How to Make Your white Clothes White Again – A Step by Step Guide

It can be harder than we would like to keep our white clothes bright and clean, especially as white is such an easy colour to stain. This guide will help you learn how to make white clothes white again and keep them looking great wear after wear.

if you know anything about laundry, you are already familiar with the need to separate the whites and colours. The reason is simple; you don’t want any of the colouring from one batch to leak in the wash and stain your whites. 

In order to keep your whites bright, they need to be washed together and in a completely separate load from your coloured clothing.

Despite your best efforts, sometimes just one coloured item mysteriously makes its way into a load of whites, only to cause your previously white garments to come out looking tinged with grey.

Pulling your clothes out of the wash to find that they’re nowhere near as white as they were when you first put them in can be pretty frustrating. Don’t fret, though; there are ways that you may be able to refresh your white clothes and restore their whiteness.

Key Steps to make your white clothes whiter:

• Pre-soak is the first step in how to make white clothes white again.
• Use products like Ariel to wash your white laundry and keep it bright, clean and fresh.
• Use lemon juice or distilled white vinegar to lift colour stains from your white clothes.

White clothes look great when they’re brand new, but almost seem to attract stains. After removing stains from white clothes, use quality laundry products to take steps to keep your white laundry clean and fresh.

You will need:

• Laundry detergent
• Baking soda
• Lemon juice

How to make clothes white again

When it comes to understanding how to make white clothes white again, the best way is to pre-soak them. There are three key soaks you could try.

Laundry detergent

1. Adding ¼ cup of detergent powder, like Ariel, to a sink full of warm water and soaking your white clothes for two hours before a normal wash works to whiten them.

Baking soda

1. Dissolving one cup of baking soda in four litres of warm water makes not only a great whitening solution but also an effective deodoriser. Soak your white clothes in the solution for around eight hours before popping them in your usual wash.

Lemon juice

1. Boil two sliced (not halved) lemons in a large stockpot of water and then remove it from the heat. Then add your white clothes to soak for an hour. The lemon juice works as a great whitener.

Removing stains from white clothes using white vinegar

If your white clothes just need a little bit of brightening and you haven’t stocked up on detergent, you can try washing them with white vinegar.

Add vinegar to the fabric softener compartment

1. Add half a cup of distilled white vinegar to the fabric softener compartment of your washing machine.

Use your regular detergent

1. Use your usual detergent and of course following any appropriate instructions on the care label. Have a look at our article if you’re not sure what the washing symbols mean. 

Wash in a washing machine

1. Wash your whites in your washing machine.

The great thing about this method is that vinegar doesn’t bleach anything with colours in them. It also won’t leave a smell behind and will get rid of any remaining alkalinity from your detergent in the last rinse.

How to remove colour stains from white clothes using a detergent

White clothes are so easy to stain, especially if a red sock or a blue shirt has found its way into a whitewash. Here’s how to deal with colour stains using a good detergent.

Wash your white clothing with a laundry capsule

1. Pop a capsule in your washing machine, then put your white laundry in there.

Wash at 40 degrees

1. Wash on a normal cycle at 40°C.

Air-dry the clothing

1. Let the clothes air-dry, preferably in sunlight as the sun’s rays can help bleach the stains.

Pre-treat any remaining stains

1. Spot-check for any remaining stains. If you find any, you can pre-treat the stains with a little Persil Bio Liquid for 15–30 minutes before washing again.

How to bleach white clothes

Bleaching white clothing should be done with caution. So here’s how to bleach white clothes properly to remove stains.

Use biocides safely. Always read the label and product information before use.

Soak your clothes in cold water

1. With a container, add cold water and soak your clothes. Ensure all the clothes are completely soaked.

Add bleach to the clothing in the container

1. Add a few tablespoons of bleach into the container where your white clothing is soaked.

Stir everything in the container and soak for 10 minutes

1. Stir everything together to make sure everything is soaked completely. Allow the clothes to soak for about 10 minutes.
2. Bleach can weaken or damage your fabrics if you soak for too long.

Remove and wash through with cold water

1. After 10 minutes, remove the clothing and wash thoroughly with cold water.

Leave to dry

1. Remove any excess water and leave to dry.

Alternative methods to removing colour stains from white clothes

These steps using lemon juice or distilled white vinegar will help remove colour stains from your white clothes.

Dab lemon juice or vinegar onto the stain

1. Dab the lemon juice or distilled white vinegar directly onto the stain.

Scrub with an old toothbrush

1. Use an old toothbrush to scrub the stain for a couple of minutes.

Leave to soak for ten minutes

1. Leave the liquid to soak for up to ten more minutes then rinse out the liquid.

Wash normally

1. Wash your clothes as normal.

Alternatively, if you have a stain that is still wet and fresh you can rub a little salt into it, which will help to absorb the moisture and lift away the stain whilst still in its liquid state

Choose a Dry Cleaner You Can Trust to make your clothes whiter

While you can always tackle your laundry yourself, you may want to consider entrusting a reputable dry cleaner or laundry service to do the job for you. They have the skills, know-how, and equipment needed to make sure your whites are kept white, and your colored clothing retains its original brightness.

At Laundrymann, we take pride in our services and strive to ensure that your laundry is given back to you in the best condition possible

Let someone else take care of the laundry

If you’re overwhelmed by piles of grubby laundry, then why not let someone else deal with it? Our award-winning dry cleaning and laundry service makes wash day a breeze. Upon subscription, We’ll collect your laundry, clean and iron it using professional methods and equipment, and return it to your door. We’ll even fold or hang it for you, so it’s ready to go straight in the wardrobe or drawer.

Your washing machine needs to be cleaned thoroughly every couple of months, and you should be running a 

hot maintenance cycle at least once every two weeks. This will leave your machine out of action for a few hours, so subscribe to our service and let us handle the hard work while you scrub up.