Adding between half a cup and a cup of white distilled vinegar to each wash will help remove stains and whiten your towels: you can add it to the fabric-softener dispenser. Diluting one part vinegar in four parts water and spraying it directly onto stains is also a way of pretreating them.
Hotels and laundries have a chemical called Potassium permanganate which is a very strong oxidizer that can kill everything and also remove stains effectively. So now you know how hotels manage to keep towels white. There are numerous stain remover solutions available in the market.
Choose Bleach or Vinegar for Whitening
Bleach can be effective for keeping white towels bright since there's no risk of color fading. However, vinegar is a safer, eco-friendly alternative that effectively whitens and freshens without the harsh effects of bleach.
Perform a Pre-Soak
It is a great way to keep them vibrant and get rid of any dinginess. For pre-soaks, you can use something like Oxyclean, borax or dishwasher detergent. To use Oxyclean, mix one or two cups with hot water in your washer and let your colored towels soak for about half an hour to an hour.
The short answer is no. And the long answer goes like this: When used together, baking soda and vinegar will neutralize each other, effectively canceling out the benefits of low pH for vinegar and high pH for baking soda.
Pour one cup of white vinegar into a bowl and add enough water to make a slurry. Soak the stained towel in the solution for about five minutes, and then rinse it off thoroughly with cool water. If the staining is more severe, try using hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, or dish soap (any type will work).
Creating a soaking solution with hot water and just one capful of an oxygen-based cleaner like OxiClean has proven to effectively remove tough stains without causing any harm or damage to your tea towel fibers.
Even so, for white towels you could try a pre-soak with ¼ cup Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach per gallon of water. Let the towels soak for 5 minutes, then drain the soaking solution and run the towels through a hot wash cycle with detergent plus 1/3 cup Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach.
Use white vinegar:
Vinegar is also a great alternative to chlorine bleach. Add half a cup of white vinegar to your white laundry. This can remove the grey or yellow hues from your white clothes and restore their original color.
Instead, try soaking your towels in a solution of a baking soda and water before putting them in the machine. Adding a little baking soda to your wash cycle detergent can help too, as can distilled white vinegar added during the rinse cycle.
Soak towels in vinegar.
Soak your stinky towels in a bucket of white, distilled vinegar for 30 minutes to overnight with a tablespoon of detergent to help loosen body soils. Vinegar contains acetic acid that breaks up mineral deposits and dissolves the build-up of body soils on your towels. Rinse thoroughly.
Body Oils and Lotions: Natural oils from your skin, as well as lotions and other personal care products, can transfer to your towels. Over time, these oils can cause discoloration, particularly on white fabrics. Sun Exposure: Prolonged exposure to sunlight can cause white towels to yellow.
Borax will make sure your whites stay white.
When mixed with water, borax converts water molecules into hydrogen peroxide, which is a natural whitening agent.
The Culprits Behind Yellowing Sheets
Believe it or not, the main culprit behind yellowing white sheets is… well, us! Our bodies produce oils and sweat and shed dead skin cells, which all find their way into the fabric of our sheets.
Try Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is effective for removing a variety of stains, including blood and coffee. Apply a small amount directly to the stain and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before rinsing.
White clothes can turn yellow due to a variety of factors, such as using too much detergent and fabric softener, oxygenation, deodorant stains, washing with well water or long-term storage.
Machine wash sheets with regular laundry detergent. Add ½ cup of bleach to the drum of the machine and run a regular cycle. If the bleach smell persists, run another cycle with regular laundry detergent and hydrogen peroxide.
If your sheets look dingy, stripping will help remove buildup and restore brightness. Note: the stripping recipe of Borax, washing soda, and detergent is not a bleach. If your sheets or towels smell musty even after washing, stripping will help remove trapped odors and freshen them.