Question
What is the best was to restore a dingy, white bathing suit to its original pure white color?
Answer
It can be very difficult to keep an item like a swimsuit white because it can pick up body soil and sunscreen. If it also has a “hand wash in cold water” care label, that also makes keeping it white and bright difficult. And if the swimsuit contains any spandex, then using a sodium hypochlorite based bleach like Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach is out of the question.
Don’t worry–you still have options! You can use color safe bleach to whiten white items you can’t wash with regular bleach. An overnight presoak using Clorox 2® For Colors Powder will be very helpful. Dissolve 1 scoop powder in 2 gallons of hot water, then fully submerge the suit in the soaking solution, and let it soak overnight. Use a dishwasher safe dinner plate to weigh it down so the suit is all way in the soaking solution. Let it soak for up to 8 hours or overnight, then pour off the soaking solution, transfer the suit to a mesh laundry bag, and machine wash on the delicate cycle in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and more Clorox 2® For Colors Powder.
If you prefer to use Clorox 2® For Colors 3-in-1 Liquid to presoak, use 1 capful of liquid Clorox 2® added to 1 quart of water. Let the swimsuit soak for 1 hour, then transfer the suit to a mesh laundry bag before machine washing on the delicate cycle in the hottest water allowed using a good detergent and more Clorox 2®.
Swimsuits should only air dry, so lay the swimsuit flat to dry on a clean towel.
