How to Make Whites Whiter

You’ve probably noticed that, over time, your white garments begin to turn yellow. They might be your favorite shirt, or trousers, or dress, or gown, or sari. But you can’t wear them any longer in public because of the embarrassing yellow color they’ve turned into. Generally, the “yellowing” occurs more with cotton and linens, than with synthetic fibers. One reason for this is that the “bright white” cotton that we purchase is not quite the natural color of cotton; its natural shade is off-white. So, over time, despite laundering cotton and linens, they begin to revert to their original, natural off-white color. Also, when white garments are stored for a long time in a wardrobe, they begin to go yellow in places.

           

But not to worry. To help you enhance the whiteness of your whites, we give you the following tips.

1. Baking soda

You can use baking soda to turn your whites whiter. Baking soda is a chemical compound called sodium bicarbonate. It’s a white solid that occurs both as crystals and as powder. Baking soda is readily available in grocery stores, and instructions for its use as a laundry agent are provided on the carton. Make a paste of the baking soda and add it to the washing powder in the laundry machine, or in a bucket of water if you are hand-washing your whites. The nice thing about baking soda is that it will also remove odors from your clothes.

2.Vinegar

Vinegar is a great solution to make your whites whiter. Commonly used in the kitchen, vinegar is a liquid that contains an acid called acetic acid. Apart from its use as a cooking ingredient, it is an excellent household cleaning agent. As such, you can use vinegar to get the yellow off your white garments and turn them whiter. (As an aside, vinegar is one of the best ways to restore color to upholstery such as curtains, cushions, carpets and sofa covers.) Since there’s a huge variety of vinegars available for a wide range of purposes, purchase industrial vinegar for laundry purposes.

3. Laundry Blue

If you add just a trace of laundry blue to your white clothes, they will appear whiter. Laundry blue consists of blue iron powder suspended in water. It usually is available in liquid form in small packs. The thing to remember about laundry blue is to use it in very small quantity, and to stir the water with the clothes and detergent very well; otherwise the blue may cause white patches to remain in some areas of the clothes.

4. Bleach

Bleach is a chemical that whitens clothing, using, most commonly, chlorine as its base. For laundry use, it comes as a liquid that you add to your white clothes in the laundry machine. Many laundry machines have a separate compartment for adding the bleach. In addition to making whites whiter, many bleaches have anti-bacterial properties, so that’s an added benefit you get by adding bleach to your white clothes

5. Sunlight

Sunlight is a natural whitener. So, after your laundry is done, put out your white clothes in the sun to dry. Even if you’ve dried your clothes in the dryer, putting out your white clothes in the sun will make them whiter.

6. Dry Cleaning.

You can also give your white clothes to a professional dry cleaner’s for chemical treatment to restore the whiteness to your white clothes. Before placing the order, do ask the counter person about the process involved in dry cleaning; and only if you are satisfied with the response, hand over your clothes to them.

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