There are often very few options between bargain basement linen and luxurious Egyptian cotton or organic bamboo sets worth $400.
But one hack could have you sleeping in soft sheets that feel like hotel bedding for just a fraction of the price.
Adding the cost-effective mixture of a cup of baking soda and half a cup of white vinegar to the wash will soften up your stiff sheets, according to TruTV’s Hack My Life.
A cost-effective mixture added to the wash could have you sleeping in soft sheets that feel like hotel bedding for just a fraction of the price (stock image)
Adding the cost-effective mixture of a cup of baking soda and half a cup of white vinegar to the wash will soften up your stiff sheets, according to TruTV’s Hack My Life (stock image)
The show tested baking soda and vinegar-washed sheets alongside expensive linen on six blind testers.
After lying in the sheets, five of the six testers were tricked into believing the cheap set was actually the luxury linen, according to 9 Honey.
A 500g bag of homebrand baking soda can be purchased from Woolworths for AUD$1.60, while a 750mL bottle of white vinegar costs $3.40 at Coles.
Each sheet-softening mixture – which is about 240mL of baking soda and 120 mL of vinegar – can therefore be as cheap as $1.35 per use.
The best results can be achieved by starting the baking soda and vinegar wash cycle on hot before switching to cold during the rinse cycle, the publication reported.
After lying in the baking soda and vinegar-washed sheets, five of six blind testers were tricked into believing the cheap set was actually the luxury linen (stock image)
But it’s not the first time vinegar has come in handy for something other than your hot chips.
Last year, London’s Good Housekeeping Institute put to the test the theory that vinegar may be just the thing for grimy socks, grubby bras and sad shirts – an old housewives’ trick dating to Victorian times.
Junior tester at the Institute Emily Shuttleworth said: ‘I tried it on a few of my own clothes – white gym socks that had turned a delightful shade of brown and a cream jumper that had gone grey after I accidentally washed it with coloureds.
‘I was very doubtful the vinegar would work but they all came out whiter, cleaner and fresher. I will now use it at home.’
The institute said vinegar is a versatile item which is ‘much safer’ to have against your skin than bleach or ammonia.