This Kitchen Staple Brightens White Clothes Without Harsh Bleach

There's something about pulling your favorite white top out of the dryer, just in time to get dressed for work, and it's, well, not so white. It's more of a cream or off-white, to be generous. Your shoulders sink. You know the feeling. While you might have to wear something different today, you can make sure this won't happen again. You're about to learn how to keep your whites vibrant and bright for longer with a little-known laundry tip: the vinegar solution.

Yes, that bottle of vinegar you keep in the back of your kitchen cabinet might be put to better use in your laundry room. Vinegar can be a versatile cleaning tool for many things, but it's the absolute hero in our dingy whites story. And there's a reason it's becoming a popular item to have in your laundering arsenal. Have you ever wondered how your white clothes end up looking less-than-crisp in the first place? It's because over time, the various laundry products we use can actually leave behind alkaline residue that builds up on clothes, making them look dull and lackluster. But the acetic acid found in vinegar can lift the buildup right off to reveal the bright fabric hiding beneath. Even bleach, the classic go-to for whitening everything, can actually cause your whites to appear more yellowed over time. Vinegar gently restores them to their original bright glory. As an added bonus, vinegar can remove any musty odors and soften the stiffness that we sometimes find as we pull clothing out of the dryer.

Before you get too excited and start pouring vinegar into every load of wash, be sure to read your clothing labels. It's important to know the very best way to wash your white clothes and what to avoid. While vinegar is generally safe, you'll want to be careful with delicates like silk or rayon. If you're unsure, you can test it on a small, hidden portion of the fabric to make sure it won't cause damage. You should also double check that you're using distilled white vinegar, as others like apple cider vinegar have natural coloring from plant ingredients, called tannins. These can backfire by actually staining your white clothes.

There are two main methods for using vinegar on your white laundry. The first is to do a pre-soak. Before washing your load of whites, immerse them in a combination of hot water and white vinegar. Use a one part vinegar for every four parts water, and let them soak for at least one hour. You can also let the laundry sit in the vinegar mixture overnight. When done soaking, wash as you usually would.

The second method is to skip the pre-soak and go straight to the wash cycle. You can use ½ to 1 cup of vinegar for a single load of laundry. If you have a front-loading washing machine, pour the vinegar into the fabric softener dispenser, then start the wash cycle. For top loading washers, wait until it gets to the rinse cycle, then pour the vinegar directly into the main section of the washing machine. Allow it to complete the rest of the cycle. Remember never to mix vinegar with bleach because it can create harmful chlorine gas.