How to Whiten Clothes With No Bleach or Optical Brighteners.

Skyrocketing prices, global chaos, and continuous health warnings, are causing some people to start thinking green. Potentially hazardous products that we use and consume everyday are slowly being replaced with natural substitutes. For many chemicals, there is a more natural alternative, even for chlorine bleach and optical brighteners.

We’ve all seen laundry detergents that contain optical brighteners. These are chemicals that make fabrics seem brighter or whiter than they are. They remain behind on clean laundry as a coating of microscopic fluorescent particles. When invisible ultraviolet light hits these particles, they convert it into visible light to create an optical illusion that tricks the eye into thinking our clothes are super clean. Many optical brighteners are derived from benzene, a very toxic compound. In addition, these chemicals generally don’t break down in the environment and remain in the waters they’re washed into, where they poison fish and other aquatic life. Optical brighteners can also cause allergic reactions in people via a process called phototoxicity. When they rub off on our skin from laundered clothes and come into contact with sunlight, they can create a rash or irritation that’s mistaken for sunburn.

Chlorine bleach has also been known to cause serious health concerns, and improper mixing can result in the formation of toxic gases and dioxins. It has been determined that the effects of these dioxins can result in respiratory complications, certain cancers, and kidney damage.

But giving up optical brighteners and chlorine bleach, doesn’t mean you have to give up bright whites. Let lemon juice be your greener alternative!

We have tried 2 different methods of using lemon juice to whiten clothes:

Method #1 Instructions:

1.Place your white clothes in a large basin.
2. Fill the basin with very hot water.
3. Add a generous amount of lemon juice, and allow your white clothes to soak overnight.
4. The next day, remove your clothes from the basin and place in your washing machine with your SmartKlean Laundry Ball or whatever product you’re using to wash your clothes (we hope it’s green!)
5. Wash as usual, and your whites should be brighter than ever!

Tips & Warnings

-Try it twice if the first time does not work to your satisfaction.
-Don’t let the mixture sit too long in the lemon juice!

Method #2:

For an easier, milder version of this technique, you can wash your clothes in your washer as normal, and during the rinse cycle, pour in about a cup of lemon juice. Then hang in the sun to dry.

Additional cleaning uses with lemon:

Lemon juice is a viable alternative for cleaning jobs requiring acid, such as hard-water stains, tarnish, dissolving waxy buildup, and cleaning wood. It can also be used a rust remover. We’ve had some success treating rust stains on clothes and other fabric with lemon juice and salt. Squeeze lemon juice directly onto the stain, then sprinkle on a generous amount of salt. Rub the fabric together until the stain starts to break up. Wash away the loosened rust with soap and water. Repeat the process until the stain is entirely removed.

We hope this article has come in handy Happy and safe cleanings!

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