How to whiten baby clothes at home
Even practical parents have white clothes in their children’s wardrobes for special occasions. And some mothers buy their babies clothes only in this color. In any case, stains appear on snow-white items, and with frequent washing they become grayish. How to bleach children’s clothes efficiently and safely?
Whitening with special means
You can restore the whiteness of children’s clothes using specialized and “folk” remedies.
It is most convenient to use store-bought bleaches. If we are talking about items from the wardrobe of a baby from 0 to 2 years old, you should buy only bleach for children’s things, for example: “Nyanya”, “Ushaty Nyan”, “Baby Speci”, “Cotiko”. For older children’s clothes, any bleaching agents that do not contain chlorine are suitable, such as: “Bos Plus”, “Vanish”, “Persol”.
It is not recommended to use chlorine bleaches to lighten children’s clothing. They can cause an allergic reaction.
To remove yellowing and greying, oxygen bleach is added to the soaking container along with powder or shavings of laundry soap. After that, the item is washed in the usual way.
Regular laundry soap and Antipyatin are suitable for lightening children’s wardrobe items made of any fabric. Grate a quarter of the bar. Dissolve the resulting shavings in a small container with boiling water and add to a basin of warm water. Soak the grayed items in the detergent solution for 2-4 hours.
Very dirty soles of socks and tights are first generously soaped from the inside and left for 1-6 hours. Only after this are the items soaked completely.
Folk methods of lightening
You can also whiten white baby clothes at home using “folk” remedies. These include pharmaceutical preparations and products that can be found in any kitchen. They are used separately or mixed to enhance the lightening effect. Which preparations from your home medicine cabinet will remove yellowness and gray plaque?
- The drug is broken into powder and dissolved in hot water. For 1 liter of liquid, you will need from 1 to 4 tablets, depending on the condition of the item. When the solution cools to 35°, add the powder, dip the clothes in and leave for 2-6 hours.
- Potassium permanganate. Prepare a richly colored solution in a glass of water, then strain it through cheesecloth to remove sediment, if any. Pour the clarifier into a filled basin (the water should turn pale pink), and soak the items in the resulting solution for half an hour.
- Boric acid. Pour 3 tbsp of the preparation into a basin with 6 liters of water at room temperature. Bleach baby clothes in the resulting mixture for 2-4 hours.
- 3% hydrogen peroxide. Mix 6 tbsp of the substance with 3 liters of water. Keep grayed (yellowed) wardrobe items in the bleach for half an hour. During soaking, turn the items over several times and make sure that they are completely immersed in water. Otherwise, unbleached areas of the fabric may remain.
No less effective and the most gentle are natural bleaches from the kitchen. They are used separately and in a mixture with detergents and medicinal substances.
- Add 6 tbsp of the substance to 6 l of water and prepare a solution. Soak pre-washed items in it for 3-4 hours. To enhance the bleaching effect, add 2 tbsp of peroxide to the basin.
- Add 12 tablespoons of soda to 6 liters of liquid and leave the laundry in the solution for 6-8 hours.
- Citric acid. Dissolve the crystals in hot water and pour the mixture into the washing container (1 teaspoon of the substance for each liter of liquid). Keep pre-washed clothes in the bleach for about 1 hour.
- Low-fat milk. Usually used for children’s clothing made of delicate fabrics (guipure, cambric, silk). The milk is heated to room temperature and the item is bleached in it for half an hour to 3 hours.
The treated item is rinsed twice: first in warm and then in cold water. To prevent possible bleach particles from getting on the baby’s skin, it is recommended to wash the items again.
For difficult stains
For advanced cases, the following mixtures are used:
- Laundry soap, salt, soda, taken in a ratio of 1:1:1.
- 1 tbsp. of peroxide and soda. The substances are dissolved in water and the mixture is heated to 70°. Clothes made of durable natural fabric are kept in hot bleach for 10-15 minutes.
- Salt, soda and washing powder (2 tablespoons of each ingredient) are mixed in a metal container. The solution is brought to a boil and grayed or yellowed linen, viscose, cotton items are boiled in it for 15 minutes to half an hour. There are other compositions for boiling.
Removing stains
White children’s clothing is often spoiled by stains of various origins. To restore its original whiteness, local bleaching is carried out. What products are suitable for this?
Universal bleaches for children’s clothes do an excellent job of removing traces of any food, stains from juice and other drinks, as well as blood, urine, and feces. Follow the instructions. Most often, the bleach is diluted with water 1 to 1 and rubbed into the stain with a cotton pad. Wash off after a quarter of an hour.
Folk remedies are also used to remove stains, for example:
- warmed lemon juice;
- peroxide mixed with liquid soap in a 1:1 ratio;
- heated glycerin;
- aqueous solution of citric acid (1 teaspoon per 1 liter of hot water);
- liquid soap with ethyl alcohol.
Thus, even a heavily soiled white item can be saved. However, the bleach should be chosen especially carefully, since the clothes treated with it will subsequently come into contact with the child’s skin.