how can I get whites white without using chemicals?

Question

I want to whiten whites & keep them white without using anything with chemicals in can anyone help

Answer 1

I add baking soda to make my laundry whiter.

Answer 2

I add baking soda to my wash water for everything(lights colors etc). It helps the laundry soap work better and it freshens/deodorizes... It's also super cheap... That may help.. Also there's a laundry additive call Liquid Bluing it's in a small blue bottle with an old lady on the front. I got a bottle yrs. ago and it only takes a tiny bit in the wash water. .It makes your whites white.. You just have to follow the directions or your whites might turn a bit blue... Drying whites in the sun if you can. .Will help whiten as well... Good luck

Answer 3

Sandee: Vanish Oxy Action contains the same ingredients as your ordinary non-bio washing powder but is more expensive.
Save yourself some money and buy a packet of Daz or Ariel automatic, don't bother with Oxy Action.
As for the chemical bit I believe the questioner asked for non chemical methods and the only one that sometimes works is to boil your whites.
It's more environmentally favourable to use Daz or Ariel than to boil your clothes and it's cheaper too!
Note: Washing soda is very nasty to the skin, and bicarbonate isn't very soluble in water, not recommended.

Answer 4

The good old fashioned way. Buy using good old fashioned soap bar soap. Soak your whites in cold water, rub in the soap. Leave the clothes with the soap on and free from water , Say 1/2 hr should be enough. back to cold water , give a rinse, Now you can hang them outside like this, or pop them into your washing machine on a 30ºc or 40ºc normal wash adding your own washing powder. The best way after washing this way , is to hang them outside in the sun , the sun will bleach out any remaining stains ,and also bleach your whites whiter than white, the natural way. If you have time and would really like your whites to be really white , Sprinkle cold water over them every now and then. This is the old fashioned way of getting your whites looking good

Answer 5

There are lots of non chemical commercial brands available. Supermarkets, health shops etc. Or you can try boiling in white malt vinegar, must be malt vinegar like Sarsons. Fruit based can stain.

However, for really whiter then white, no substitute for good old chemical bleach. Sorry

Answer 6

My Mother had a gas boiler in her kitchen and after washing, the whites had ten minutes in boiling water. Mum was born 1901. RIP. She then put everything in a bowl with some Reckitts blue before, putting things in a bowl of starch liquid.
Back in the good old days of Terry towel and muslin napkins, I always boiled them in a large pan on my cooker top, again for ten minutes.
In hot, sunny climates, white fabrics are spread out in the sun to dry and this also bleaches them.
Have you looked at the Ecover range of household cleaning things - I always use their dishwashing liquid.

Answer 7

Brightening White Clothing
You should be able to restore dingy clothes to white (and not damage the fibres of the fabric) by soaking them them in lukewarm water and color safe or oxygen bleach for 24 hours, then rinse them with vinegar and water. Use one tablespoon of vinegar to one quart of water. Your clothes may be turning gray because you have hard water, and this diminishes the effectiveness of detergents, and often leaves a residue on clothing. If you think this is the case, you may want to add a powdered water softener to your wash, particularly when washing white clothes. :)

Answer 8

Use Vanish OxiAction Crystal White. It only contains one chemical Sodium Carbonate Peroxyhydrate, and it's very good. There's really nothing you can do that doesn't involve chemicals. I know sunlight bleaches textiles BUT we haven't had much of that!

Answer 9

I used to whiten my daughter's nappies by putting them outside on hedges. Some reaction between water, chlorophyll and the sun made them whiter than white!!

Answer 10

Use that Oxyclean stuff. The commercial says it works without chemicals.

Answer 11

Most laundry items have some chemicals....Daz always works on my white...