The Bleach Alternative That Will Make Your White Clothes Look Clean & Smell Fresh

Keeping your white linens and cotton fabrics looking bright and pristine is a household challenge we all deal with. While the first thing many people turn to is bleach, it's actually pretty harsh on clothing. But there's another option out there that's been popular for various uses around the house: borax. It's a natural mineral booster that brightens fabrics and tackles stubborn odors in one fell swoop, which we love. Borax is a great alternative for reviving dingy towels and yellowed sheets, and it's less aggressive than bleach.

This move away from chlorine bleach is driven by its intensity — it has a super high pH level (between 11 and 13). This extreme alkalinity is caustic, and a reason bleach is known to wear down and weaken fabric fibers over time. It can also irritate your eyes and skin thanks to the strong chemicals in it. And its pungent smell can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially for those with sensitivities. Borax offers a more balanced vibe, with a moderate pH of about 9.5.

This middling alkalinity is great for laundry, as it's high enough to break down acidic stains like sweat and organic oils, but still gentle enough to preserve your fabrics. If you add it to a wash cycle, borax softens the water, making it easier for your detergent to penetrate and clean the fabric. By neutralizing water minerals and the acidity of stains, borax helps your whites come out bright and smelling pleasant. It's just one of many creative laundry room hacks you should know about.

Using borax is pretty straightforward. For a standard load of laundry, just add a half cup of borax powder directly into your washing machine's drum or the dispenser along with your favorite detergent. Since borax helps regulate the pH of the washer's water, it boosts the effectiveness of your detergent and helps it lift any dingy, grey films that older white shirts and towels can get. And for particularly tough stains (like grime and grease), we recommend making a paste with borax and a little water, then rubbing it on any affected spots as a pretreatment.

Beyond its whitening capabilities, the handy bleach alternative is also a champion at getting rid of deep-seated odors. It's also a good pick if you want to disinfect an item of clothing; borax kicks issues like fungi and bacteria right to the curb, as it can strip away the nasty smells they cause at the molecular level. Heck, it's so useful, you can even use borax to clean your bathroom and for other uses around your home. By making this one small change to your laundry routine, you can be sure your whites stay vibrant and clean, so you keep looking stylish and smelling fresh for years to come.