow, you can prevent this from happening! But if it’s already too late, follow this tip based on natural products and ingredients, which you’ll probably already find at home or somewhere in the cupboard!

1. Create a mixture of coarse salt and baking soda.
2. Add a few teaspoons of water and mix.
3. Put everything in the washing machine drum
4. Add your usual cleaning detergent.

Repeat this procedure several times a month and you will notice that your yellowed clothes will become increasingly whiter and regain their former shine.

White vinegar

Don’t have baking soda on hand? Don’t worry! White vinegar works great too! An easy-to-find natural ingredient, white vinegar will whiten and soften your clothes! Very effective against yellow stains (especially on cotton clothes), it also has the advantage of eliminating all  bad odors  . Here’s how to use it:

Wash the clothes by hand

If you plan to wash your clothes by hand, pour 3 cups of white vinegar into a bucket of hot water and let your clothes soak for 1 hour before scrubbing. It’s quick and easy… Who says better?

Washing clothes in the washing machine

If you opt for the machine, put 125 ml of white vinegar and 60 ml of regular detergent. Place everything in the slot normally reserved for the stain remover and press start!

Once your clothes have been washed, they will be dazzlingly white and, as an added benefit, they will lose all the bad smell of perspiration!

What if you don’t have baking soda or white vinegar at home? Many will think of bleach! But stop! This is not a good idea at all! It is true that it removes stains from clothes better than regular detergent, but it is not a good product to keep clothes in good condition. In fact, bleach can cause both yellowing of the fabric and weakening of the fibres of the garment!

“What to do then?” you might ask! Rest assured, we have more than one trick up our sleeve!

Cheating

Simply pour a cup of lemon juice into the machine or rinse clothes with lemon water. Your dull or yellowed clothes will naturally regain their whiteness.

potato

Start by cooking the potatoes, add some salt and eat them! Well, jokes aside, potatoes are just as good stir-fried as they are in bleach, so once cooked, cut them into wedges and rub them on your dirty clothes. Then rinse with clean water and you’ll be fine!

Marseille soap

Liquid, in shavings or cubes, quickly whiten your clothes with this soap, which forms a kind of crust when wet. Leave it to act before rinsing. And voila!

Milk

This technique only works on white cotton, linen or silk clothing. Dampen the fabric, let it dry, then wash as usual.

Baking powder

Pour a sachet of yeast into the detergent drawer and then proceed with the wash as usual.

sodium percarbonate

Place 2 tablespoons of percarbonate directly into the drum of the machine before turning it on.

Hydrogen peroxide

Put 30% hydrogen peroxide in your detergent drawer and cycle at 95°C

Aspirin

This trick makes dull grey clothes whiter! Add two aspirin tablets to your washing machine, pour in a dose of detergent and voila!

bay leaves

Boil a handful of leaves and let them infuse for a good 10 minutes. Then remove the leaves and soak your clothes in the infused water. This will save your stained and discolored clothes!

eggshells

Put crushed eggshells in a sock during your wash, and your clothes will regain their whiteness. Here’s an unusual trick to try as soon as possible!

Soda ash

They act against perspiration, which is one of the main elements that turn your clothes yellow! Pour a cup of soda crystals, i.e. 125 ml, into each of your detergents and get white clothes as good as new.

How to prevent white clothes from turning yellow?

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, you just need to know the different factors that yellow your clothes and avoid them, so that your laundry stays white as when you started! But let’s do a little to-do and not list them anyway!

• If you apply body creams or lotions, wait until your skin absorbs them before getting dressed.
• Do not use bleach.
• Before storing laundry or dirty clothes, make sure they are clean and dry.
• Do not use fabric softeners or perfumes! These can leave residues in the fibers of your fabrics and oxidize over time.
• Don’t store your clothes in plastic bags, but rather in cardboard boxes to protect them from dust and other dirt.

That’s it, the cycle is complete! You have in your hands all the tips and tricks to keep your laundry white for a long time and revive yellowed fabrics… Leave us your comments if you have tried them!