I am ever so thankful that my mom had taken the time to teach me several laundry secrets while I was growing up. While I have at some point used all of them, there are 5 that I use on a weekly to monthly basis, and others that I use rarely (like buttoning the cuff of a shirt to the front of the shirt when washing to avoid the sleeves getting tangled). I hope that by sharing the 5 I use the most often, I can help take some of the burden out of your laundry chores.
1. Brightening Your Whites
I was unaware that this would be such a useful tip until I had a son. I guess I was oblivious to everything my brothers were doing growing up. My son only likes to wear white socks; which is perfectly fine, except that he likes to run outside with his socks on without shoes. Thus, I am left with a pile of white socks that are black on the bottom, and no matter how much I pretreat & soak them, they are still dingy & no longer white. I am no left to make one of two choices: buy new socks every couple of weeks or return the socks to their original brightness. I choose option two. Once every couple of weeks, I slice up a lemon and put it into a pot of water. Once the water comes to a boil, take remove from heat & put in the dull whites. Let soak for at least 30 minutes, and then wash as usual. To increase effectiveness of the whitening process, hang the whites out to dry.
2. Reshaping a Sweater
Realizing that your child's favorite sweater is either shrunken or stretched out, after going through the wash, can be horrifying. Let's deal with the shrunken first. You can either pass it down to their younger sibling, or you can get it back to its original glory following a few simple steps. Mix 2 gallons of water with 1/4 cup baby shampoo. Soak the sweater for at least 6 hours. Squeeze out any excess water...don't wring the sweater. Lay flat to dry, during the drying process, gently pull the sweater back to shape. Now let's talk about the stretched out sweater. Dip the part of the sweater that is stretched out into hot water and pat with a towel until it stops dripping. Dry with a blow dryer set on high heat.
3. White Vinegar
Opting out of fabric softener and using white vinegar its place will not only save you money, but it will also increase the life of your clothes. Fabric softeners contain chemicals that, while softening your clothes, can destroy the fabrics of your clothes. Vinegar will also aid in killing any fungus or mold that may unknowingly be on your clothes. Last but not least, using vinegar, in replace of fabric softener, will decrease the chance of any allergic reactions your family may have to the chemicals in fabric softeners. Also, you must know that using vinegar will not yield in your clothes smelling like vinegar!
4. Baking Soda
That's right, another laundry aide from the pantry. If you are anything like me, you sometimes fall behind in laundry...not a good smelling thing when it is in the height of sports season. To help keep the smell at bay, just sprinkle some baking soda on the laundry as it sits in the hamper. Added bonus...the baking soda will also make your laundry fresher & softer after washing. Baking soda sprinkled into smelly shoes will absorb the stench away. Let the soda set in the shoes for 24 hours, then shake out & wear.
5. Grass Stains
I'm fairly certain that my son believes it is his job to get as many stains as possible on his white football and baseball pants. I've tried over 15 different methods of stain removal...only two of which have been 100% successful. If you aren't afraid of using a little elbow grease (or are looking for a great arm workout), then grab a bar of laundry soap. Simply wet the soap & the stain & begin scrubbing until the stain is no longer visible and wash as normal. The other method, that has worked tried & true, is to brush white non-gel toothpaste into the grass stain, then rinse & wash as usual.
I hope that this new knowledge will be as useful to you and your family as they have been to me & mine. Thanks to these secrets, I don't have to buy an absurd amount of socks, ball pants, fabric softener, or sweaters. There's no telling the amount of money I have saved, but more importantly, there's no way to measure the amount of sanity that I have saved not stressing over laundry.
No comments:
Post a Comment