It may sound like an old wives tale, but adding baking soda to your liquid laundry detergent will make your colored clothes brighter and your whites whiter. Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and cleanser. It also softens the water, which means you can use less detergent. It also helps keep your machine clean too.
Whites and Brights: Add a 1/2 cup of baking soda to the wash when you add your regular liquid detergent.
Crayons in the Washing Machine: If crayons have accidentally been washed with a load of clothes, there may still be hope. Rewash the clothing in the hottest water allowable for the fabric and add a 1/2 box to a box of baking soda.
Aged Linens: Baking soda can be very effective at removing stains brought on by age. Because it’s a natural cleaner, you can trust that your older linens will be whiter and brighter rather than damaged.
Fabric Softener: Instead of using fabric softener, try adding a 1/2 cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle. It acts as a natural softener and is gentler for family members with sensitive skin.
Odors: Add baking soda to the rinse water. Adding 1/2 cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle helps remove odors from clothes and also softens them naturally.
If your clothes smell like sweat or smoke, it’s best to let them soak in a baking soda solution overnight. This gives the baking soda time to really work as a deodorizer.
- Mix a cup of baking soda with a gallon of water in a bucket.
- Add your clothes to the bucket and swirl them around to make sure they are fully soaked.
- Leave the clothes overnight and launder them the next day.
Increase Bleach Potency: Adding 1/2 a cup of baking soda in top-loading machines, or a 1/4 cup for front loading machines, will increase the potency of the bleach, so you only need to use half the amount to get the same effect.
