Over time, can become stained with the likes of make-up, hand lotion, facial oils and everyday dirt and grime. Fed up with dingy off-white towels, mum Karen Lee - a natural household expert - found a way to restore white fibres without the use of .

"If you don't want to use bleach, is your go-to whitener," said Karen. But that's not the only ingredient needed to ; there are three more items to add in. Combining hydrogen peroxide, liquid laundry detergent , soda crystals and lemon juice can turn into a powerful cleaning solution.

First tested on stained white socks, the cleaning solution made them clean, bright and white once more.

"I am also going to use this method for my dingy white towels," said Karen. "I will have to tweak the formula a bit to be able to use for a large load but you get the idea for the ingredients."

You will need equal measures of laundry detergent, soda crystals, and hydrogen peroxide with lemon juice to create the solution.

For socks, only one tablespoon of each was needed, but because towels have a larger surface area, they will require more.

Left to soak in a washing basin or bucket, before going into a normal wash, it's a fairly test-and-see method.

Laundry experts at Hello Laundry - a mobile laundry and dry cleaning service - verified that both lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide can help to restore white towels.

When it comes to lemon juice, you can just "add a few teaspoons" of lemon juice in the washing machine to whiten the towels.

You must also "skip the fabric conditioner" when washing your towels, or else the fibres are likely to stick together.

As for hydrogen peroxide, you will need to dab any stains with the solution and leave it to penetrate the fibres for "about an hour" before putting it in the wash.

"Wash the towels in the washing machine and use detergent mixed with baking soda to make the towels glow even whiter," the experts recommended.

"You may even add a cup of diluted white vinegar during the rinsing cycle to get rid of musty odours and stubborn stains."

Leaving the towels outside to dry in the sunshine will also help to brighten white towels.