Keeping your laundry crisp white is no easy task. Fortunately, there are some very effective tips so that it does not lose any of its whiteness … even after years!
White may be elegant, but when it starts to turn yellow and lose its shine, it doesn't have the same effect at all! White linen is particularly fragile, sometimes it only takes a small stain to end up with a t-shirt that is good for the trash, or with towels whose color has turned gray and which no longer give that feeling of freshness and of cleanliness that we love so much.
White laundry must be taken care of! And to keep it looking clean and tidy, it's good to know the best practices. Washing, laundry … We give you all the good tips to keep a bright white laundry for a long time. I promise, the tomato sauce stains that gave you a hard time will be a bad memory!
Sort your laundry well before washing
Rule number 1 for a successful wash: sort your laundry well before starting the washing machine. To prevent white textiles from turning gray, they should always be washed separately and never with dark or colored laundry. Indeed, colored clothes – and especially jeans – can discolor your white laundry. Before washing, therefore, remember to sort your laundry and wash all the white separately.
Watch out for light colors that you think are "harmless" for your white laundry! Certain prints and colors can indeed rub off and leave a gray veil on your white clothes. It is therefore best to sort your clothes by color. We advise you to put the white laundry separately and to wash the light-colored and dark-colored laundry separately.
Which detergent to choose for your white laundry?
To properly maintain your white laundry, favor the washing powder. Powder detergents contain bleaches and optical brighteners that bring out the radiance of white. Almost non-existent in the composition of liquid detergents, the whitening active ingredients present in the washing powder are also very effective in removing stubborn stains such as blood, tomatoes or even coffee. Another advantage: it releases three times less surfactants into the environment than other detergents, contains fewer allergens and is easier to dose.
At what temperature should I wash my white laundry?
- For all the clothes you wear every day, a washing temperature of 40 ° C will be sufficient. It is suitable for all textiles, whether colored or white, and is effective in removing the most stubborn stains.
- For your white linens, you can choose a wash at 60 ° C or 90 ° C. Often stained and heavily soiled, your sheets, towels and tea towels need a high enough temperature for perfect whiteness and cleanliness.
How to dry your white laundry?
- To dry your white laundry, we advise you to let it dry outdoors and if possible under the sun. In fact, in contact with oxygen, ultraviolet rays eliminate stains, sanitize and illuminate laundry. Be careful, this only works on natural fibers!
- For your white linens, drying in the sun will work very well but you can also consider drying in the sun. dryer. This option is much more practical, especially in winter!
How to remove stains from white laundry?
To remove the most stubborn stains, consider lemon! Indeed, lemon juice is a mild and natural whitening agent. This is especially effective in eliminating yellow marks on white laundry, those created because of perspiration or deodorant, and which it is difficult to remove! To do this, just squeeze the juice of a lemon on the stain and leave it on for 15-30 minutes before rinsing it off.
- With beef gall soap
Less known than black soap, white vinegar or baking soda, beef gall soap is an ultra effective natural stain remover. This is in particular composed of acids which have the property of dispersing fats and making them disappear. Another soap that is just as effective and much easier to find in stores: Marseille soap. Few of the stains resist it!
The best tips for reviving your white laundry
To remove stubborn stains and make your clothes even whiter, the use of baking soda is recommended. There are two options available to you for this: either you use it as a stain remover before washing by letting it act for a while on the stains you want to remove, then rubbing with a brush to remove it. Or you simply add two tablespoons of baking soda to your detergent dose each time you make a white machine.
To bleach your household linen, for example, consider bleach. You can add a small capful of bleach to your laundry or use it before machine washing. All you have to do is soak your laundry in cold bleach (100 ml of bleach for 5 liters of water) for about twenty minutes, then rinse it thoroughly. A stain in sight? Dab it with a cloth dampened with a mixture of lukewarm water and bleach.
Hydrogen peroxide also helps to bleach laundry. But beware, we prefer to use it on "solid" fabrics such as cotton. Avoid adding it directly to the washing machine and prefer 30% hydrogen peroxide and mixing it with about 7 times its volume in water. Soak your laundry in it for between one and three hours, then put it in the machine or wash it by hand.
To revive the white and to make it yellow, nothing like white vinegar! To use it, nothing could be simpler: mix a cup or half a cup of distilled white vinegar with your laundry and wash your laundry normally. If you only want to whiten certain areas, spray the vinegar on the area in question (neck, armpit, etc.), let sit and then wash. Otherwise, you can also let your laundry soak in water mixed with white vinegar overnight and then machine wash it the next day.
Which products to choose to make your laundry whiter?
See also: How to do your homemade laundry with black soap?