How to whiten a shirt?

How to whiten a shirt?

A timeless piece of our wardrobe, the white shirt has become indispensable. But some shirts can lose their bright, immaculate whiteness.

After several machine washes, some clothes end up yellowing or even turning gray.

There are several ways to whiten your shirt, both by hand and by machine. Première Manche gives you its advice on how to keep your shirt bright white.

1. Bleaching by hand before washing

• The stain remover! The best thing is to attack the stains right away, if you can. Gently rub the stain with a liquid stain remover containing enzymes and leave it on for at least 15 minutes before putting your shirt in the machine. Enzymes help remove stains, so check the label to see if your stain remover contains them.

• Baking soda: If your clothes have lost their shine and whiteness, you can fill a bucket of hot water and add half a cup of baking soda. You can leave it on for a full day before putting your shirt in the wash.

• Lemon: If you have tougher stains, you can use lemon, salt and washing powder to remove them. In a bucket of hot water, add a tablespoon of salt, the juice of two lemons and a quarter cup of washing powder. With this technique, you don't need to put your shirt in the machine afterwards! In fact, let it soak for 45 minutes, then rinse it several times. 

Here are two techniques to remove the most common stains on white shirts: 

• Sweat stains: In order to remove these stains, you can pour a tablespoon of baking soda. Then, with half a lemon (a lemon cut in half), rub the same area gently so as not to damage the fabric. You can leave it on for about ten minutes before putting your shirt in the machine.

• Red wine stains: After a dinner with colleagues, it is sometimes common to stain your shirt with red wine... Here is a technique to try to remove this stain, which is undoubtedly one of the most persistent. You can put a handful of salt to absorb the liquid. Then, once the salt has absorbed the liquid, carefully scrape it off. Although it may seem strange, you can soak the stain with sparkling water before washing the garment in your washing machine.

2. Bleaching during machine washing

To bleach your clothes in the machine, you can add specific products that will have bleaching and anti-stain properties to your shirt.

• Bleach: Be careful! Before using bleach, look on the label of your garment if it can be treated with this product. Normally, a triangle appears on the label symbolizing the bleach treatment. However, if this same triangle is crossed out, this chemical should be avoided, otherwise it could damage and deface the quality of your garment. Then you can start your machine with detergent only. Once the water starts to foam, you can add the bleach (120 ml of bleach). Never add bleach on top of your clothes. Finally, let your machine run normally.

• Hydrogen Peroxide: This is an excellent alternative to bleach, especially for your shirts that could not be treated with bleach! It's very simple: just add half a cup of hydrogen peroxide to your regular detergent. The 3% hydrogen peroxide is easily found in supermarkets.

• More natural products: In the same way as hydrogen peroxide, you can replace it with white vinegar. In addition to removing dirt, white vinegar is also a perfect softener. If you're worried about the strong smell of white vinegar, it will dissipate once your shirts are dry.

Now you have some techniques for keeping your shirts bright and white! This will help keep your shirts looking great for longer.

You can find several models of white shirts on our e-shop, like this model with musketeer cuffs or this one in white organic poplin!