Warm clothes made from natural wool are not only very beautiful, but also quite practical. Wool yarn perfectly retains the shape and strength of the fibers. The only trouble that can happen is a change in color. A snow-white sweater may take on a yellowish or gray tint after several washes. How to bleach a woolen item at home? Let's figure it out.

Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide will help you bleach a wool sweater at home. Pour enough water into the container to soak the item and add peroxide at a ratio of 1:8. The water should be at room temperature.

Soak the wool item in this solution for several hours and then rinse thoroughly. It is better to dry wool products unfolded, since after drying on a line, a knitted sweater or dress may stretch out and lose its shape.

Soda

Instead of hydrogen peroxide, you can use soda ash or baking soda. The whitening algorithm is almost the same. Dissolve baking soda in warm water in a small container and soak woolen items. After a few hours, rinse thoroughly to avoid leaving a residue of white crystals on your clothes.

It is also good to add baking soda for bleaching every time you wash woolen items. One of the common reasons why white wool yarn begins to turn yellow over time is hard water. Baking soda neutralizes salts and softens water. This way things will stay white longer.

Salt solution

Prepare a saline solution of medium saturation (35-40 g of salt per 10 liters of water is enough) and immerse woolen clothes in it several times. After this, rinse things thoroughly in cold water. Usually it is not possible to bleach wool in one go. To get the desired effect, take several salt baths.

Chalk

Regular chalk will help restore the whiteness of woolen items. To whiten a thick sweater or tunic you will need approximately 500 g of chalk. Grind it or immediately use the prepared powder. Add chalk to water and soak clothes in this solution for 1 hour.

Chalk does not dissolve in water, so stir the solution periodically. This way the product will be evenly distributed over the entire surface of the wool fibers and will whiten them.

Laundry soap

If you bought white wool yarn in reserve and it turned yellow over time, you can also bleach it. Grate a little laundry soap on a fine grater, pour boiling water over it until completely dissolved and place the container on the stove. Dip the skeins of yarn in the soapy solution and let them simmer in it for about an hour.

Then rinse the yarn several times alternately in cold and warm water, and at the last rinse, add a little vinegar to the water.

Bleaches

If you want to achieve the effect of bright, dazzling whiteness, use professional bleaches. For plain white clothes, chlorine-containing products are suitable. Just read the instructions carefully and do not soak things for a long time, as the structure of the wool fibers may be damaged.

If the sweater or dress is decorated with colored patterns or other decor, then use oxygen bleach. After soaking with professional means, be sure to rinse your clothes several times, changing the water to clean water.

Now you know how to return the whiteness to woolen items. If any method does not bring the desired result, try another remedy from the proposed list. And be sure to wash woolen items with special detergents, preferably liquid powders for woolen items. Then your favorite clothes will delight you with their beautiful appearance for more than one season.

Woolen items keep you warm during the cold season. We wear clothes of different shades and if dark ones do not cause trouble when washing, then white ones are quite difficult to care for. A significant disadvantage is their impracticality, which is why many believe that they are not suitable for everyday wear. However, if you know how to whiten things at home, you can make white clothes part of your image.

Bleaching wool at home

If you have no idea How to make a new light-colored pullover look presentable, use the following tips:

  • Take hydrogen peroxide and follow these steps:
    • Mix one part hydrogen peroxide in eight parts water. Soak the item until it is under water.
    • Leave the wool item in the solution for eight hours or even overnight.
    • All that remains is to rinse in clean water and hang to dry away from sun rays.
  • Use Chlorhexidine with baking soda. Soda is available in every home, and Chlorhexidine is sold in pharmacies:
    • Pour 3.5 liters of clean water into an enamel pan and place on the stove. As soon as bubbles appear, remove from heat and pour the liquid into a bowl.
    • Pour baking soda (230 g) into hot water, stir and leave to cool to 35 degrees. Add 150 ml of Chlorhexidine to the water at a concentration of no more than 6%. Mix everything thoroughly and place the item in a basin, then seal it tightly with cling film to create a greenhouse effect.
    • After some time, remove the product and squeeze out a little excess water, transfer it to washing machine. In the compartment for washing powder add bleach powder and 75 g of soda. Select the "Wool" mode and start washing.
    • Remove the product and hang it to dry horizontally in a draft. If the result is that the item is not bleached well enough, the procedure can be repeated, but reduce the concentration of the ingredients by half.
  • Try using bleach. This product is used to make the item dazzling white. Today there are different bleaches, including those with chlorine. This substance can permanently damage clothing, so follow the instructions for use and do not leave white items in it. If a white woolen jacket is stained with ink, do not rush to soak it in bleach. It is better to immerse it in a product with oxygen exposure. After this, rinse and lay out to dry.
  • Whitening with vodka and glycerin. Try the following:
    • In a container, mix 900 ml of vodka and 250 ml of glycerin. Mix the ingredients with 350 ml of warm water. Place a woolen dress or sweater there.
    • Soaking lasts approximately 30 minutes, after which the item is washed with laundry soap and sent to the washing machine. Powder with a whitening effect and conditioner are poured into the compartment.
    • Set the “Wool” mode and turn on the wash. At the end of the process, take it to fresh air, lay out horizontally away from sunlight.
  • Soda. Instead of bleach or hydrogen peroxide, you can use regular baking soda or soda ash. Dilute it in warm water and place a white wool sweater in the solution for 3 hours. After this time, the product is lightly wrung out and rinsed thoroughly to avoid a white coating after drying. Baking soda should be added every time you wash clothes, not necessarily white ones. With it, the water will become softer and it will be possible to avoid an early breakdown of the heating element.
  • Ammonia with salt. Heat 2.5 liters of water passed through the filter to 40 degrees. Pour it into a container, add 50 ml of ammonia and 30 g of finely ground salt. The salt should dissolve well, then place the woolen item in this container. Wrap the container in cellophane and leave for 40 minutes. Wash it by hand and then put it in the washing machine. Select the “Rinse” mode and add conditioner. At the end of the operation, the item is dried in fresh air.
  • Whitening with chalk. This method requires a large amount of it. For a pullover you need to use 350 g of chalk. Grind the mixture into powder, stir until it dissolves in warm water. The product is placed in this solution for 45 minutes, stirring from time to time so that the chalk penetrates deeply into the wool fibers. After this time, dip the item in a solution with fabric softener, rinse and lay out to dry in a ventilated place. If necessary, repeat the procedure.
  • Lemon juice: Dissolve 450 ml of fresh lemon juice in 500 ml of warm water. Soak the item in the solution. Cover the container with plastic wrap and wait 4 hours. Then wash with laundry soap, wait another 50 minutes for its components to take effect. Place the item in the washing machine, and after the procedure, hang it to dry on a horizontal plane.
  • Hydroperite: dissolve four hydroperite tablets in three liters of warm water. Add whitening powder. Wash the item in the solution and leave for 30 minutes. Wash without rinsing in the washing machine, selecting the “Wool” mode. Upon completion, the item is sent to dry away from sunlight.

To keep your clothes looking fresh longer, you need to:

  • Rinse woolen items in boiled water with soap. Carry out the manipulations in several stages, gradually reducing its degree. Before finishing the procedure, add a little 9% table vinegar.
  • To bleach wool items, use ammonia. For effective washing it is combined with baking soda.

Bleaching of cotton products

Gray plaque or yellow spots appear if the product is immediately thrown into washing machine. To avoid this, soak your white T-shirt in soapy water before washing. It will help dissolve most of the contaminants, so you will get a snow-white thing out of the machine. If you are using a whitening powder, make sure to thoroughly dissolve the crystals before soaking to avoid adding other stains.

Methods of folk wisdom

If chemicals do not solve the problem, you can use these tips folk wisdom. For example, soak a white cotton T-shirt in a solution of water and nutritional yeast for 6 hours. You can also dip it in a solution with lemon or add a few tablespoons of turpentine before washing. It is easier to wash a cotton item if you add 2 large tablespoons of boric acid to the water.

Use potassium permanganate for soaking. Pour hot water into two containers, add laundry soap into one of them, and dissolve potassium permanganate in the other until it turns reddish. Combine both solutions and foam, soak the laundry in it. After 8 hours, the T-shirt is rinsed with cold water.

Good results can be achieved, if you use grandma's method. This method is only suitable for dense natural fabrics. Boiling is carried out in a metal container. Place a white cotton T-shirt at the bottom that has turned gray or yellowed, pour a solution of detergent and water. Boiling is carried out for no more than 40 minutes, counting from the moment of boiling. Make sure the laundry is covered with water as it will float. After boiling, rinse the contents of the container in warm water, then in cold water, hang to dry, but keep it out of the sun.

You can also use pharmacy aspirin. This product can also whiten children's ballet shoes, tulle and other things. The procedure will require 7 tablets and 10 liters of cold water. Do the following:

  1. Fill a container with 10 liters of water.
  2. Grind the aspirin with a spoon to a powder and pour it into the water.
  3. Soak faded or stale laundry for 10 hours.
  4. Wash without using a machine.

It is easy to bleach a woolen or cotton item at home if you follow simple rules. One of them is observing the temperature regime during washing..

Attention, TODAY only!

Wool yarn is generally durable. Knitwear made from it has been worn for years. And even after the item becomes obsolete, it can be re-bandaged and worn for several more years.

There is just one nuance for white yarn: it will retain its shape, the strength of the fibers, but it will lose color from washing and bright sun. Of course, if you've been dreaming of changing the color specifically to ivory or with a slight hint of yellow, no need to worry. But if you think these shades are unattractive, you will have to return the wool to white.

Homemade Wool Whitening Remedies

There are some pretty simple ways bleach wool items at home.

Hydrogen peroxide

The #1 recognized bleach in everyday life is hydrogen peroxide. Stock up on several bottles and pour them into cool water at the rate of 1 part peroxide to 8 parts water.

You don't need a lot of liquid. Apply just enough solution to soak the item in it.

Soaking will last 5-7 hours. You can leave the bleaching overnight, and in the morning rinse the woolen product in clean water and hang it to dry, but not in the bright rays of the sun.

Bleaches

For bright whiteness, bleaches are used. If the item is solid white, bleach will do. There is no need to keep the wool in it: the fibers will be damaged.

If your jacket/sweater has colored patterns, then you will have to avoid using chlorine-containing bleaches. Oxygen agents will do.

After using bleaches, things should be rinsed.

Soda

Instead of peroxide and bleach, you can use baking soda. Food or calcined - there is no difference.

The method is the same: dilute sodium bicarbonate in water, or warm water. Dissolve thoroughly and place yellowed woolen items in there. Wait a couple of hours for the yarn to soak and lighten. Take it out and rinse it out. Otherwise, the remaining soda crystals will create a white coating in the form of a tiny powder.

By the way, you should add baking soda every time you wash your clothes. Wool changes color from hard water. Soda softens water, neutralizes salts in it, and things retain their white color longer.

Chalk

You can also lightly whiten the wool with chalk. You will need neither more nor less of it - an average of half a kilo for one large woolen product.

Chalk powder does not dissolve in water. The suspension will have to be stirred over and over again so that the chalk evenly and completely penetrates the fibers and bleaches them. After 40 minutes of soaking, items can be removed.

Salt

What else can you try to bleach wool? Salt.

Prepare a saline solution of medium saturation. Not brine. Dilute sodium chlorine in hot water, dip the woolen item into it several times. Then rinse the remaining salt crystals in cold water.

After several salt baths, the coat becomes noticeably whiter.

For white clothes, it is necessary to use bleaching from time to time, since during wear such wardrobe items begin to turn gray, yellow stains from sweat and other dirt appear on them. For whitening at home, you can use household chemicals, or you can carry out all the work using traditional methods. The main thing is to know how to handle which fabric.

In this article we will tell you how to bleach your white woolen items: hats, mittens, sweaters, jackets, and do it correctly so as not to spoil them. We will consider the use of folk remedies and household chemicals, and give recommendations on the care of woolen products.

Warm woolen clothing to wear at any time of the year

Traditional methods

Hydrogen peroxide is great for bleaching wool items. To do this, you will need to soak the clothes in a solution of cold water and peroxide, mixed in a ratio of 1 to 8. To bleach the material efficiently, you need to completely immerse the woolen item in the solution and keep it in it for several hours.

After the allotted time, we take out the things, actively rinse them in cold water of the same temperature and dry them. We dry, of course, away from heaters and sunlight, naturally in a well-ventilated area. We lay out woolen items on terry towels directly on the floor or on the table and straighten them out. A wool sweater or jacket cannot be dried on a line, because...

You can bleach white wool items well at home using soda. In this case, both baking soda and soda ash can be used. The whitening technique is similar:

  • Pour a bowl of cold water, add a little baking soda into it and stir.
  • We load your woolen sweater, jacket, scarf or other clothing and soak for 2-3 hours.
  • After a few hours, you will be able to evaluate the results, so take out your clothes, rinse them in water of the same temperature, and send them to dry.

Soda is an excellent natural bleach that works in a gentle manner. You can even add it every time you wash it without fear of ruining your clothes. Soda has a beneficial effect on water, softening it, and actively fights harmful salts that are dangerous for woolen clothes.


 Lightweight and comfortable white jacket

To bleach your sweater at home, you can use salt. It works in many ways similar to baking soda, but is less effective. For an excellent result, soaking in saline solution will most likely have to be done 2-3 times. Otherwise, we proceed according to the standard scheme:

  1. Pour cool water and mix soda in it to form a translucent solution.
  2. We load ours into the composition and leave it to soak for several hours.
  3. We remove the clothes and rinse them in running water of the same temperature.
  4. We evaluate the quality of bleaching and, if necessary, repeat the entire work cycle.

You can try to bleach your clothes with chalk; this method is also very effective, but you will need a lot of product. To bleach a wool sweater standard sizes, will require 400-500 grams of chalk, which must be ground into powder and mixed with water.

Note that chalk does not dissolve in water, therefore, after loading the clothes into the chalk composition, it is necessary to thoroughly stir the entire contents of the basin, and then continue stirring for 30-40 minutes while soaking is carried out.

After chalk treatment, you should rinse your clothes thoroughly so that there are no pieces of chalk left on them, which could damage the woolen fabric in the future. Then we dry it according to all the rules for handling wool.

Household chemicals

If bleach traditional methods you don't want to, you can always use professional bleaches. In this case, it is necessary to strictly follow the instructions for use, especially regarding the concentration of the composition and processing time. Oxygen bleaches work great; they do not harm wool, but whiten it perfectly. They are used for white, colored and combined items.


 A variety of things can be knitted from wool

For pure white woolen clothing, it is acceptable to use chlorine bleach. Bleach will disinfect the material, refresh it and whiten it. However, you should be extremely careful with bleach, since such bleach is an aggressive household chemical that can damage fabric fibers. Never soak your clothes in bleach. Frequent use of chlorine bleach is also not recommended, as it causes fabric to wear out quickly.

After working with bleach, use a thorough rinse to remove the solution from the fabric. It is best to rinse clothes 2-3 times.

To ensure that your woolen items always look clean and tidy, you can take note of the following recommendations:

  • If your wool items have turned yellow, you can boil them in a soapy solution. Laundry soap is perfect for this. Then the clothes will need to be rinsed; this is done in several stages with a gradual decrease in the water temperature. In this case, during the last rinse in cool water, add a little vinegar to it.
  • Ammonia-based ammonia can also bleach woolen items. It is used in a similar way to soda.
  • It is advisable to wash wool with powders specially designed for this purpose, which can be purchased at any hardware store.
  • Sometimes it is not the product itself that needs to be bleached, but only the yarn. To do this, immerse the yarn in water, rub laundry soap into it, and boil the solution for an hour. After this, rinse in warm water, where vinegar is added to the water at the last stage. Vinegar is necessary to make the coat more lush and silky.

As you can see, there are no particular difficulties in bleaching woolen items at home; all methods are quite trivial and simple. Moreover, if you decide to use household chemicals, which work faster and, in some cases, more efficiently folk remedies, try to follow the instructions on the package exactly.

On cozy winter evenings, it’s so nice to bask in a warm woolen sweater or go on a romantic date in a cute woolen dress. And if these things are also dazzling white, they will bring a lot of pleasant moments to their owner and the people around him. However, everyone knows that white things undergo some changes over time. Their color becomes duller, and sometimes even yellow stains appear from improper care for woolen items.

How to bleach a woolen item? It is also known that wool items are more vulnerable to the effects of common stain removers and bleaches than clothes made from other fabrics. Therefore, they require soft and gentle care. This article will offer several options on how to bleach a woolen item at home. There are several very simple and available funds to return woolen clothes to their original whiteness.


To prevent woolen items from stretching when drying, it is necessary to wring out the item with slight pressure, then lay it out on a flat surface, on a clean white cloth, being careful not to pull out the neck, bottom and sleeves. Wait for the product to dry completely. Iron on low setting, without steaming.