*Tips for Your Laundry*

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LAUNDRY

 

If you have stubborn grease stains on your work clothes: Add a

bottle of Coke with detergent. It'll help loosen the grease.

 

Toss a few old bath towels in the washing machine when you wash your

shower curtains The towels will rub back and forth against the

curtain, which helps remove all traces of dirt and soap scum. Hang

shower curtains back up right out of the washing machine. They will

dry quickly and the wrinkles will fall right out. Most have at least

some plastic on them that can melt in the dryer.

 

You can economically repair any tears on your ironing board cover by

attaching iron-on patches. You don't even have to know how to sew!

 

To speed drying time of big bulky items and jeans, add a dry towel

to the wet items you're placing in the dryer. The towel will help

absorb some of the excess moisture.

 

White Vinegar. Eliminate soap residue by adding 1 cup of white

vinegar to the washer's final rinse. Vinegar is too mild to harm

fabrics but strong enough to dissolve alkalis in soaps and

detergents. Vinegar also breaks down uric acid, so adding 1 cup

vinegar to the rinse water is especially good for babies' clothes.

To get wool and cotton blankets soft and fluffy as new, add 2 cups

white vinegar to a full tub of rinse water. DO NOT USE VINEGAR IF

YOU ADD CHLORINE BLEACH TO YOUR RINSE WATER. IT WILL PRODUCE HARMFUL

VAPORS.

 

Baking Soda. 1/4 to 1/2 cup baking soda per wash load makes clothes

feel soft and smell fresh.

 

Dry Bleach. Dry bleaches containing sodium perborate are of low

toxicity (unless in strong solution, then they can be irritating to

the skin). Use according to package directions.

 

To whiten yellowed silk or wool: Mix 1 tablespoon white vinegar in 1

pint of water. Sponge with this solution and rinse. Wash as usual.

 

Chocolate stains: Use club soda. Soak stain with club soda before

washing.

 

Cola stains Use white vinegar. Apply undiluted vinegar directly to

the stain within 24 hours. Wash as usual.

 

Perspiration stain: White Vinegar or Lemon Juice. Sponge stains with

a weak solution of white vinegar or lemon juice. (Takes out the

odors too. Sometimes takes a few times before it does so, but it

really works! Even on those odors that have been washed and dried in

several times!)

 

Grease on suede: Vinegar. Sponge spot with a cloth dipped in

vinegar. Dry and restore nap by brushing with a suede brush.

 

Baking Soda. You can cut the amount of chlorine bleach used in your

wash by half when you add 1/2 cup baking soda to top loading

machines or 1/4 cup to front loaders.

 

Vinegar. To remove smoky odor from clothes, fill your bathtub with

hot water. Add 1 cup white vinegar. Hang garments above the steaming

bath water.

 

Cornstarch. For homemade laundry starch, dissolve 1 tablespoon

cornstarch in 1 pint cold water. Place in a spray bottle. Shake

before using. Clearly label the contents of the spray bottle.

 

To return discoloured socks to their original color: Boil them in a

pot of water with a few slices of lemon. The fruit acts as a natural

bleach.

 

Remove crayon from clothing: Wash & dry clothes and not know a

crayon had been missed? Try this. 1. Wash all clothes again using

pure soap (not detergent), a box of baking soda and the hottest

water possible. 2. Repeat if necessary