Yellowed laundry: Grandma already knew how to turn it white again
Created: 08/12/2022, 05:00
By: Andrea Stettner
Unfortunately, white laundry doesn't always stay as bright as advertised.
If the laundry yellows, tried-and-tested household remedies can help.
Whether T-shirts, bed linen, undershirts or shirt collars: over time, yellowish edges, stains or a yellow haze often form on white laundry.
In order to get yellowed laundry white again, neither laundry white cloths nor bleaching agents are necessary.
Even our grandmothers knew how to help themselves with home remedies in this case - with milk, for example.
White laundry yellows quickly, for example on the collar or under the armpits.
Even the best detergent won't help.
© NomadSoul/Imago
Why does white laundry yellow?
There can be a number of reasons why your white laundry is yellowing:
Sweat and deodorant stains (underarms)
Collar fat: Skin sebum is deposited and turns yellow
Long storage in the cupboard: Organic substances, such as food, age and turn yellowish
nicotine
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1. Make yellowed laundry white again: vinegar
Vinegar is a wonderful natural bleaching agent for yellowed laundry: Fill the bathroom sink or a wash bowl with warm water (observe the recommended washing temperature!) and add half a cup of vinegar.
Soak the yellowed laundry here for about half an hour.
Then rinse, put in the washing machine and wash as usual.
The yellow cast should now be gone.
2. Milk against yellowing in curtains
Milk is also an insider tip for yellowed laundry, which our grandmothers already knew.
To remove yellow discoloration, soak clothing or other fabrics in a mixture of at least 1 cup of water and 2 cups of milk.
Some also recommend adding ice cubes.
This milk bath is said to have a bleaching effect, especially on yellowed curtains.
If you want to clean your curtains in general, you should use home remedies such as baking soda or salt.
Then put it in the washing machine and wash according to the washing instructions.
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3. Add baking soda or baking powder to the laundry
It's even easier to turn yellowed laundry white again with baking soda: Simply add half a cup of baking soda to your laundry in addition to the normal detergent the next time you wash.
Or you pour a packet of baking soda into the drum before you start.
In the case of heavy soiling, however,
cleanipedia.com
recommends soaking the laundry beforehand: To do this, pour half a cup of baking soda and a quarter cup of lemon juice into a wash tub of warm water and leave to soak for an hour.
Then put it in the washing machine as usual.
By the way: Before you pretreat your white laundry for a long time, you should try an old housewife trick: simply hang the yellowed laundry in the sun to dry.
The UV light destroys the color molecules and dirt particles, naturally bleaching the stains.
Did a red sock end up in your whites?
Then the laundry will not necessarily discolour.
