White Beds, White Baths, White Sofas: Oh My!
This post brought to you by Clorox Bleach Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.
If you take a look around my house, you’ll see right away that I have a thing for white. It’s classic, clean, and totally versatile.
I swoon over white bedding (it’s on 4 of the beds in our house)…
I’m still not over my white sofa (this is in the basement where the kids and their friends hang out a lot)…
And I’ll always love a white bathroom (we have white tile and grout in all but one of our bathrooms)…
That’s a lot of white. But it doesn’t scare me a bit. Not because it never gets dirty, but because it’s not hard to get it looking great again.
My secret weapon is not really a secret at all. It’s Clorox Liquid Bleach, and you probably have some in your laundry room right now.
Clorox has always been great for laundering whites. I bleach my white Pottery Barn slipcover and all our white duvet covers a couple times a year.
But, it works like magic in a white bathroom as well. When our white grout starts looking a little dingy, I give it a Clorox treatment and it looks great again in no time.
Here’s my little routine…
Fill a spray bottle with equal parts Clorox bleach and water. (You can get these spray bottles at Dollar General for only $1). Notice that dirty grout?
Spray the grout lines with the bleach mixture and leave it for 30 minutes to an hour. Open windows and turn on fans to allow for proper circulation. After you’ve allowed it to soak, simply wipe off with a wet cloth. For more stubborn areas, use a small brush to scrub the grout, then wipe with the cloth. Don’t forget to wear old clothes when working with bleach and wear gloves if you have sensitive skin.
You’ll be amazed at the difference. I took these before and after pics in the same exact spot…
See what I mean?
My all-white shower gets the same treatment on a weekly basis to keep it clean and disinfected.
When we chose this tile and grout as we were building the house 3 years ago, our builder told me I would regret it. But when he was recently at our house and saw that the grout is still bright white, he was shocked and asked me how I keep it looking so clean. I told him my secret, and I think he’s convinced.
So, don’t be scared of white. Use this method on your ceramic tile and grout to keep it sparkling.
You can find a great assortment of Clorox bleach at a great value at your local Dollar General Store.
And now you can also get concentrated Clorox in a smaller bottle for even easier cleaning and better whitening.
You’ll get the same number of uses in the smaller bottle as you do in the large. But this means less waste and less space!
Pick up some Clorox at Dollar General today and lose your fear of decorating with white!
My name is Rita
October 27, 2012 @ 8:14 pm
i love white too! I also have white duvets in the master and guest room and a white slip cover sofa and a white master bathroom! I also have no trouble keeping it clean. In fact I like it. I can see when it is dirty and I wash it. No yucky camouflaged stains and dirt
Trish
October 28, 2012 @ 10:07 am
Thanks for the great tip, Im always looking for an easier way to make the bathroom shine. i often use the bleach style toilet cleaner as the nozzle makes it easy to squeeze straight onto the grout lines!!
P.S i love you bathroom, its stunning!!
The Rosegarden in Malevik
October 28, 2012 @ 12:12 pm
Hello Julie
that´s CLEAN 🙂
wonderful photos,,,,,,
and do not miss….
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it is FUN 🙂
WELCOME
Håkan ( The Roseman)
Sandy
October 28, 2012 @ 2:00 pm
Can you give me your method for washing those slipcovers? I am afraid that the bleach will yellow the fabric. How much do you use and do you fill the washer first?
Julie
October 29, 2012 @ 1:18 am
I wash my slipcovers on the delicate cycle in my front loading washer with the max amount of bleach allowed. I've done this several times & so far so good on mine! Hope that helps you
NanaDiana
October 28, 2012 @ 9:51 pm
Hi Julie- I am back from my blogging break. I love Clorox and use it for everything I want to keep white-including grout! xo Diana
mariahanson
October 28, 2012 @ 11:51 pm
I can not believe I JUST FOUND YOUR BLOG. I am hooked!!! I love your style but I am most impressed with your love of the most important thing in life…Jesus. I can't wait to sit down with a cup of tea and read through the whole thing.
Julie
October 29, 2012 @ 12:42 am
Great! So glad you're here 🙂
Kala Roberts
October 29, 2012 @ 2:34 pm
Do you have any tips on how to bleach the white parts of a duvet cover/comforter without bleaching the whole thing? I have a white duvet cover but it has grey flowers on it as well, and I'd like to find a way to get it the cleanest without messing up the grey.
Julie
October 29, 2012 @ 2:41 pm
It's probably best not to use regular bleach on a comforter like that. I would suggest Clorox 2 which is safe for colors. Here's what Clorox has to say about their Clorox 2:
Clorox 2® product uses the power of oxygen action to safely* remove stains from clothes. This formula works best on a broad range of colored stains such as beverages (e.g., coffee, tea, wine), fruits/vegetables (e.g., blueberry, grape, cherry) and spaghetti sauce. It also contains an optical brightener to boost the color of your clothes and whiten whites. This product is specially formulated to be safe for all colors and can be used in almost all loads*. In addition, Clorox 2® product† cleans and brightens colors better than the leading detergent alone. Available in both liquid and powder versions.
* Use as directed
† For liquid Clorox 2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster, pre-treat for best results.
Hope that helps you!
Michelle Palumbo
January 2, 2015 @ 3:39 pm
Hi Julie, I know this blog post is from 2012 so not sure if you check comments. I was wondering how you keep your white duvet so smooth and not wrinkly? I think I have the exact same cal king duvet and shams from pottery barn (The Grand Embroidered) white and gray set, but my duvet is super wrinkly and the edges of my euro shams are floppy- not straight like yours. Any tips?