The scene usually starts the same way: it’s a quiet Sunday, there’s coffee on the counter, and you can see that one kitchen towel in full light. Once white, now a tired mix of yellow, grey, and strange orange stains that never really go away. You’ve soaked it, boiled it, and drowned it in baking soda more times than you can count. Still dirty. Still a little embarrassing to hang on the oven door when people come over.
That’s where the drama starts these days. A new way to whiten that tells you to stop using baking soda and use a very different mix is spreading quickly on cleaning forums and TikTok. Some cleaners say it will change your life. Some people say it’s a waste of time, dangerous, or just another trend.
One thing is for sure: kitchen towels have never caused this much trouble.
No more baking soda? The world of cleaning is divided
You can see it in any cleaning group: baking soda is no longer the best thing to use in the laundry room. A new refrain keeps coming up in angry comment threads and pictures of “before and after” tea towels: “Stop using it to whiten everything.” The accusation is very clear. Baking soda is great for getting rid of smells and light stains, but a lot of people say it doesn’t bring back the crisp, hotel-style white on kitchen linens that have been soaked in grease, tea, and tomato sauce.
For some people, the disappointment feels very personal. They did everything “right”: soaked them overnight, scrubbed them, and pre-washed them. Yes, the towel was softer, but it was still that dull dishwater white. So the search for a better, smarter way to do things began.
For example, Ana, who is 37 years old and runs a small catering business from her home kitchen. She washes about twenty tea towels every week. They are all stained with olive oil, coffee, and curry. For years, she swore by her grandmother’s mix of hot water, baking soda, and a little bit of laundry detergent. The towels were clean enough, but the colour changed from white to “old rental apartment beige” over time.
Ana put a picture of her towels online one day and asked for help. Within an hour, dozens of comments came in, such as “Stop using baking soda; it’s not a whitener,” “You need oxygen bleach,” and “Try the enzyme soak.” Someone even wrote, in a harsh way, “Baking soda is not a miracle; it is a deodoriser.” That sting made her want to try the new method that everyone was talking about.
The logic is simple, even though there is a lot of noise and feelings. Stains from grease, protein, and tannin don’t all react the same way. Baking soda changes the pH of water and helps break up dirt, but it doesn’t actually break down colour molecules or oxidise the deep tea and tomato pigments. **That’s where the new “no-soda” school comes in.It uses a mix of oxygen bleach, enzymes, and controlled heat to break down the stain’s structure instead of just making the fabric smell better.
That’s why the argument gets so heated. It’s not only about towels. It’s about getting rid of tricks we’ve learned from our mothers and grandmothers and accepting that a product we thought could do everything might not be able to. For some, that feels like a bottle of betrayal.
The new way to whiten that everyone is talking about
One strict rule that divides cleaners is that there should be no baking soda in the whitening soak. Not a bit. You should start with a basin or bucket of very hot water, as hot as your fabric label says it can be. People add a specific mix to that: unscented detergent with enzymes, a spoon or two of oxygen bleach (the kind made from sodium percarbonate, not chlorine), and a splash of plain dish soap for towels that are greasy. This “cocktail” soaks the towels for two hours to overnight.
Then, they go right into a full wash cycle with detergent and oxygen bleach. If the fabric can handle it, the temperature can be as high as 60°C. The result is amazing when it works: grey towels get back their bright, clear white colour, and coloured edges look cleaner without fading.
This is where the perfect Pinterest fantasy meets real life, of course. A lot of people just put everything in the machine and set it to quick wash. Let’s be honest: no one does this every day. That’s why the method is often called a “reset” for linens once a month instead of every meal.
In a Facebook group, one person told a story that was very telling. She had a pile of tea towels that were stained with red wine, curry, and years of coffee drips. The full enzyme and oxygen bleach soak was her “last chance” try. After eight hours and a hot wash, she posted pictures that made everyone go crazy. People zoomed in to see if she had used filters because the oldest towel wasn’t brand-new white, but the difference was so clear. People are still sharing that post months later.
There is some laundry science behind this method’s success that sounds harder than it really is. Enzymes in detergent “cut” stains made of food, milk, eggs, and sweat. When oxygen bleach is mixed with hot water, it releases active oxygen, which breaks down colour molecules in stains like tea, coffee, and tomato. Without the small amount of baking soda, the pH stays closer to what these products need to work best. Some professional cleaners say that using baking soda too often can leave a light film on fibres that traps dirt and makes them look dull over time.
This doesn’t mean that baking soda doesn’t work. It works great for deodorising and gently scrubbing hard surfaces. People who are switching to this new method for tough whitening jobs on fabric say that the tools are just more focused now. And they don’t want to go back yet.
Using the method at home without ruining your towels
To start this at home, you need just one bucket and your worst towel. Put a lot of very hot water in the bucket, almost to the point of steaming. If your towel is greasy from frying pans and roasting trays, add a small scoop of enzyme-based detergent, one to two tablespoons of oxygen bleach powder, and a dash of mild dish soap. Mix until it is gone.
Put your towel in and push it down until it’s completely soaked. Then leave. For light stains, two hours; for deep yellowing, up to overnight. The next morning, put everything in the machine, add your regular detergent and another small spoon of oxygen bleach, and run a full cycle. No fabric softener, which can coat fibres and dull that bright white you just worked so hard for.
This method has a lot of fans and a lot of critics for a reason. People who use too much of the products, like boiling their towels in a soup of chemicals, then complain about stiff fabric or damage. Some people don’t pay attention to care labels and wash their tea towels at 90°C “just to be sure,” which makes them warped or shrunken. The key is to hold back: less stuff, more time.
If your skin is sensitive, gloves can help. When you work with powders, good ventilation can also help. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, start with small tasks. One towel, one soak, and no stress. We’ve all been there: when the laundry basket looks like a crime scene and you want to give up. Little victories matter.
Some professional cleaners say the same thing over and over: “Don’t decorate with your towels; use them as tools.” Give them a good cleaning, but don’t hurt them. That one sentence stops half of the fights in online groups.
First, try it out on an old towel.
You won’t have to give up your favourite set if it goes wrong. You also learn how long to soak your water and products.
For regular cleaning, don’t use chlorine bleach.
It can quickly break down fibres, making your towels thin and scratchy even if they look bright at first.
Don’t use fabric softener on kitchen towels.
Softener can hold onto smells and grease, which is the opposite of what you want near food and dishes.
Change out the “pretty” and “workhorse” towels.
For days when you need to do a lot of cooking, keep a few older, less perfect towels. For lighter use, keep the nicest ones.*Know that not every stain will go away*
Some scars from battle stay. Even after washing, a towel can still have a faint smell of curry night.
Why this simple argument about towels gets to people
The question seems silly at first: who really cares if you use baking soda or not? But the emotional response to this new whitening method says something about how we live at home now. We try to do too many “hacks,” feel bad when our spaces don’t look like what we see online, and hold on to family recipes for comfort. When someone says, “That old trick doesn’t work as well as you think,” it hurts your pride as much as your laundry habits.
The enzymes and oxygen bleach are not the most interesting parts of this trend. It’s the pictures that don’t have filters, the admissions of “I’ve been washing wrong for years,” and the little happiness that comes when a towel comes out surprisingly white. Some people will rush to try the method tonight, while others will stick with baking soda because they are loyal or it’s easier. There is room for real conversations about what “clean” means, what we want from our home, and how much energy we want to spend chasing perfect white between the two.
Important pointDetail: What the reader gets out of it
Bleach with oxygen and enzymesWorks better than baking soda alone on deep food and drink staibsWhitening that is clearer and more visible on old kitchen towels
Soak time is more important than how much product you have.Long warm or hot soaks with small amounts of chemicals are better than “chemical overload.”Saves money, keeps fabrics safe, and makes things less frustrating
No fabric softener on kitchen towelsSoftener coats fibres and traps smells and grease.Towels that are cleaner, more absorbent, and really dry dishes
