How to whiten a shirt?

The choice of white at Bourrienne Paris X is not insignificant. Originally, shirts were only made in white to meet the hygiene requirements of the time. For several centuries, from Antiquity to the middle of the 19th century, the white shirt was worn under clothing, in direct contact with the skin and was not intended to be seen in the public sphere. It was not recommended to wear skin-dyed clothes. In order to maintain his shirt, it was customary to boil it to eliminate bacteria and persistent stains. This process, which was repeated more or less recurrently, also had the effect of preserving the whiteness of the garment.

Don't worry, we don't intend to recommend this method to keep your white shirt looking shiny. Nowadays, there are various effective grandma tricks to whiten your shirt. Bourrienne Paris X presents its eco-friendly alternatives to revive the whiteness of your shirt.

Whiten his shirt with lemon juice

Lemon's reputation is second to none when it comes to making your white clothes shine again.

Rich in citric acid, lemon is the green alternative par excellence for getting rid of unsightly stains caused by perspiration, for example. As a bonus, lemon also has a neutralizing action on odours. There are several ways to use it to whiten your Bourrienne Paris X shirt:

• Before washing, you can soak your white shirt in a basin of water at room temperature and add a few slices of lemon or even the juice of a squeezed lemon. Leave on overnight before machine washing for best results.
• You can also pour the juice of a squeezed lemon directly into your laundry tub when putting your white shirt in the washing machine.

Whiten your shirt with Marseille soap

Marseille soap, the only one, the real one, without dyes or additives, with a rich base of vegetable oil, is also one of the eco-friendly gestures to adopt when you want to restore radiance to your white shirt.

For an effective whitening action, it is recommended to use it before going through the washing machine or for washing by hand. You will need a basin of lukewarm water and a little elbow grease to insist on where the stains are the most stubborn. Let your white shirt soak for an hour before rinsing it well and drying it or putting it in the washing machine for a more thorough cleaning.

Whiten his shirt with white vinegar

In the list of essential ingredients for cleaning, white vinegar is probably the best known of all. In addition to being effective against stains, it has an undeniable whitening power and softens your laundry. You can use it to wash your white shirt by hand or add a cup of vinegar to the detergent drawer of the washing machine. Like lemon, white vinegar neutralizes bad odors in your clothes.

Bleach his shirt with baking soda

Another grandmother's trick for whitening your laundry: baking soda. Alone, baking soda has softening properties and increases the whitening of your shirt by reinforcing the action of soap or detergent depending on whether you wash your shirt by hand or in the machine. Combined with white vinegar, it dissolves the impurities embedded in the textile fiber of your shirt without damaging it. Enough to find your shirt as white as the first day.

Bleach his shirt with soda ash (or soda crystals)

Less known but just as effective, sodium percarbonate is a powerful and environmentally friendly whitening agent. It comes in the form of colorless crystals which, once in contact with water, react to release hydrogen peroxide, soda ash and baking soda. The combined action of these components will get rid of stubborn stains on your white shirt, whose shine will be magnified. For best results, pour one to two teaspoons of baking soda directly into the drum of the washing machine.

Bleach your shirt in the sun

Once your white shirt has been washed, drying it in the sun contributes to its natural bleaching. UV rays have the particularity of bleaching the textile. This is why it is often not recommended to dry dyed clothes in the sun. As for white clothes, the sun is more than recommended. This natural drying will complement the effects of the methods previously listed.

Thanks to these tricks, your white shirt will be radiantly beautiful while respecting the environment.