Oxygen bleach can be slightly irritating for your skin, so use rubber gloves to protect your hands. If you’re laundering fabrics that are prone to shrinkage (like linen), soak your clothes in cold water and oxygen bleach instead of hot water.
Many people swear by Cascade dishwashing powder for this method, but you can use any brand of dishwashing powder that you’d like. Save this method for hearty, durable items, like towels. Dishwashing powder is too harsh for delicate items.
Be very careful not to splash bleach onto your skin or your eyes. Never mix bleach with any other chemicals, including vinegar. [4] X Research source
Hydrogen peroxide is great for dark stains, like blood or ink.
This option works especially well on removing armpit stains. The stains in this area are usually caused by a reaction between sweat and antiperspirant deodorant, and the nasty yellow tint that results is caused by aluminum rather than sweat alone. Rust stain remover takes care of these aluminum-based stains.
When baking soda and vinegar combine, they will foam up a little, and that’s okay. It means that their stain-fighting action is working!
Lemon juice will help brighten whites that are mildly discolored, but it won’t do much against big stains or dark discoloration.
Different color removers have slightly different instructions, so always read the label on the bottle before using it in the wash.
If you are unable to dry your clothes in the sun due to the weather, where you live, or for any other reason, you can still dry your white clothing using a dryer. You won’t get the bleaching benefits of natural sunlight, but the dryer won’t do any real damage to the clothing (as long as the fabric is dryer-safe).
Red clothes in particular are notorious for discoloring white garments.
