Worried About Bleach Damage? 5 Best Alternatives For White Laundry

Bleach Alternatives: The annoyance of seeing your go-to white shirt looking dingy and yellowed is real. While bleach may be the easy choice but it can damage fabrics, irritate the skin and leave a strong chemical odour. The harsh truth is that bleach can weaken fabric fibres, rip fabric and may lead to holes and, in some cases, can even discolour or degrade certain natural fibres like wool or silk.

Even worse, using too much bleach can actually cause white clothes to yellow over time, especially if they were never rinsed properly first or washed and dried too hot. But worry not! Here, we've compiled some effective and less abrasive alternatives to bleach that you can use to bring back the brightness of a white outfit or laundry.

Bleach Alternatives For White Laundry

Baking Soda

Baking soda is great on clothes as a laundry detergent and it will naturally deodorise and whiten. Just add ½ cup to the wash cycle and it will help break down residue, neutralise water pH and improve the performance of your laundry detergent. It is a gentle form of laundering and will leave your clothes fresher and brighter without breaking down fabric.

White Vinegar

The strong odour of vinegar shows the great benefits it has on laundry. If you put in one cup of vinegar during the rinse cycle, it will help dissolve soap residue and minerals and stop greying. Vinegar also softens fabric, smooths clothes and protects colour. The acetic acid in vinegar lifts stains while being gentle, making it an excellent bleach alternative.

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Lemon Juice

Lemons aren't just for detoxifying your water, they're for detoxifying your laundry too. The citric acid in lemon juice has natural bleaching powers that fight stains and yellowing. For whitening white clothes, wash with hot water and lemon juice. Simply soak your whites in hot water with about a cup of lemon juice and let them dry in the sun.

Best substitutes to bleach (Image Credits: Canva)

Sunlight

Sunlight is a free and naturally occurring bleach alternative. When you hang your whites outside; the ultraviolet (UV) rays lift stains out of the fabric and brighten it up. You should turn your items in the sun every quarter to expose fabric to an even amount of time in the sun. This is a no-cost, time-tested method that you can do at home.

ALSO READ: How To Maintain White Clothes In Summer? 5 Tips And Tricks To Follow

Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is a more environmentally-friendly and non-chlorine bleaching agent. Just adding a cup to your white load will help fight stains and brighten your fabrics. It is a better option than the chlorine because it is easier on the fibres and it does not release toxic vapours. It is also particularly good at removing stains.