Simple Home Remedies to Keep Your White Bathing Suit White

Wearing a white bathing suit in the summer can be sexy, but also may be a real pain to clean once it gets dirty. The whiter the bathing suit, the harder it will be to clean. Wearing white in the summer with a tan can look pretty darn good, but a white suit can easily turn yellow from chlorine. It also may fade to yellow from being stuck away in closet or get dirt on it fairly quickly. How can you keep your white bathing suit white?

First of all no matter which bathing suit you choose, do not use bleach on it. Bleach will harm the fibers, fade the color, and cause some bathing suits to turn yellow or brown. Now I know some people may think, "Why can't I use bleach on a white bathing suit? It's white right?"

Bleach weakens the fabric. Therefore, if your suit has elastic say around the bust area, this will get stretched out from the bleach. Ever notice w hen you do a load of white wash, once in awhile a white shirt or sock will end up with a nasty yellow tinge to it? This is what will happen if you bleach the white bathing suit. Stick with gentle cleaners like lemon, baby shampoo, vinegar, and even baking soda.

Baking Soda for Cleansing White Fabrics

Soak the bathing suit in a tub of ice cold water and 1/2 cup of baking soda for 1-2 hours. When it's time to remove suit from tub, DO NOT squeeze and twist the water out. Empty the tub entirely. Allow the bathing suit to air dry flat right in the tub for 30 minutes. Then place the suit in the shade, or on a cold flat surface. If you place the white suit on a clothesline to drip dry, the sun will fade the color, and the clothesline will stretch the suit out.

Aspirin and Baby Shampoo as a Cleanser

Aspirin works wonders on getting grass stains or yellow out of clothes. Mix 2 crushed aspirins with 1/4 cup of baby shampoo along with COLD water in a bucket or tub. Baby shampoo can be way much gentler on fabric than laundry detergent. Let the white suit soak for 30 minutes. Rinse and do the same technique for drying as above.

RIT Whitener & Brightener

This product is great for any white clothing, towels, bathing suits etc. It will whiten the suit safely without adding any nasty yellow spots. This product can be used on cotton, polyester, nylon, silk, wool, and more.

Lemon and Salt Cleanser for Whites

First soak the bathing suit in a tub/bucket of COLD salt water for 15 minutes. Remove the water and allow the suit to air dry for 15-20 minutes. Then place the suit back into the tub/bucket and pour 2 cap-fulls of either fresh lemon juice or bottle. Soak for 1 hour. Then dry as mentioned above. Do not place the suit in the sun with the lemon juice on top. This can cause the white bathing suit's color to get tingy.

Sources: Personal experience/beautician