How to Keep White Clothes White Without Bleach

Why do your whites turn yellow and dingy after a while? A better question is, how do you keep it from happening? I’ve found the secret of how to keep white clothes white without bleach. Yep, that’s right. No bleach. In fact, it’s a toxin free approach that works better than any chemical on the market. Goodbye off-white shirt and hello bright white!

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Karate Teaches Laundry Lessons Too

Back in 2003, I started taking karate lessons with my little brother. The truth is that he started first and I didn’t like being the one getting beat up. So I joined him to maintain my position as big sister and all of the beating up privileges that come with that title. In 2017 we tested for our black belts together. Shortly after getting married and moving away, I started teaching my own karate class.

After testing for my first yellow belt, I got the coveted white uniform called a gi. I remember one of the older men explaining how to care for it. He told me never to use bleach because it would turn the fabric yellow. He suggested always letting it hang dry in the sun to help keep it white. And his final tip was one that I had never heard of before. He told me to use bluing when I washed it because it would help the uniform to stay a bright white. Little did I know then that I was learning how to keep white clothes white without bleach. Karate and laundry rolled into one nice lesson.

Of course, my mom took care of washing my uniforms for many years to come. She followed the advice and never used bleach. Sometimes she would add in some bluing and hang it up outside. Often it just went into the dryer because she was on a timeline. When I got older I took over washing my own uniform. I was careful to always use bluing and never bleach.

Soon after getting married, I noticed that our socks were no longer white. They had turned a dingy gray color. After several rounds of soaking in oxygen cleaner and bleach in the wash, they had turned into a yucky yellow color. As it turns out, the bluing tip works on all white laundry, not just karate uniforms. So I switched up the laundry routine and started using bluing. I was able to keep our white clothes white without bleach or any harsh chemicals. If you want to read more about my all natural laundry routine check out this post.

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Mistakes to Keeping White Clothes White Without Bleach

When washing white clothing NEVER use bleach. I know it sounds like a great idea, but it’s not. Trust me on this one. It will get them white, but over time they will turn yellow. If you want to keep your whites bright, then ditch the bleach immediately. I never even buy it any more. On the plus side, this also prevents your other clothing from getting bleach spots. That’s a win-win in my book!

Don’t skip on stain removal. One of the most difficult things to do is remove a washed and dried stain. Learn your stains and stain removers. Peroxide works well on blood. Baking soda works on coffee. Lemon juice removes sweat stains. For oil stains try chalk. Revive has a stain remover that works well on most stains, but it is still worth knowing the tricks to remove the tricky ones.

How to Keep White Clothes White Without Bleach

Use bluing with every load. Instead of bleach, mix a couple of drops of bluing with a half cup of water. There’s no need to measure, just eyeballing it should be good enough. Pour this in where you would normally put bleach in the machine. Never pour it directly on the clothing because it can cause blue spots. Be very careful when handling bluing to avoid staining your clothes, counters, or floors. Bluing is what older women used to use to keep their white hair looking white. The blue causes the white laundry to come out looking bright instead of dingy.

Pre-soak the whites in an oxygen cleaner like OxiClean. I love the stuff from Clean People because it doesn’t have any of the bad stuff like parabens, phosphates, dyes, chlorine bleach, or ammonia. I put all of the white laundry into a five gallon bucket. The day before washing, I fill the bucket with about a half cup of oxygen cleaner and hot water. This soaks until I’m ready to wash. I will dump the bucket, water and all, into the machine. Then I toss in the soap and a bit more oxygen cleaner. This helps a ton with stains and keeps the whites looking bright.

Hang your white clothes out in the sun to dry. The sun will help to remove any stains you missed. It’s nature’s stain removal. Plus, nothing looks more like home than clean laundry on the line, at least in my opinion. Take advantage of this free stain remover and dryer when the weather is warm and dry.