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How to Make Tired Old Sheets White & Bright Again

July 27, 2022   By Danielle Herrera
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Imagine the feeling of clean and crisp white bed sheets for your hand to feel and your body to lay on. Everything feels and smells fresh, putting you at ease and all too ready to sleep. But after a while, even the newest bed sheets will turn yellow, show stains, or become dingy without washing.

To maintain that clean, crispy feeling of bright white sheets, it’s a must to clean and wash your sheet set, including your pillowcases, weekly. If you have stained and yellowed sheets, you will have to exert a little extra effort to make your white sheets white again.

Why Take the Effort to Maintain White Sheets

People spend around eight hours each day laying in their beds. Although you don’t see it, in the span of a few days, bed sheets accumulate dirt, body oils, sweat, dead skin cells, and mites! Those critters are the most concerning since they may cause skin irritations, rashes, and unpleasant allergic reactions.

Regularly washing your sheets will get rid of those nasty stuff. But to make sure it stays white longer and maintains its softness, do the following:

  1. Wash white sheets with other whites. This keeps coloured fabrics from staining white sheets.
  2. Air dry as much as possible. Sheets which are naturally dried will feel softer than ones dried in the dryer.

Now, when you finally have white sheets again, all you need to do to prevent staining or yellowing is to take good care of your sheets. A solid rule is to prohibit eating on the bed. You won’t have to worry about any spills this way. Also, you can wash your face or shower before going to bed to remove any dirt on your skin from your daily activities. A clean face will stop these microscopic dirt from transferring to your pillowcases and top sheet.

How to Make Old Sheets White Again without Bleach

Ordinarily, detergent can clean white sheets pretty well, but you’ll need an extra kick to clean bad staining or yellowing.

Contrary to popular belief and practice, however, bleach is not the answer. Bleach contains chlorine, and chlorine bleach reacts to protein stains such as sweat, body oils, and more, creating yellow stains no matter how much you launder your sheets. So, instead of a cup of bleach, you can try some of these other alternatives.

1. Lemon Juice

This common ingredient is actually a natural whitener, and its citric acid can easily remove mild stains and yellowing on your sheets. As a plus, you get a refreshing, zesty scent on your sheets. Now, there are two ways to use lemon juice for your stained sheets. One is by simply squeezing a lemon directly into your washer, then wash with detergent.

The other way is mixing half a cup of lemon juice with a gallon of hot water and pre-soak your sheets for at least an hour or overnight. The following day, wash them like you normally would. This should clean and whiten your sheets thoroughly.

2. White Vinegar

Vinegar is another common cooking ingredient that acts as a natural stain remover and fabric softener. Use half a cup of white vinegar with a gallon of water. Pre-soak for an hour then wash with your regular detergent. You can add in some lemon juice in the washer too to get rid of that strong vinegar smell.

3. Baking Soda

If you wish for neutral-smelling sheets, baking soda is the way to go. It’s another ingredient you already have at home that whitens and neutralizes bad odours. Just toss half a cup of baking soda when you wash your sheets, and like lemon juice, it shall whiten your sheets easily.

4. Borax

You may also have borax for general cleaning around the house. Like baking soda, borax acts as a whitening laundry booster. Dilute half a cup into a gallon of water but pre-soak your white bed linen overnight. Wash as usual the day after.

5. Liquid Bluing

Colouring matters, even when it comes to white bed linen, and the colour blue beats the colour yellow. In fact, sheet manufacturers wash their products in liquid bluing to ensure a bright finish. You can do the same by diluting the liquid according to your chosen brand’s instructions. Keep it away from your sheets, or else you’ll find blue spots on white linen.

How to Care for Ecosa Sheets

You can use any of the ingredients enumerated above to naturally whiten your old sheets. Having a natural cleaner won’t compromise the quality of your sheet set, and you get to have clean, white linen again.

But not all sheets are made equal. Bed linens of different materials need different kinds of care. So, Ecosa’s Bamboo Sheets, Silk Pillowcases, Flax Linen Beddings, and Luxe Quilt all require various ways of washing or cleaning.

Bamboo Sheets

For an ultrasoft sleeping experience using sustainable materials, Ecosa’s Bamboo Sheets are the beddings for you. It’s all organic, while still giving you a premium smooth feel. As bed sheets, bamboo is a delicate and soft material. To prevent it from yellowing, just wash it with cold water and delicate-mild detergent, then dry it in the dryer on low heat.

Silk Pillowcases

If you need beauty sleep and frizz-free hair every night, go with Ecosa’s Silk Pillowcases instead, but they’ll need special care if you want them to last longer. They should be washed in cold water with other delicates. But only air dry them; keep them away from sunlight or heat and the dryer. With proper care, the pillowcases can last for years, giving you frizz-free nights perfect for skincare and sustainable investment in a product that comes from the highest quality mulberry silk.

Flax Linen Beddings

Ecosa’s Flax Linen Beddings provide a sustainable and cool solution to hot nights while remaining highly durable. Even better, flax linens become softer the more you wash them. But be sure to machine wash them on a gentle setting at 30°C with mild detergent.

Luxe Quilt

Ecosa’s Luxe Quilt keeps you warm during colder nights while remaining soft to the touch. The quilt has a soft cotton outer and pure silk filling inside, offering you a luxurious feel as you cover up from cold weather. However, since this is a thicker product, spot clean it only. You can use a cup of bleach to whiten the discolouration on the quilt. Then, as you use it, it’s recommended that you have a quilt cover to lengthen the product’s lifespan.

Whiten Tired Old Sheets and Make It New

Old white bed sheets may look yellow from age, but with the natural whitening methods presented above, you can make any white bed sheet look good as new. Whichever Ecosa sheet you use, you’ll sleep soundly on premium, white sheets, having comfortable and clean nights in the days to come.


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