Bleach Alternatives: Healthier Solutions for Whitening Clothes and Disinfecting Surfaces

To many, the burning in your nostrils and throat means the bottle of bleach is doing its job. To others, it can mean an asthma attack is on its way.

There are so many healthier solutions to bleach for whitening clothes and disinfecting surfaces, yet it can be so easy to grab the bleach when you are in a hurry. It really isn't that difficult to find natural cleaning solutions in your kitchen or laundry room, though. Used alone or in conjunction with other natural products, these are some of the top bleach alternatives.

Vinegar

Vinegar has a small amount of acid that acts as a laundry whitener. Add one cup of white distilled vinegar to a large pot of water and heat to boiling. Remove the pot from the heat and add the clothes (only 100 percent cotton clothing) that need to be whitened. Soak them overnight and wash them as normal. Vinegar can also be diluted with water and used to disinfect hard surfaces like countertops, floors, doorknobs and even bathroom surfaces.

Lemon juice

As a clothing whitener, simply add a cup of lemon juice to the wash cycle. Need to remove stains from clothing? Pour lemon juice over the stain and rub the area with salt. Let it sit in the sun for several hours and wash as usual. To sanitize hard surfaces, just wipe a lemon half or rub lemon juice of the area and rinse with water. Remove stains with a paste made of lemon juice and baking soda; let it sit for several hours before wiping the surface clean.

Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide works to clean tub and tile stains, carpet stains and even blood stains. Spray peroxide directly onto the stains and clean with water. For extra scrubbing power in the bathroom, spray peroxide followed by vinegar, then rinse clean with water.

Borax

Borax is a safer alternative to using bleach; still, keep it away from children. Its crystals can be toxic if ingested. Borax deodorizes and whitens clothing when used as a laundry detergent. Simply mix one cup of the crystals with your dry laundry soap and use the soap mixture as you normally would to wash a load of laundry.


Homemade bleach alternative

Use this recipe to make your own bleach cleaning alternative.

Ingredients:

~12 cups of water
~1/4 cup lemon juice
~1 cup of hydrogen peroxide

Instructions:

Mix the ingredients together. For a laundry whitener, add two cups of the solution per load. To use as a household cleaner, pour it into a spray bottle and use as needed.

References:
A Safer Bleach Alternative
All Natural Bleach