• Keep even your brightest whites looking great.wedding image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
  
  Many people keep a bottle of chlorine bleach handy to remove stains and to keep their whites looking bright. However, bleach can be poisonous if ingested---especially to children---and if used improperly, it can ruin clothing. Instead of dealing with bleach, use some other methods to keep your whites white.
  
  

Lemon Juice and Baking Soda

• Use lemon juice and baking soda to not only make your whites whiter, but also make your brights brighter. Add the juice from half a lemon along with 1 cup of baking soda to the washing machine. Wash your clothes as normal. When you take the clothes out you'll notice they look like new and smell lemon fresh. The baking soda works to deodorize, clean and whiten the clothing; while the lemon juice helps to kill bacteria and brighten the clothes.
  
  

Sunlight

• Sunlight brightens your whites for free. During the spring and summer months (you can do this during fall and winter if you live in warm climates), hang your clothes on a clothesline to dry. Your white clothes will be whiter, your colors will be brighter, and all of the clothing will be static free. Although not the fastest method to drying your clothes, being eco-friendly and bleach-free is worth the extra time.
  
  

Ammonia

• Use ammonia in place of bleach. Not only will ammonia keep your whites looking brand new, but it will never affect the fabric like bleach can. Mix 1/4 cup of ammonia in the washer and wash as normal. Keep in mind that you should never mix ammonia with bleach. This can cause fatal chlorine gas to drift through the air.