Before every wash, instead of store-bought chemicals, I add vinegar - I'll tell you what its advantages are.
Firstly, using vinegar to wash your laundry in the washing machine preserves the colors of your washed items. Even new items can be soaked in the vinegar solution for ten minutes, after which they can be safely washed with other laundry. The washed items become significantly softer.
Vinegar effectively removes the most stubborn stains, including yellow spots, and perfectly whitens bedding and shirts, especially the most problematic areas: sleeves, cuffs, and underarms.
It's enough to just spill stubborn stains
Leave it in vinegar for 10-15 minutes. After that, soak and wash.
Important note! It's best to soak new linens in the coldest water possible. And if you're using vinegar, you don't need to use detergent.
To remove particularly stubborn stains, odors, and dirt, you can boil items in a vinegar solution, then load them into the washing machine and wash as usual. This is especially useful for washing dirty towels, greasy tablecloths, and the like. The type of fabric is irrelevant.
You can use vinegar combined with baking soda. This is another very effective way to remove tough stains, greasy stains, blood, juice, ketchup, and mustard. And without leaving streaks on the fabric!
Using a vinegar solution when rinsing helps rinse out the laundry detergent better, preventing white streaks from appearing (a very unpleasant consequence of poor rinsing).
Secondly, the vinegar solution is good at removing scale from heating elements.
To do this, pour 3-4 cups of acid into the detergent compartment, turn on the machine (you can use any wash program, but 60-70 degrees is best). Then run the entire cycle without laundry. This will remove all limescale. For preventative maintenance, it's best to clean the washing machine this way at least once a month.
By using vinegar to wash your washing machine, you soften the water, thereby extending the life of your appliance, as hard water is the cause of unpleasant consequences for its parts.
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Another pleasant bonus is the low price of the product despite its relatively high effectiveness.
It's easy to check. Judge for yourself: the average price of 1 liter of brand-name bleach or stain remover in supermarkets ranges from 150 to 550 rubles. Add to this the cost of fabric softener (another 150-200 rubles per liter, on average). The price of one liter of 9% vinegar solution is no more than 80 rubles.
Naturally, it's not in the interests of manufacturers to have people use such a simple, cheap, and effective product. This is precisely why so many online articles claim to be harmful when using vinegar for laundry. Manufacturers simply have their own agenda.
In fact, a vinegar solution is an excellent replacement for any brand-name bleach or descaling agent. It removes stains and dirt just as well as popular household chemicals, but is much cheaper. It's a great way to save money.
In fact, a vinegar solution is even used to wipe the rubber seal in the washing machine door. This is an excellent preventative against mold, harmful bacteria, and other nasty things, especially in the lower part of the rubber seal, where moisture accumulates after the washing machine has been running.
Thirdly, the vinegar solution eliminates any strong odors (sweat, urine, cigarettes, gasoline, etc.).
Fourthly, vinegar is an excellent remedy not only for odor and dirt, but also for disinfection.
Vinegar has a very valuable property.
It copes well with various bacteria and fungi, which is especially important when caring for babies' clothes.
Another plus: vinegar is a natural product. It's unlikely to use, for example, harsh bleach on newborns' clothes. Vinegar, in addition to its bleaching properties, is also hypoallergenic: no rash, itching, or irritation. It also sanitizes perfectly.
IMPORTANT: To disinfect fabrics, use vinegar WITHOUT laundry detergent. Use in the rinse cycle! If bleaching is required, pour the vinegar solution into the laundry detergent compartment. Use no more than 150-200 ml.
Fifth, clothes washed with vinegar solution will stop sticking to your skin, as the vinegar solution neutralizes static electricity. Simply add 100 ml of vinegar solution instead of regular fabric softener to the static charge compartment of your washing machine.
Perhaps the only downside to using vinegar in the washing machine is the smell of the vinegar itself. The smell does linger on clothes after washing. But! Getting rid of it doesn't require any complicated steps. It disappears completely within a couple of hours.
The same goes for your washing machine. Just leave the door open for a few hours. The vinegar smell will disappear completely.
