Can I use a mixture of white vinegar and detergent?
2006-12-17 23:55:37 · 18 answers · asked by kylie_rm13 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Decorating & Remodeling
don't use bleach it will rot the nets - try soda crystals or a small amount of fairy washing up liquid
2006-12-20 09:45:39 · answer #1 · answered by suki doo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What is the fabric? The type of fabric determines how you whiten.
If the curtins are silk I would not use vinegar. Vinegar is an acid.
Nor would I use detergent with vinegar. A lot of soaps are alkaline. (soaps were acid back in the days when they were made by pouring fat through wood ash) You might actually be reducing your cleaning power.
If the curtains are cotton use bleach of course.
If the curtiains are a blend or an atrificial type fabric (nylon, acetate, polyester, acrylic etc) if you use bleach you can actually turn them yellow.
I tell you if your curtains are yellow with household grease and smoke and such try Dawn Dishwashing L:iquid. But do tthem by hand. You can't put dish soap in the washing machine, dish saop is made to bubble and foam, stuff is added to laundry soap to help prevent bubbles and foam.
In case you have not seen the commercials Dawn Dishsoap is used by the Dept. Of Wildlike to get oil from oil spills off animals. I live near a Proctor and Gamble plant. Also near interstate 75. Here a few years ago we had an oil tanker wreck and spill oil all over the interstate. They used Dawn to clean it up.
I have used Dawn for all kinds of clean up including the after math of a fire. Safe for your hands too. Infact My hubby is very allergic to poison ivy so we keep a bottle of Dawn in the shower in the summer. If he gets near poison ivy he runs in and showers using Dawn. The reason poison ivy causes the rash is the resin in the plant. It is highly irratating and next to impossible to get off. But Dawn will cut the poison ivy resin.
Soak your curtains in Dawn for bit. Agitate them a few, a clean toilet plunger makes a good agitator, or a pan lide. Don't scrub unless you have to. Rinse them out really well then wash in washer with regular detergent. Bet they look brand new!
2006-12-18 00:14:37 · answer #2 · answered by raredawn 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
kyile, if the detergent is alkaline (as most of them are) adding vinegar would cancel each other´s effect out.
what i would do is this - if the curtains are yellowish or grayish even after you have washed them, you need bleach. bleaching in chlorine-based bleach make it get gradually more and more yellowish!! so you bettre use peroxide-based bleach , or cheaper :buy just peroxide (from drugstore or medicine cabinet) itself and you can mix the detergent in the peroxide (3% final concentration will not harm the fabric, dont put more).
if the curtains are made of syntheitc fabric they will look fresher if you put rinse with blue ink from a fountain pen! (the rinsing solution should be pretty blue, not just a little blue. dont put it in washer, no way) but if they are natural fibre, they will come out blue!
2006-12-18 00:31:56 · answer #3 · answered by iva 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of the best & cheapest methods I have found is to use the tablets meant to clean false teeth! Disolve inhot water & steep curtains till clean & white. Good Luck.
2006-12-19 06:22:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anne T 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bleach! They will be dazzeling in no time. Find a thin bleach and it will have diluting instructions on the bottle.
I wouldn't put washing detergent and vinegar together, you might have a small explosive result!!
2006-12-18 00:04:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
be careful if you going to use bleach as it can put holes in them if you use to much and you might find that they come out patchy, white vinegar and detergent sounds good enough just soak them for an hour or so hang them out to dry and hang on your window when slightly damp
2006-12-18 00:15:36 · answer #6 · answered by tricia l 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Bleach. Dilute as per instructions on bottle. Leave to soak for twenty minutes and then put through an ordinary wash and rinse.
2006-12-17 23:59:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
You can use that or some BIZ in a bucket of water and let them soak then Wring out and dry on a line outside. or hang dry.
If you bleach them too often or for too long, they will come apart.
2006-12-17 23:59:21 · answer #8 · answered by TaylorProud 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Try using bleach or Soda Crystals.
2006-12-18 00:08:54 · answer #9 · answered by Pork_Purse 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you can buy specially made net curtain whitener which is cheap about £1.99, and you just soak your net curtains in it.
2006-12-18 00:06:34 · answer #10 · answered by Lisa R 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋