Trying not to use bleach, I’m experimenting with different methods and combinations. Not having much luck. Any help would be muchly appreciated!
Pouring a cup of peroxide in with my whites seems to make very little difference. Which is odd because it can bleach the hell out of hair or even the skin on my arm if it splashes. Adding 1/2 cup to a cup of borax doesn’t seem to “boost” my laundry like it says it will.
So far, only soaking my whites in a bucket with oxi-clean for days seems to make a real difference. Even if I soak it and then add the borax and the peroxide in with the wash, I can’t tell a huge difference. I took pictures but won’t bother posting them, because you can’t tell anything.
I saw in a movie once about a woman from India that always added just a pinch of indigo to her wash to brighten the whites. I thought I might try that next.
Any suggestions? Anything you’ve tried that works to save me from fruitless experimentation? Maybe white vinegar? Until then, I’ll keep trying….
More green cleaning articles that I need to read:
- Making Your Own Laundry Detergent (homecleaningadvice.wordpress.com)
- Homemade Detergent (wannabefrugalmummy.wordpress.com)
- Vinegar and baking soda: great mix for volcanos, bad mix for homemade cleaning products! (thegypsyhomestead.com)
- Natural Mold Removal Products (blackmoldbuster.wordpress.com)
- Cleaning Green (lilfootprints.wordpress.com)
Attempting zero waste lifestyle in a military household 
I haven’t found that anything makes clothes “white” the way bleach does. Although I haven’t experimented that much, mostly just oxygen cleaners and borax. Maybe bluing? I still see that in the store, although I haven’t tried it.
I still use a bit of bleach sometimes, only a tiny bit though compared to the way we used it when I was growing up 🙂 Sometimes I just want some things to look white, although I know it breaks down the fabric more quickly so I try not to use it very often.
Alas, I, like you, have failed. OXy clean is the only thing that worked. I did try vinegar. I also believe hydrogen peroxide, or lemon + sunshine might work. I don’t really have easy access sunshine in my bunker style apartment, so have no tried it, but if it’s summer there, it’s well worth trying?
But keep us/me informed, I’d love to know what works!
Ive tried the bluing stuff before, with some success. But peroxide hasn’t worked for me either. I use vinegar, but that’s more of a fabric softener than a whitener.
I will have to look into this blueing thing. I have never heard of it before.
I’m curious now so I’ll be searching online. To be continued….
And no, Sarahn, I cannot tell that the sunshine makes any difference at all. I hang my cloth diapers on drying racks in the sun. No difference. But I will give lemon a try!
Thanks ladies!!
I use bleach, occasionally and sparingly. In an emergency, you can treat water with it!! Whites in the sun always works well for me (stubborn stains may take a few “treatments”). Have heard of blueing, but not tried it…
I don’t use bleach at all and I have a husband who likes his white clothes white. So much so his work mates always thinks he has new shirts.
I fill the washing machine with HOT water, whilst it is filling I add two cups full of laundry detergent (Ariel w/ Downey), One OxiClean scoop of OxiClean, Borax and a product called Napisan (it is from Ireland) I also add a product called Astonish Oxi Wash (this product is from England). I let the machine fill up, let the clothes wash for about two – five minutes to ensure that everything is mixed in nice and good, then I turn the machine off.
Let clothes soak for 2 hours or so, turn the dial back on the machine and let the full was time commence and continue as normal with the wash.
Alternatively there is a product available from the caribbean which comes in bar for it is called Blue soap, that gets the whites quite white.
Hope that helped
Excellent ideas and very helpful.
@ Sober in this game—the trick seems to be in the soaking, not in the washing. Aha! Thank you so much for your help!!
Mrs. Stewarts Bluing! The site will explain how it works, It DOES work!
My mother always used bluing in her white wash, though I never knew what it actually did. But she was also a dyed-in-the-wool Clorox bleach user, so not sure how effective bluing is without the bleach. Good luck.
Thanks game mom. I’ll have to look into this.