Tips for Keeping Your Summer Whites White

Now that we’re officially in summer, we can start wearing our summer white clothing again. Only trouble is, whites don’t seem to stay white very long!

Here are our best tips for keeping those whites looking as crisp and pristine as they do the first day you wear them, without resorting to harmful chlorine bleaching.

Commercial Bleaches
It is best to avoid most commonly available bleach, sodium hypochlorite, a moderately toxic chlorine salt that can bond with other chemicals to form cancer-causing organochlorines in the wastewater system.

“Natural oxygen safe bleaches” are commercially available (found primarily in the health food store marketplace), and are based on hydrogen peroxide. The best choice is to buy commercial non-chlorine bleaches instead of making your own version using store-bought 3 percent hydrogen peroxide because commercial brands, such as Seventh Generations’s Non-Chlorine Bleach–Free & Clear include oxygen bleach stabilizers to help reduce the product’s reactivity in the environment.

Tip: Adding ½ cup of lemon juice to the rinse cycle of a medium load of whites will lightly bleach the clothing. This technique is especially effective on clothes that are then hung to dry on the line.

Soften Your Water
The minerals in hard water can gray clothes. If you have very hard water, add ½ cup of vinegar to your rinse water.

Brighten Whites
To brighten whites, and if you don’t have hard water, use the might of minerals in your wash cycle. Add ½ cup borax or washing soda (both are available in the laundry section of your supermarket) to a medium load of laundry.

About Light
Note to read clothing labels, as some direct you to dry the clothes outside of direct sunlight. On the other hand, storing whites in the dark can cause yellowing. A rule of thumb is that natural fibers love the sun and hanging them outside to dry on the line is to their benefit.

Read more: Home, Non-Toxic Cleaning

By Annie B. Bond

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Robert O.

12:48PM PDT on Oct 21, 2011

Thanks Annie!

send a green star

ii q.

6:03PM PDT on Jun 2, 2011

won't the lemon juice attract bugs?

Lamby M.

5:41PM PDT on Apr 11, 2011

You're my hero, Annie! Thank you! Doing my whites in the morning!!

Oksana B.

11:32AM PDT on Jun 26, 2010

My whites come out of the washing machine with stains they didn't have when they went in. Same for other light colours such as pink. I bought a water softener thinking that might help, and also a brand new fron-loading machine, but same thing happens. I also add vinegar to the fabric softener dispenser. First, any ideas on how to prevent this, and second, how do I get these washing machine stains out of my clothes?

Jan C.

12:04PM PDT on Apr 9, 2010

I hope I can finally get white socks to be white with this advice. Unfortunately, line drying is out! Not only do we hate the scratchy feeling line drying causes, the birds that our nature-attracting yard would seriously endanger the cleanliness of our clothes!! Not to mention all the pollens and molds Florida is so famous for...

Past Member .

5:04AM PST on Dec 12, 2009

Whites are my favorite color in the summer. They are real hard to keep white and pretty. Thanks for the advice.
Slimming Pills

Angela T.

12:11AM PDT on Jul 30, 2009

I've found that now that I am using only cold water and environmentally-friendly washing gels, my whites are staying white. I like the lemon juice advice, I use this on teatowels to good effect.

Jana M.

10:17PM PDT on Jul 27, 2009

Miss Info,

Put your stinky towels and washclothes in the sun to dry thoroughly before putting them in the dirty laundry basket. Sun kills most germs, especially in the hot summer.

Deborah L.

12:09PM PDT on Jul 27, 2009

Just a caution to seasonal allergy sufferers. If you hang clothes outside, they just become suspended pollen-collectors. So if you're a sufferer, perhaps the dryer or an indoor clothes line would be your best options.
Doesn't help with whitening, but all the best suggestions for that have already been covered.

Miss I.

8:09AM PDT on Jul 27, 2009

I have also used soap nuts for well over a year. The cost per load is much less than detergent. I use the same nuts 4-5 times before they lose the soap-feel. I hadn't thought to compost them - thanks, Caroline! I also put cheap white vinegar in the fabric softener part of the machine. The only short-coming to soap nuts concerns my washcloths and towels, which always seem to stink no matter how I clean them. (Anyone know why or what I can do?) I usually use detergent and/or put smelly stuff in the dryer just to cover it. I just bought some bamboo washcloths, and I'm hoping they're more resistant to getting the stinks. Quick shout-out for bamboo: shirtsofbamboo.com is going out of business right now and everything is on sale! The washcloths are soooo soft!