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7 Easy Ways to Brighten Whites

1.    White Vinegar Add 1 cup of distilled white vinegar to 1 gallon of hot water, submerge the item in the mix and soak it overnight.  Launder as usual. Additionally, adding 1 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle when washing items will help prevent detergent residue.

2.    Lemons Mix ½ cup lemon juice (about 4 lemons) with 1 gallon of hot water.  Add the items and soak for at least one hour or overnight.  Launder as usual. The citric acid bleaches fabric and helps to whiten cotton, linen, and polyester fibers.

3.    Baking Soda Stir 1 cup of baking soda into 1 gallon of boiling water.  Add the items and soak for one hour or overnight. Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) cuts through soils on cotton items that can leave them looking dull.

4.    Hydrogen Peroxide Using the 3% solution found in most drugstores, add 1 cup to the washing machine’s bleach dispenser and run the wash cycle as usual. Hydrogen peroxide is a mild form of oxygen bleach, it should fizz when poured (if it does not fizz it is not fresh and won’t work.)

5.    Dishwasher Detergent Add ¼ cup to ½ cup powdered dishwasher detergent to 1 gallon of hot water, dissolve completely.  Add in the dingy white items and soak for at least 30 minutes.  Launder as usual. Most powdered dishwasher detergents contain sodium hypochlorite, chlorine bleach, that will whiten natural fiber fabrics.

6.    Aspirin Add 10 aspirin tablets to 1 gallon of hot water.  Soak and launder as usual. The salicylic acid in aspirin will help brighten fabrics and is 100% effective with cotton fabrics.

7.    Sunshine After washing, hang white items in direct sunlight to dry.  The ultraviolet rays will brighten white laundry, the UV rays will not only bleach fabrics, but they will also kill many germs and disinfect fabrics.

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