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White clothes will look brighter if you soak them in homemade solution

Express Published Aug 18, 2026 Reviewed Aug 19, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors
White clothes will look brighter if you soak them in homemade solution
Chantel Mila recommends adding half a cup of hydrogen peroxide, one cup of baking soda, and one tablespoon of washing‑up liquid to warm water to brighten white clothes.
0.5 cup · hydrogen peroxide1 cup · baking soda1 tablespoon · washing‑up liquid Chantel Mila, cleaning guru and TikTok creator
Chantel Mila recommends soaking white clothes in the homemade solution for about one to two hours.
about 1.5 hour · clothes soaking time Chantel Mila, cleaning guru and TikTok creator

White clothing can make a great summer outfit, but keeping it in good condition can be difficult. Whether they’re a magnet for spills, stains and splatters or have become dull and dingy over their lifetimes, there’s a simple solution you can make at home to restore their brightness.

Cleaning guru and TikTok creator Chantel Mila, better known as Mama Mila on the platform, revealed three household items that can help make dingy whites bright again. In a recent video, Chantel revealed that all you need is baking soda, washing-up liquid and hydrogen peroxide to make white clothes gleam. Chantel wrote in the video’s caption: “Say goodbye to dingy whites.

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“This method works so well to whiten and brighten stained white clothing, linen, socks and towels and leave them looking new again.”

First, fill a large bowl or bucket with warm water and place your white clothes in it. Then add half a cup of hydrogen peroxide to the warm water. This will help to brighten and disinfect the clothes.

After this, add one cup of baking soda to the solution, which will help brighten the white fabric and neutralise unpleasant or foul odours. Lastly, Chantel adds one tablespoon of washing-up liquid to the mix.

Chantel adds this to help target any oil-based stains that are clinging to the material. Allow the clothes to soak in the solution for one to two hours.

Once all the soaking is done, place the white colours in the washing machine and run on a normal cycle. Chantel said: “Clothes are significantly whitened and brightened.”

Baking soda can enhance the effectiveness of detergents, helping to brighten dull whites, and can be used to rid garments of unwanted odours.

Hydrogen peroxide is a natural bleaching agent, meaning it will help brighten discoloured and dull white clothes. It will also help to disinfect any clothes that are hiding any nasties.

By adding washing-up liquid to the solution, you can help target oil-based stains on the clothes and lift them from the fibres. If you have tougher stains, you could also make a paste with baking soda and warm water, then apply it to the affected areas as a spot treatment.

To prevent discolouration in white clothes, experts at Currys advise checking the amounts of detergent and fabric softener used during a laundry cycle. They also advised against using a tumble dryer when treating stained clothes.

Currys wrote: “If you’ve got whites that have yellow stains, don’t tumble dry. Always air dry. The simple reason is that the heat from the tumble dryer will simply lock in stains even more.”

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