Getting Your Whites Back To White
We’ve all experienced it before. You’ve just purchased a brand new white shirt, or a stylish white jumper. You’ve fallen in love with how bright and white it is, only for a couple of weeks to pass by to find that a once glistening white jumper, has now started to become a dull grey instead. You then experience the dreaded dilemma of “do I keep it and get used to it being more grey, or do I buy a brand new white jumper to replace it?”.
I’ve experienced the same dilemma on more than one occasion so fortunately I’ve become accustomed to the white-grey problem. I used to do the latter of the two options and throw out the jumper and buy a new one to replace it each time. However it became more expensive due to living with younger children who love chocolate, and being a messy eater myself. I was soon buying a new replacement every few weeks; all the constant re-washing and removing stains was making my clothing go grey far quicker than I had expected. Many washes and many replacements later, I decided enough was enough; I was never going to replace a white shirt/jumper again until it had became old and ratty with holes strewn all across the fabric. Soon the same jumper I had once bought many weeks ago was still as bright and white as it was when I first pulled it off of the clothing rack.
I had the worst experience with getting my whites back to white when a pair of jeans were involved. I had forgotten that when new jeans are washed, there is a chance that the dye can run from the garment and can potentially ruin the rest of the laundry. A once pearly white jumper was now covered in blue dye from a never-before-washed pair of blue jeans. After a few washes, the stained garment was brought back to life and looked white once again. So how did I do it? The answer:
Bleach!
“Bleach?” you may ask. Yes, bleach. The exact same chemicals used to clean your toilet, I used to keep my clothing from going dull. Now obviously you can’t just douse the garment in bleach and expect it to be clean and white. Instead, I mixed 150ml of bleach in a 5L tub of water. Once the bleach was fully mixed into the tub, I soaked the blue-white jumper in the mixture (whilst wearing gloves because safety first!), ensuring the garment was fully soaked, and left it for an hour.
After the hour had passed, I washed the garment on a cold wash at 30˚ on a 2 hour cycle specifically for whites. To make sure the stains were completely removed from the fabric, I also added a scoop of Vanish oxi-action crystal white powder to the wash. The garment was then hung out in the sun to dry and the jumper was finally back to the gleaming white it was when it was first bought.
This method has been used now for months for all sorts of garments: dress shirts, socks, underwear, vest tops and also white jeans (mostly worn by only the bravest women who are completely in check with their menstrual cycles). I’ve had family members also asking my advice for reviving their now dull white garments and this method has been tried and tested, working every time.
If you have any comments or further tips for the constant battle of preventing whites from becoming dull, please let me know. It’s nice to know you’re not alone.
