How to bleach tulle and linen in the washing machine

It is difficult to create comfort in a home without lacy tulle curtains on the windows and crisp white bed linen. But over time, the tulle turns yellow in the sun, acquires a grayish tint, which is why it looks unsightly. Dust and stains on the bed cause discomfort. To fill the interior with aesthetic joy and comfort, it is important to bleach the tulle and bed linen, make it clean and snow-white.

Machine washable bleaching

Among many housewives there is an opinion that tulle cannot be wash and bleach in automatic machinebecause the fabric is too delicate. In old machines it was really impossible to wash thin materials; they could become hopelessly damaged, even torn. A modern automatic machine is multifunctional: it will remove all dirt, bleach, and maintain the integrity of the fabric fibers.

How to wash white tulle so that bleach in washing machine, and the curtain shone clean again? Manufacturers of automatic machines have different programs for gentle washing, but each of them has a mode that will carefully wash and whiten thin tulle:

• silk;
• wool;
• for delicate linen;
• delicate;
• handwash.

Each of these programs is suitable for the finest tulle.

General recommendations

After removing the tulle curtains from the windows, they are first shaken out of dust.

1. Before loading, the tulle is carefully folded into a small envelope, rather than somehow stuffed into a drum.
2. It is more convenient to use a mesh bag. If it is not there, skillful housewives place the tulle in a small pillowcase and make several stitches so that the fabric does not move out.
3. Regular powders not suitable for tulle curtains, since the chemical components of the composition are aggressive to delicate fabrics. Wash with gentle liquid powders, gels, shampoos.
4. For tulle, you need to halve the amount of detergent, set mode additional rinse, as a lot of foam is formed.
5. The program is installed without squeezing, nor is it squeezing manually. Shake lightly and hang in place. The tulle will dry, there will be no creases or folds left - no need to iron.

If the fabric is such that it is impossible to do without ironing, a lukewarm iron is suitable for fragile tulle curtains.

What bleaching products to use

Among household chemical products there are many different whitening products.

1. Liquid containing chlorine. They bleach well, but they destroy the fabric and have a detrimental effect on machine parts. To whiten gray tulle or get rid of yellowness, do not use chlorine bleach.
2. Dry (powder) and liquid oxygen bleaches. Effective in forty-degree water, but expensive.
3. Optical brighteners. They contain special dyes. They create an optical illusion: the yellowness is not bleached, but tinted. The products can be used in the washing machine.

Brighteners for tulle

In many machines, in the cuvette for filling the powder there is a cell with a bleaching mode (a triangle is drawn).

At home, when machine washing delicate tulle, housewives use the most well-known bleaches:

• Ase, Bos;
• Suprim, Sarma;
• Amway, Dr Berkmann;
• Nanny, Eared Nanny;
• Persol, Parus.

Household chemical stores offer a wide selection of whitening products.

Bleach powder (dry)

1. Washing powder is effective at temperatures from 30°C, and bleaches are effective from 60°C to 90°C.
2. When using expensive bleach that works at 40°C, first turn on the soaking mode.
3. Pour powder into the compartment, and bleach into another compartment, set the desired washing program.

Liquid bleaches

When the washing powder has dissolved, liquid bleach is poured into the second cuvette (rinse aid compartment). Before use, it is diluted with water. Powder containing enzymes loses its whitening properties when combined with other whitening agents.

Many housewives use the old fashioned method: bleach the tulle by adding 2 tbsp to the cell with washing powder. spoons of coarse salt or hydrogen peroxide (10 tablets). Tulle curtains are bleached during the washing phase.

In addition to this method, there are many folk recipes for bleaching tulle with pre-soaking and manual bleaching after washing. They use products available to every housewife: salt, laundry soap, blue, brilliant green, potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide and others.

Whitening bed linen in an automatic machine

Bleaching bed linens in a machine is more convenient than by hand due to the large size of sheets and duvet covers. And it doesn’t take much time, since bleaching occurs at the washing stage.

For example, silk cannot be washed in hot water with chlorine bleach, which will ruin the delicate fabric, but cotton sheets can.

The tags on each item indicate the permissible washing temperature. The instructions on the label must be followed.

Bedding can be easily bleached in the washing machine:

• choose the type of bleach, taking into account the composition of the fabric (chlorine is only suitable for cotton);
• load laundry into the drum;
• pour washing powder into the cuvette and dry detergent into the bleach compartment;
• set the desired washing mode.

Liquid bleach is poured in after the machine has filled with water.

Features of bleaching laundry from different fabrics

An important factor in the effectiveness of washing and bleaching sheets and duvet covers is temperature.

1. The “Cotton” program is set to whiten bed linen: satin, poplin, chintz, jacquard and other natural fabrics.The mode provides for a high washing temperature (90°C) with boiling, after which white linen shines with cleanliness and freshness, since boiling is one of the proven methods of bleaching.
2. To obtain the best result, use the soak function with pre-wash.
3. Silk linen is washed and bleached at a temperature not exceeding 40°C.
4. For synthetic sheets there is a special “Synthetic” mode.

Folk recipes

Housewives claim that good whitening results are achieved by inexpensive products that can always be found in the house.

Vinegar

Cheap, but whitens effectively.

1. Things are loaded into the drum of the washing machine.
2. Powder is poured into the cuvette.
3. Vinegar 9% (200 ml) is poured directly into the drum onto dry sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases. Turn on the desired washing program.

Salt

Recognized as a strong bleaching agent. It is poured (2 tbsp) into the compartment with washing powder.

Boric acid

First, start the “Soaking” program. Boric acid (2 tbsp) is poured onto dry laundry in the drum of the machine.

Then turn on the main wash cycle and an additional rinse.

Soda ash

The product is inexpensive but effective. Soda (100 g) is poured into a cuvette with powder. In addition to bleaching laundry, soda softens water, which is why the heating element of the machine does not become overgrown with scale. After washing with soda, white duvet covers and sheets shine with pristine cleanliness. Soda is used for children's clothes because it is safe, does not cause allergies, and can be rinsed well with water.

Hydrogen peroxide

Use the product in tablets.Place 10 pieces on dry items in a drum, add powder and turn on the machine. Additional rinsing is advisable.

Aspirin

Budget tool. Aspirin tablets (10 pieces), crushed into powder, poured onto things. Include a program corresponding to the type of fabric.

Blue

An old-fashioned method of whitening, but many housewives still use it. Blue is diluted in water 1:1. Pour the resulting solution into the rinse aid compartment. Clean linen with a slight bluish tint looks whitest. At home, it is more convenient to wash and bleach large items in washing machine. This will save time, effort, and the result will be better than washing and bleaching by hand.