Redeem the gleam of your white socks with these useful tips (2024)

FAQs

Redeem the gleam of your white socks with these useful tips? ›

You mightn't realize it, but a simple household staple like vinegar can restore the gleam to your white socks. The secret lies in soaking your socks in vinegar and warm water. This process isn't only easy and inexpensive, but it's also highly effective in removing stubborn stains that detergents alone can't get rid of.

He combined half a cup of vinegar with hot water and let his discolored socks soak for 30 minutes before washing them as usual. Baking Soda & Vinegar Combo: A third person mixed both methods together, using equal parts baking soda and vinegar on their stained white sock pile for an hour before washing them normally.

Your best bet is to give your socks a soak in a warm sink filled with a liberal sprinkling of baking soda for several hours. Then, after wringing them dry, wash them in your machine by adding 150-200 ml of baking soda to the detergent drawer, along with your normal powder or liquid.

Pre-soak before washing

Pre-soak cotton or polyester socks for 5 minutes in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach diluted in 1 gallon of cool water before washing. If your socks contain spandex, use Clorox 2® for Colors Stain Remover and Laundry Additive instead of regular bleach and soak up to an hour.

Avoid using chlorine bleach on wool, spandex, leather or other delicate materials. For an alternative, try oxygen-based bleach. It is color-safe, because it brightens whites without stripping the fabric of colors. You can supplement standard laundry detergent by adding a scoop of powdered or liquid oxygen bleach.

The acetic acid in vinegar acts as a disinfectant and reacts with the baking soda to lift stains. This combination is also great for brightening whites. With a little bit of scrubbing and leaving the paste to set for 30 minutes, I was able to almost remove the stains completely from my white jeans.

Adding baking soda to a foot soak can help exfoliate the skin, ease itching, and cleanse the feet. Try adding 3–4 tablespoons of baking soda added to a basin full of warm water. Use 2 parts water and 1-part vinegar for a foot soak. The vinegar helps kill bacteria which reduces foot odor.

Procedures of Preparing/Using Diluted Bleach

Put on protective gear when diluting or using bleach as it irritates mucous membranes, the skin and the airway. Cold water should be used for dilution as hot water decomposes the active ingredient of bleach and renders it ineffective.

Using too much (either extremely concentrated bleach solutions or undiluted bleach straight out of the bottle) can also cause yellowing.

Add half a cup of white vinegar to your white laundry. This can remove the grey or yellow hues from your white clothes and restore their original color. Fabric whitening products: Specially designed fabric whitening products keep white clothes looking bright and fresh.

How to make socks feel new again? ›

Fabric Softener – Although it isn't technically a detergent, consider adding fabric softener for additional sock care. It'll make your socks feel softer and smell fresher.

For white cotton socks, you can use chlorine bleach along with hot water to disinfect the fabric. For colored socks and clothes that cannot be washed in hot water and should not be exposed to chlorine bleach, use a non-chlorine disinfecting method.

You can use bleach to get the stain out once you know the colored parts are colorfast. When you have colored logos or embroidery on a white shirt, there's a good chance you can safely launder the shirt with bleach.

For a real one-two punch, combine the white vinegar with baking soda. This makes it foam up, and you can use the reaction as a deodorizing cleaner. With smells that hide in narrow spaces or between cracks, apply so-called adsorption agents.

Before you start scrubbing anything, fill a basin or your laundry room sink with hot water and white vinegar at a ratio of 1 gallon to 2 cups. Then, dunk your smelly socks into the solution and allow them to soak for some time. The longer, the better, but a half hour or so should be fine.

Vinegar can be used to brighten dull clothes. To get white cotton dishcloths, underwear, and socks white again, add 1 cup of distilled white vinegar to 1 gallon of water in a large pot. Heat the solution to boiling, turn off the heat, and add the dingy items. Allow them to soak overnight, and then launder as usual.

Once water is boiling, add a cup of baking soda and stir. Turn off the stove and remove the pot from heat to a safe spot. Carefully submerge clothing in baking soda solution and let soak overnight or for at least an hour. Hand wash or launder clothing on the appropriate wash cycle.