Homemade Color-Safe Bleach Saves Cash
I used to buy plastic bottles of color-safe ‘bleach’ but the cost really added up. Now I make my own with two simple ingredients that I already had on hand. You’ll save money and reduce your plastic waste on laundry with these easy instructions for homemade color-safe bleach. I’ve also shared other ways to brighten your whites and deep clean your colored clothes with inexpensive ingredients. I love saving money on our cleaning supplies and throwing out less trash!
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Easy Instructions for Homemade Color-Safe Bleach
Color-safe bleach can be made from two simple ingredients, water and 3% hydrogen peroxide (#ad). If you purchase a stronger concentration of hydrogen peroxide, you’ll need to dilute it to a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide. I purchased it in a 1-gallon size for about $7 at my local grocery store (2023 prices). I have also seen it for sale online but it will cost more and you might pay for shipping, also.
Homemade Color-Safe Bleach
3 quarts water to 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide = 1-gallon color-safe bleach
Mix these ingredients together and store them in a plastic bottle out of direct sunlight for the best results. Add your homemade color-safe bleach to the bleach dispenser in your washer. Do not pour it onto dry clothing or it may cause discoloration. If you wish, you may dilute this solution for a weaker concentration.
Bleach Boosting Tip: You may add up to 1/4 cup of washing soda to 1 gallon of homemade bleach solution. Put the cap on and shake well to dissolve the washing soda before using. Pour this mixture into your bleach dispenser in the washer or soak clothing in this solution for about half an hour to help get rid of stains. When soaking items in the non-chlorine bleach, be sure that the clothing isn’t bunched up, preventing the solution from cleaning the item thoroughly
Cost for Homemade Color-Safe Bleach
My price for color-safe bleach (without the washing soda) is about $7 for 4 gallons and it reduces my plastic waste from color-safe bleach by about 75%. The price in my area for color-safe bleach (#ad) at the store works out to about $10.40 per gallon, more than four times the cost of my homemade version. (Prices from 2023)
That’s just a little bit more than one-third the cost of homemade color-safe bleach!
Learn how to make your own laundry products (#ad) from inexpensive items you might already have around the house!
Tips for Brighter Whites and Cleaner Clothes
Here are some other ways to get your clothes looking and smelling fresh and clean:
- Hang laundry on your clothesline – the sun brightens, deodorizes, and whitens laundry
- Add washing soda (#ad) to your laundry to deep-clean clothes
- Add up to 1 cup of lemon juice to a load of laundry to brighten white clothes
- Use 1 cup of distilled white vinegar to brighten, deodorize, and whiten laundry
Are you still having trouble getting your clothes really clean? You might like Oxi-clean (#ad) for your laundry.
Reduce Your Waste & Save Money by Making Your Own Household Products
I’m working to reduce my household waste and save money on products I can make at home. It’s great to know that I’m creating my own non-toxic color-safe bleach for a fraction of the cost of what I used to pay at the store. I still need to purchase hydrogen peroxide in a plastic bottle but a 1-gallon container makes 4 gallons of my bleach alternative… a reduction of 75%! I’m gonna come clean with you here… I didn’t expect my homemade version to work as well… but it does, and I’m pretty happy about that!
Why not just use sodium percarbonate, the dry version of hydrogen peroxide. It is shelf stable and a LOT cheaper than $1.75 per gallon.
Hi Carol,
I had never heard of that before. Where do you purchase it? That would save even more packaging, too… I bet! Thanks for the suggestion. 🙂
Lisa
How long will this be shelf stable for, since peroxide doesn’t keep indefinitely? Love this idea. Thank you.Carla
Hi Carla,
I haven’t tried keeping it for more than 2 or 3 months. I would try making only as much as you need for maybe 3 or 4 months at a time. Thanks for stopping by… I hope this is helpful!
Lisa