# whitening without bleach??



## gaiasactuality

My partner gets his clothes "heavily" soiled. (he works in a stone quarry and gets covered in dirt all day) and the only color t-shirts he wears is white. Soo anyways they get super dingy really quick and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for keeping them white while washing them without using bleach? I hate hate hate bleach~~ have never even used it. I was thinking maybe hydrogen peroxide? I have no clue... I'm definitely not a laundry expert. I've only just recently started seperating colors from whites lol... So anyways any suggestions would be appreciated


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## Maura

If you soak them before washing, that would help. Adding a little 20 mule team borax also, read the label. If you hang them outside the sun will help to bleach them.


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## Woodpecker

try adding white vinger to the rinse might make them stay whiter longer


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## oberhaslikid

Try using Cascade Dishwasher liquid.I like the liquid but the powder works too. Soak the shirts in this and I also use it in the wash to whiten and brighten whites.I found this is what they use to clean football uniforms to keep them white.


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## Karen

Bluing also brightens whites and is not harmful to septic tanks, the environment, etc.


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## mistletoad

Hot water is one of the best ways to keep whites white - go as hot as the fabric can take. Never wash whites with colours - seems obvious but lots of people don't sort their laundry any more. Extra rinsing helps or use less detergent - any detergent left in the fabric gets "sticky" and attracts dirt to it. Use a detergent with optical brightners (I actually avoid them, but bright whites aren't my goal). Soak in oxyclean and very hot water or add a tsp of oxyclean to your wash - it breaks down into hydrogen peroxide and is what we always used to keep diapers white.


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## unregistered5595

Dingy white work shirts turn white (bright) when you use cascade, it has bleach in it, use more bleach and then hot water, stir and soak before laundering. No it's not great using bleach, but we don't have soft water here so that is what we have to do. 
I've poured full strength peroxide on the same type of fabric without any result in comparison. A lot depends on your water and drying in the sun does help. ~Feather


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## hoggie

Don'tknow as i have never had the problem but what about lemon juice? I used to use lemon juice on my hands for cleaning them up if I was going out after work (I work out of doors and get pretty mucky  ).

And I seem to remember it whitens?

just a thought 

hoggie


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## gaiasactuality

Thanks for the suggestions... maybe we'll have to try out the oxyclean... our baby is due in a week or so and we'll be using cloth diapers so if it works good on them too I might as well try it out. We already do line dry and that does help quite a bit but they're still just nasty looking.... oh well I guess that's why they're "work" shirts... I just wish he could make them last longer... I've heard about bluing before but not sure what it is? Can you get that at a plain ol' grocery store? I'm all about keeping things environmentally safe also


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## BelleL

I use homemade soap when washing laundry. When I wash whites I use Tide with bleach powder soap. It is a color safe bleach that is in the detergent. Fill the washer, let it agitate a few minutes, stop the washer and let the clothes soak for at least an hour. You will be amazed at how white your clothes get.
Belle


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## DustyOpal

My husband is an appliance repair man. Once, he and one of his customers started talking. He told my husband that he used oxyclean once on a load of whites. When they were finished drying he put them on a basket on top of his washing machine so that he could finish up something in the other room. He smelled something funny and came into the washroom to find that the clothes were on fire. It ruined his washing machine. He called Oxyclean, and they said that he must have had bleach residue in the clothes that he washed with the oxyclean. They wouldn't even so much as give him his money back or anything. So be careful washing with Oxyclean, if you have previously used bleach on the clothes. (I have never used it, so there may even be a warning on the package, seems to me there should be if there isn't one)


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## heather

Biz


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## seedspreader

You mean my tshirts AREN'T supposed to be this dingy, rusty color???


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## junie

If you want to make your own mild version of Oxy, add 1 cup each of baking soda and peroxide to a load of clothes. If you mix them first, you can rub the mixture directly into stains, too.


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## Wisconsin Ann

Bluing is what Grandma used. no bleach. just bluing. Grandpa's shirts and socks and undies were always snowy white. of course, she also scrubbed everything with her lye soap and washed the whites in almost boiling water..but there ya go.

anyway...bluing can be found usually where the laundry soap and/or bleach are. Generally it's a small bottle...kinda like dye. and, be careful...cuz if you use too much you'll end up with blue tshirts.


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## Loriann1971

I only use bleach on my white towels and wash clothes. I use bluing on our whites. I just run hot water in the washer put in my soap and add a drop or two of bluing and let it dilute before I put the clothes in. My mother always mixed a drop in a full water jug and then poured that in the water before she added the clothes.

I just buy it at the laundrey section in the grocery store. It comes in a small bottle the size of baby lotion.


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