Baking soda is extremely popular as a home remedy - and among other things, it should be able to remove gray haze from white laundry.
What's up
Baking soda has a flattering reputation as an
all-purpose household weapon
.
Actually, it is primarily used as a leavening agent during baking, which creates more volume in the dough.
Nevertheless, the home remedy is also said to have other abilities: Among other things, it should help against greasy dirt, remove mold from the bathroom joints and remove gray haze from white laundry *.
We are concerned with the latter point: How well does baking soda really help with yellowed laundry?
Lightening whites with baking soda - does it work?
Baking powder is often advised for gleaming white laundry: A packet of it should be put in the washing machine (promotional link) and gray veils on the laundry would be history.
The background for this tip is the baking soda contained in baking powder.
Baking soda is also often traded as a popular home remedy because it has a cleansing effect.
However, there are also other ingredients in baking powder - including
flour or starch as a separating agent
, as the German Body Care and Detergent Association (IKW) explains on its website.
These components of the baking powder would not help
with cleaning, but only represent another source of dirt.
The Stiftung Warentest has also checked the myth of perfectly clean laundry thanks to baking powder.
The result: "Two bags of baking powder filled with test detergent and textiles in the machine did not provide a measurable
white-and-clean effect
." Even soaking in hot water for one hour with a packet of baking powder on one liter in the tub would not make the clothes cleaner.
Also interesting
: vinegar as a cleaner?
So that's not a good idea with the washing machine.
In order to get white laundry clean again, Stiftung Warentest recommends
using special decolorizers
.
These should be used according to the instructions and the clothes should then be put
into the machine
with
heavy-duty detergent
.
In order to avoid gray haze or discoloration in the first place, white should only be washed with white.
(fk)
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network.
Also read
: Put an end to it: This means that black laundry no longer fades when washed.
This article contains affiliate links.