How to remove yellowness from tulle at home

Today, a huge number of options for decorating window openings are available, but the classic white tulle is still in demand. How to tidy up yellowed tulle? What home remedies can be helpful in this?

What is tulle?

Probably few people know that the name "tulle" comes from the city of the same name in France. The following definition is closer to us: tulle is a light transparent mesh fabric made from natural or synthetic fibers.

The canvas can be matte or transparent, additional decoration with embroidery or lace is permissible. The following fabrics are most often used as tulle:

• Organza. A canvas made from silk or synthetic fibers is smooth, airy and very durable. Organza does not allow air to pass through, but does not impede sunlight. It does not accumulate dust and is considered an excellent choice for allergy sufferers.
• Mesh is often used as a tulle. It allows both air and light to pass through and does not require complex maintenance. It is used both as an independent element for decorating a window opening and in a "company" with thick curtains. Recently, more and more often the mesh is placed over the curtains, while choosing contrasting colors. The only caveat: the mesh accumulates dust, which means that it should not be hung in a room where allergy sufferers live.
• Veil is a translucent fabric made of silk, cotton or woolen threads. Does not accumulate dust, perfectly transmits light and air. Doesn't require any special care.
• Kiseya or cotton curtains. Not every interior will "withstand" such a window design, but if you guessed right with the style of the room, such curtains will answer you with a decent appearance and good functionality. They are made of different threads: silk, cotton, synthetic.

Care features

Even if the material is sufficiently durable, it is important to follow certain rules of care. So how do you wash tulle at home?

1. At the first stage, the canvas is soaked in a soapy solution at room temperature. In order to get rid of light yellowness, add salt or soda after 20-30 minutes. We will talk about tulle bleaching in more detail below. It is recommended to change the soap solution several times until the desired result is obtained.
2. The tulle must not be rubbed. It is easy enough to squeeze it with your hands and then just rinse.
3. The last rinse is done in cold water.
4. Do not wring out the tulle under any circumstances. It is enough to hang the canvas so that water flows from it, and you can hang it on the cornice in a slightly damp state - the tulle will dry quickly. The main thing is to straighten the wet tulle well so that there are no sticky folds, then after drying the curtain will be in perfect condition. If you leave folds on the wet tulle, it will be quite difficult to smooth them out later.

There are several more methods of "cleaning" the tulle, which, unfortunately, are not used by everyone.

• Airing. Thus, you can get rid of dust and musty odors in the room. This is true if no one has lived in the room for a long time, as well as in the case when there is no visible pollution on the curtain, and it does not need major cleaning.For airing, you need to choose a day when there is a strong wind outside, stretch the curtain over the entire width of the window and open the sash wide open. The procedure will take at least 3-4 hours. If it is not possible to devote so much time, there is no point in starting - in 20-30 minutes the situation will not radically change.
• Vacuum cleaning. The main problem of tulle is dust accumulation. The particles literally eat into the fibers, and it is very difficult to "get" them out of there. It happens that even washing does not help. If you plan to clean the tulle in a hanging position, you will need a special soft brush. Go through the folds carefully, especially on the inside. It is better if a plain cover is put on the soft attachment for a more gentle cleaning.
• Washing in a washing machine. Immediately, we note that not all fabrics "withstand" such water procedures. But if the canvas can be machine washed, then be sure to choose a gentle mode and a temperature of no more than 40 degrees.

How to whiten

And yet the main disadvantage of tulle is the loss of whiteness. Of course, here we are talking about curtains, which were originally characterized by boiling whiteness. Unfortunately, even with very careful operation, the hated yellow tint appears over time. For some, this fact is a verdict on the curtains, but, believe me, it is possible to get rid of it.

To begin with, let's answer the question of where the yellow spots on the tulle come from. There may be several reasons:

• Dust and grease settling (this is especially typical for curtains in the kitchen).
• Street soot and exhaust fumes (if the window has to be kept open often, but it goes out into the street with active traffic).
• Regular washing without soaking and pre-removing dust.
• When artificial canvases are washed in water, the temperature of which is above 40 degrees.
• Tobacco smoke.
• Exposure to sunlight also invariably leads to yellowing on the tulle fabric.

Automatic bleaching machine

If we are talking about cotton curtains, then they can be washed at higher temperatures, as well as using aggressive powders and bleaches. If you want to bleach nylon fiber tulle, it is recommended to choose the washing mode and detergent more carefully. Finally, the required preparatory steps will help to achieve the best end result:

1. Shake out the tulle well.
2. Carefully inspect the canvas, and, depending on the dirt (stains, yellowness, grayness), select cleaning agents.
3. First, rinse the tulle in soapy water (you can add 1-2 tablespoons of Fairy).
4. Machine wash with any oxygen bleach.
5. To eliminate unpleasant odors, it is recommended to use a fabric softener.

If there is no visible dirt on the tulle, and you just want to freshen up the fabric, shake it out and turn it at minimum speed and for minimum time. Be sure to set the delicate cycle.

And now TOP 8 proven ways to whiten tulle from yellowness at home.

Ammonia

Pour 7 liters of water into the basin and add 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide and 1 tablespoon of ammonia. Place the tulle in the solution and leave for 20-40 minutes. After soaking, be sure to rinse in clean cool water and hang to dry.

Salt

This is really, truly, a tool that is always at hand! It turns out that it is indispensable in the process of tulle bleaching.

We start bleaching. To begin with, dissolve salt in warm water (no higher than 40 degrees Celsius), at the rate of 2 tablespoons per 1 liter of water. After the salt has completely dissolved, add the delicate wash powder (carefully read the recommendations on the detergent packaging!).

Now you can dip the tulle. The cloth should be soaked for at least two hours. For a more even effect, regularly turn the curtains in the solution. After 2 hours, the curtain should be rinsed and then machine washed.

If the curtain is very yellow, then you can use an even more concentrated solution - 1 kg of salt for 5-6 liters of water. The duration of soaking in such a solution is no more than 1.5 hours. The salt will surely soften all the dirt and plaque, therefore, after this procedure, the water must be drained, poured clean and washed by hand. This method is considered one of the most effective.

Soda

Another substance that no self-respecting mistress can do without. Soda does an excellent job with both gray bloom and yellowness. It is important to remember that a soda solution is used between just soaking and a full wash.

So, in order to whiten the curtains with soda, you need to prepare a solution: dissolve 2 tablespoons of soda and 100 grams of washing powder in 10 liters of water. If, in your case, the tulle is not too dirty, then after soaking in a soda solution, simply rinse the curtain.

Blue

Several decades ago, blue was an integral part of any housewife's collection of essential nutrients. Today, most likely, blue is not found in every home. And yet, faced with the problem of yellowness, it makes sense to acquire it.

The algorithm of action is simple: dissolve half a teaspoon of blue in 10 liters of water. You should get a solution of a uniform blue tint. We soak the tulle curtain and then rinse it. If you don't like the effect of the “procedure”, try repeating it with the addition of vinegar. As a result, you are guaranteed to get a snow-white tulle, quickly and at no additional cost.

Zelenka

Agree, it sounds rather strange, but brilliant green will really help in removing yellow bloom or untidy grayness from the tulle.

How to whiten tulle with brilliant green? Pour saline solution into a bowl of water (2 tablespoons of salt per 1 liter). Separately, dilute 10-12 drops of brilliant green in a glass of water, mix well. We wait a couple of minutes and combine with a saline solution. Using this method, it is important to remember that we immerse the previously washed tulle in the solution with brilliant green. Rinse lightly and hang to dry.

Salt will make the canvas more elastic, and a small concentration of brilliant green will return the lost whiteness.

Laundry soap

1. So, on a grater we rub 100 grams of laundry soap (72%).
2. Fill the "shavings" with water and put on fire.
3. We heat until a homogeneous soapy mass is obtained. Then we collect the required amount of water in the basin, add 150 grams of any washing powder.
4. After that, add soapy water to the basin, stir and then immerse the tulle. Soak for 1-1.5 hours, until the soapy solution has completely cooled. In the process of soaking, the cloth must be turned over so that the effect of the composition is uniform.
5. After soaking, rinse the tulle in cold or cool water. And at the final stage of processing, we wash it in a washing machine.

Starch

In addition to bleaching, starch will make your curtain thicker, it won't wrinkle. Cotton and linen curtains stay clean longer because the starch repels dust.

To bleach with starch, the solution is: add starch to cold water. The approximate proportion is 250 grams per 10 liters of water. We put the container with the solution on fire and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. We add the resulting paste to a bowl of water, where we will wash. The main condition: there should be no lumps in the pelvis. To avoid this trouble, you can strain the paste through several layers of gauze.

We lower the tulle into the solution until it is completely absorbed, and then squeeze it out and hang it so that there are no folds.

Potassium permanganate

Another way to quickly bleach tulle at home is potassium permanganate.

We make a non-concentrated solution of a pale pink color (the main thing is that there are no manganese crystals left), mix with laundry soap, and immerse the tulle for 5-6 hours. After that, rinse and dry.

The fact that white tulle becomes untidy yellow over time is inevitable. However, this is not at all a reason to part with your favorite curtains. In addition to numerous chemicals, the manufacturers of which promise you to return the original whiteness, you have at your disposal proven folk remedies, thanks to which your interior will once again shine with cleanliness and freshness.

Video: how to bleach tulle?