White sheets have a classic look that will complement any bedroom decor. However, keeping bedding clean and pristine can be a challenge, especially after you’ve used the items for a year or longer. My bed sheets and pillowcases had started to yellow, veer on the grey side, and needed a revival.
There are many natural ways to whiten bedding and laundry shared online, like using soda crystals, baking soda or the common favourite – white vinegar. However, there’s one method that doesn’t require any additional products aside from your laundry soap — and that’s to use sunlight. To see how effective this was, I put my bed sheets and pillowcases on a regular wash and left them to dry in the sun on my Vileda Sun-Rise Outdoor Rotary Clothes Dryer 50m. Currently retailing for £116.99, down from £167.99 on Amazon, this washing line helped with this natural laundry tip.
I started by putting my bed sheets and pillowcases in the wash, just using my standard laundry liquid, and set to to a full cycle at 60 degrees.
In the meantime, I started by assembling the Vileda clothes dryer. You can either opt for installing it with concrete or on the lawn using the ground screw – I opted for the latter.
The dryer comes with an iron rod, which is inserted through two holes at the top of the plastic ground screw. Then, once you have selected the best place for your airer, simply turn the metal rod clockwise until the screw is firmly and securely in the ground.
Plug the upper part of the dryer into the lower part, so that the two screw holes are aligned, and turn the enclosed screw completely in the screw hole and tighten the bolt.
As the ground was very dry, given the recent hot UK weather, getting the plastic screw deep enough required a lot of elbow grease. However, everything after that was a breeze.
The Vileda Sun-Rise rotary airer is pretty easy to use. Before you start, use the button located at the top of the dryer to adjust it to your preferred height.
Then take the red handle attached to the outer plastic shell and pull to open up the dryer. If you need to increase the tension of the lines, just push up on the red lever at the bottom of the airer once or twice as needed. And then you’re ready to go.
At this point, the washing cycle had finished, and I was ready to hang up the bedding outside in the sunlight. I made sure to spread out the laundry on the washing line to make sure the sun was able to reach it all.
So, what makes this natural method effective? Well, the sun’s ultraviolet rays can cause colourful clothes to fade, but they also brighten white laundry. The sun acts as a natural bleaching agent, brightening your whites even more.
The UV rays not only bleach laundry, but also kill many types of germs and help to disinfect fabrics – perfect for bedding.
Hanging your sheets on a line can also help to remove creases as they blow in the breeze, minimising the need for ironing, which is better for the fibres.
After three hours, the bedding had dried, and I took them inside to see if they had whitened. While it wasn’t a huge difference, I could tell that the sheets were whiter than usual.
It’s important to make sure to take down the items after a few hours to avoid sun and heat damage.
If you’re looking for a solid, dependable rotary airer for your garden, I found this offering from Vildea to be a great option.
However, there are other rotary clothes dryers on the market if you’re on a tighter budget. You can pick up the Brabantia 50m Rotary Airer at Lakeland for £84.99, currently down from £99.99 or the Rotary Outdoor Airer from Dunelm for just £80.
