Baking soda, available for around 65p at Aldi or 59p at Morrisons, can help remove stubborn stains and lingering odours from laundry, according to consumer advice from Which?.
The inexpensive cupboard staple, also sold as bicarbonate of soda, is best known as a raising agent for baking. Which? recommends using it to “pre-soak any smelly items” before they go into the washing machine.
How to use baking soda on laundry
Which? explains: “If your laundry basket is full of grass-stained rugby kit or sweaty gym gear, the chances are it's already not smelling its best. Rather than chucking these items straight into the machine, give them a good soak beforehand to help minimise the chance of odours clinging on through the wash.”
“You can dissolve half a cup of baking soda in a basin of warm water, soak the garments for half an hour and then wash them in the machine as normal. You can soak particularly smelly items for longer if necessary.”
Other household uses for baking soda
Baking brand Dr Oetker notes that baking soda is not just for cooking: “It’s also great for tackling all kinds of tasks around the home thanks to its alkali properties.” Suggested uses include placing some in an open bowl in the fridge to eliminate odours, making a paste with lemon juice to remove grease from an oven, adding a scoop to the washing machine to remove stains, and mixing it with vinegar to create a kitchen cleaning spray.
White vinegar is another option that Which? says “works well too”. Mix one part vinegar with four parts water and use it in the same way as the pre-soak, but rinse items thoroughly before putting them in the drum, as leftover acidity could damage the machine.
Remove washing promptly and skip fabric softener
Which? advises taking washing out and hanging it up as soon as the cycle ends. Leaving clothes in a warm, damp drum for hours can make them smell worse, and fabrics like cotton and wool hold onto moisture for longer. Which? says: “The general rule is that a few hours is the limit before you'll need to wash the items again, but in an ideal world, you'd remove your clean items as soon as possible when the cycle ends. The delay-start setting on your machine could come in handy here, allowing you to schedule a load to finish when you'll have time to handle it.”
Which? also explains that repeatedly adding fabric conditioner can make clothes smell worse over time. It can leave a build-up on fabrics, stopping detergent from soaking in and cleaning properly. “It can also essentially 'trap' odours in your clothes by creating a coating over the top of them, making them much trickier to shift for good,” it adds.
