White sheets will be brighter using 2 ingredients – not bleach

There’s nothing quite like sliding into a bed made up with crisp, white sheets at the end of a long day. Bright, clean linens can make even the most ordinary evening feel a little more luxurious, like slipping into a hotel bed in your own home.

But over time, those once-gleaming sheets can lose their lustre, dulled by body oils, sweat, and mystery smudges that never seem to wash out completely. Now, there’s a simple solution that doesn’t involve harsh chemicals or bleach, and it’s probably already in your cupboards.

Shifrah Combiths, a contributor at Apartment Therapy, shared a laundry formula that’s gone viral for its simplicity and effectiveness.

“For brilliantly white sheets, here’s the formula,” Combiths explained. “Add about a half cup of baking soda to the drum of the washing machine and then add distilled white vinegar to the fabric softener dispenser.”

The key lies in keeping the ingredients separate throughout the wash cycle.

“Allowing vinegar and baking soda to mix in the process will render each of them no more useful than salt,” she said.

“Splitting them up allows them each to work their magic without interference.”

And work their magic, they do. Combiths reported seeing a dramatic improvement after just one wash: “I could hardly believe how much whiter and, incidentally, softer our sheets were. My husband even noticed – and y’all know that means there was a noticeable difference!”

The unsightly yellowing from body oils, sweat, and other grime that haunts even freshly laundered sheets can finally meet its match.

Many have bemoaned the disappointment of pulling “clean” sheets from the dryer, only to find lingering stains in the form of vague body shapes or head outlines. This new method offers a gentle yet effective alternative to bleach, which can degrade fabric over time and irritate skin.

Combiths adds that she’s now “hooked” on the technique, calling it “simple, effective, safe, and exertion-free.”

So if “clean sheet night” has ever been dampened by stubborn stains, consider this your new go-to remedy.

With just two pantry staples and zero bleach, your white sheets can be restored to their hotel-level brightness.