A white shirt is a must-have addition to a men's business suit, indispensable in a business and formal setting. Keeping the color white without additional shades of gray or yellow is a task that can be accomplished. Proven methods and means help restore things to their snow-white appearance.
How to effectively and carefully bleach a white shirt at home
To whiten clothes at home, you can use both traditional folk remedies and special bleaches.
How to whiten a snow-white shirt with folk recipes
The most common means at hand, which do the job perfectly, are ordinary laundry soap and bleach.
Laundry soap. The soaked shirt is thoroughly soaped with laundry soap. Leave in this state for at least 30 minutes. After that, it is washed in any way: manually or in a washing machine.
Advice! For whitening, it is best to use soap with the highest alkali content - 72%.
White. 
It will be possible to restore the snow-whiteness of clothes with the help of “Whiteness” - a substance designed specifically for this. The washed shirt should be soaked in warm water, which is diluted with white.
Advice! You should not pour too much white into the water; 2–3 tbsp is enough for 5 liters of water. (caps from packaging). This solution will perform bleaching carefully, without destroying the fiber structure of the product.
Leave the shirt in white water for 20–30 minutes. After this, be sure to rinse it thoroughly, changing cool water several times so that no bleach remains on the fabric.
Important! “Whiteness” is a chlorine-containing bleach, which, in high concentrations, has an aggressive effect on fabric.
Store-bought products to help (synthetic bleaches)
In addition to the usual products, you can use modern synthetic bleaches. Retail chains offer a variety of preparations that can return a shirt to its former whiteness: Vanish, Persol, Domestos, etc. Each of them has specific recommendations for use. Strict adherence to these tips will ensure the desired result and will not harm the clothes.
How to bleach a white school shirt without going to the dry cleaner
To permanently bleach school shirts, you need a special substance. Requirements for synthetic products for whitening children's clothes:
- preservation of tissue structure during repeated use of the drug;
- safety for the health of the child.
Oxygen bleaches (“Swan”, “Vanish”, etc.) fully meet these requirements.Their components easily cope with stains and dirt, do not cause allergic reactions, do not irritate the skin, and are completely safe for children.
Methods for bleaching shirts depending on the nature of the contamination
The choice of bleaching agent depends on the appearance of the fabric during wear.
How to bleach a yellowed or grayed white shirt
To bleach a yellowed or grayed shirt, you can use the available products that you can find in your first aid kit.
A mixture of salt and peroxide. Add salt (1 tsp) and hydrogen peroxide (1 tsp) to warm water (2 l), mix everything thoroughly. The clothes are immersed in the liquid and kept in it for 20 minutes. To ensure an even effect on the fabric, you need to turn things over several times. At the end of bleaching, the shirt should be rinsed thoroughly.
Potassium permanganate. Potassium permanganate is diluted in a small container. Then a small amount of the solution is poured into a bowl of hot water. The liquid needed for bleaching should be slightly pinkish. Add a little detergent (powder or liquid) to the basin and place the product there to soak. Cover the basin, wait until the water cools (to room temperature), and rinse.
Ammonia. Soaking in water with ammonia will require 2-3 hours. Ammonia (2–3 tbsp) is poured into warm water (5 l). After soaking the shirt in the solution, it must be rinsed thoroughly.
How to bleach the collar of a white shirt
The collar is the most problematic part of a shirt. In addition to the methods described, it will be possible to maintain its purity by treating it with the following means.
Vinegar. Acetic acid is applied to the fold of the collar with a cotton swab.The fabric must be thoroughly soaked in vinegar and left for some time (15 to 20 minutes) for the acid to act. Finish the procedure by washing the shirt.
Reference! To bleach the collar, use vinegar at a 9% concentration, which ensures a gentle effect on the fiber structure.
Lemon acid. Another simple way to restore cleanliness and freshness to your collar is to treat it with citric acid. Citric acid is poured onto the wet collar and left in this form for 15 to 30 minutes. After this, the shirt needs to be washed.
Advice! Citric acid can be replaced with a slice of lemon. To affect a dirty collar, you need to rub it with lemon.
How to choose a whitening method depending on the material of your white shirt
Men's white shirts are made from a variety of fabrics. When choosing a bleaching agent, it is necessary to consider how it affects the composition of the material.
Cotton fabric. Cotton bleaches well when the shirt is boiled in a soap solution. From available means, use laundry soap, a mixture of ammonia and peroxide (1 tbsp each) per 5 liters of water.
Linen fabrics. A linen shirt will turn white after soaking for 2-3 hours in water with vinegar, ammonia or a soda solution. It is prepared from 500 g of soda per 5 liters of water, left for 24 hours, and used for filtering.
Silk fabrics. A delicate silk shirt will require special care. For such fabrics, make up a mixture of washing powder (1 tbsp), hydrogen peroxide (1 tbsp), ammonia (1 tbsp), table salt (4 tbsp). Mix everything in warm water (6 l). Silk fabric is soaked in the prepared solution for 1-2 hours, after which it is washed.
You can also use lemon juice.It is squeezed (from 2-3 lemons) into 1 liter of water and the items are kept in the solution for 1-2 hours.
Synthetic fabrics. Shirts made of synthetic fibers can be cleaned well with laundry soap and soaking in a warm salt solution (5 liters - 300 g). Individual spots or problem areas can also be treated with 2 aspirin tablets diluted to a mushy state, which is kept on the spot for 2 to 3 hours.
Rating of store-bought bleaches and popular stain removers for snow-white clothes
Information to help you choose the most suitable whitening product.
Store-bought bleaches
- Preparations based on chlorine. "Pros": high-quality result; “cons”: damage to tissue structure.
- Preparations with optical effect. “Pros”: additional snow-white effect due to luminescent dyes; “cons” - additional rinsing is required, allergic reactions are possible.
- Preparations containing oxygen. Pros: a combination of a high level of whitening with a safe effect on the skin. Cons: higher cost.
Folk stain removers
- Soda. White fabrics are soaked in a soda solution for bleaching; in difficult situations, clothes are boiled in a soda solution.
- Hydrogen peroxide. Soaking white clothes in water with hydrogen peroxide has a powerful effect.
- Lemon acid. An environmentally friendly and effective way to treat shirts is to add citric acid to water.
Advice! Adding ammonia to the soda solution will help improve the quality of whitening.
A snow-white shirt will not disappear from your wardrobe if you use affordable and effective products to care for it.
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