Are your whites looking a little yellowed? Do they seem dingy, but you can’t quite figure out why?
If you are a faithful bleach user, it is the bleach that is probably the culprit.
Household bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is often used as a laundry booster or whitener. However, its chemical makeup can often make white clothes turn yellow.
So once this happens, how do you get rid of the yellow? Can you get rid of the yellow?
Here are several suggestions to try if you’ve got yellowed or dingy whites:
- Start with lemon juice.
Although I am very willing to pull out the big guns, I like to first start with the remedies that are least harsh. Dilute 1/4 cup of lemon juice with 1 gallon of extremely hot water (boiling, if possible). Soak the yellowed garment in the solution for at least 1-2 hours. Then wring out and allow to dry in the sun. If you aren’t thrilled with your results, move on to the other ideas. - Try borax.
Borax is readily available at most grocery stores in the laundry aisle. Dissolve 1-2 Tablespoons in about 2 cups of borax and then add to the rinse cycle of your washer. You can also put it in the ‘oxi’ dispenser if your machine has that feature. If possible, dry in the sun. Borax naturally softens hard water, so you could use it as a preventative measure when washing whites in the future. If you want to give borax a try, there is an online printable coupon for 20 Mule Team Borax available at their website. - Try Iron-Out.
If you have well-water, chances are there is a fairly high iron content in your water. Often this excess iron in the water reacts with the bleach causing the yellowing of the clothes. Iron-Out can be applied using the directions on the bottle. It works to counteract that chemical reaction and return white clothes to their original bright condition. Note that this product should only be used on proven colorfast fabrics. - Try a laundry bluing agent.
Laundry bluing is an old trick to get yellowed or grayed whites to appear brighter. Bluing adds a very slight trace of blue dye to the fabric, making it appear more white. Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing is a popular brand and their site gives detailed instructions on how to use bluing correctly.
Thankfully, there are a couple of ways to prevent your whites from turning yellow:
- Never bleach white clothing that is polyester or a polyester/cotton blend. The chemical reaction between the bleach and the polyester almost always yields a yellowed result.
- Consider a water softener if you have well-water. Decreasing the iron and mineral content of water can greatly lessen the yellowing the bleach can cause.
- Minimize your use of bleach altogether. There are several other ways to get your whites to be whiter.
Do you have problems with whites turning yellow? What do you use to help get them white again?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the tips, especially about not using bleach on polyester! I’ve always been afraid to wash in hot (nervous it might set any stains) but as a favorite pair of pants have started to yellow, I may have to try the hot wash. I’m a strong user of Borox or Oxy, since we have hard water, and I’ve recently discovered (quite accidently) the cleaning power of white vinegar. Had a bunch of old rags that were dingy and grey, and I used them white treating a urine stain from a cat gone rogue: poured a mix of vinegar and water on the offending area, and after a short soak, used the rags to soak up the vinegar/water, and tossed them in a warm wash with just some detergent. I could not believe how clean and white they were! I now have the brightest and whitest rags in the neighborhood! From what I read, the vinegar helps reduce detergent buildup. So now I’m going to try vinegar in hot water to see if my pants whiten up.
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Twitter: MamaLaundry
April 25, 2011 at 10:43 am
Hard water can be so tough to deal with when it comes to laundry! So glad you found the white vinegar trick! It usually works really well as a fabric softener, as well as “stripping” detergent buildup from fabrics.
Your pants should definitely whiten up with a warm/hot wash and vinegar in the rinse cycle. Let me know how they do!
-Lauren
Would washing a new pair of black pants with white clothing cause the light clothes to turn a light shade of yellow or green?
Thank you for any help!
Twitter: MamaLaundry
September 10, 2011 at 9:13 am
Melba, I definitely wouldn’t think so. Were you able to get the light clothes back to the right color?
Hello and thanks for your answer. I re-washed them and the green tinge faded a bit but you can still see it. I honestly don’t care about the color itself as much as it makes me worry about contamination/germs (big fears of mine). I have a feeling it was the black garment because all the loads of wash I did before and after didn’t have that color. Interesting.
Can i use Borax for coloured cloths aswell ? or it only good for white ! looking forward to your reply. Thank you very much.
Twitter: MamaLaundry
December 20, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Fuad, you can use Borax as a laundry booster for colored clothes. However, you do run the risk of it lightly fading colors that aren’t color-fast. But this is case with any laundry booster (Oxi Clean, Clorox 2, etc).
The typical recommendation is 1/2 cup Borax to each regular sized load of laundry.
hello -
love this site!
I have recently moved to a new place, and I thought both the washer and dryer (full sized stackable) looked dirty. I tried washing and wiping. But I notice that my white and light clothes look yellow-y, and my white towels have noticeable yellow streaks and discoloration. I use phosphate free detergent and oxyclean powder in a soak/rinse cycle, then run a regular full cycle with no additional soap.
any ideas why this is happening? Or how I might fix it?
thank you so much!
Twitter: MamaLaundry
December 29, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Hi nh, Have you moved to a place that has hard water? That’s what it sounds like.
If that’s not the case, I would sanitize them thoroughly to make sure there is nothing on the inside of the drum causing the discoloration.
What a pain. So sorry -
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