Cleaning and Washing Laundry

You just want your laundry to be clean. Is that so much to ask? Oh, wait.

You also want it to smell good, look good, and be free from lint, pet hair, and pilling.

Oh, and you don’t want things to rip and tear, and you want to be able to get out any stain that you might ever come across.

That’s all. Yes, that is a lot to ask, but don’t worry – we have answers.

Washing the Right Way:

You can avoid annoying laundry problems by preparing your items to be washed. It might sound like extra work, but it will definitely save you time and trouble.

• Seal Velcro completely before washing to avoid lint balls
• Zip up your pants to avoid things getting caught on the zipper
• Always check pockets. Make it a habit, and you’ll never forget
• Put delicates (bras, panties, pantyhose) in a pillow case tied with a hair scrunchy or use a mesh lingerie bag
• Washable pillows and comforters should be washed and dried with about 5 tennis balls. This keeps the filling from bunching up and getting hard
• Pet hair and lint can be battled with little spiky, Velcro-like balls that collect hairs and lint and are safe for the washer and dryer
• If your pets sleep in bed with you, use a lint roller on the sheets before you take them off to wash them
• Consider using bluing on whites – it’s better for your clothing and septic system than bleach
• Use a cookie cooling rack in the bathtub for flat drying sweaters
• Hang dry as much clothing as you can – it will prevent fading and shrinking
• Don’t over-dry your clothes – putting them back into the dryer to get the wrinkles out will end up ruining your clothes
• Read care labels – if it says dry clean only, don’t experiment.
• Turn sweaters and sweatshirts inside out before washing to avoid pilling
• Don’t dry one item alone – it will take longer because it needs agitation from something else to tumble and dry properly.
• Take king-sized comforters to a laundry mat with a giant machine or have them dry cleaned. Shoving them into your too-small washer can break your washing machine

Removing Stains From Laundry:

The most important thing is to catch stains before you wash and dry the item of clothing so the stain won’t become permanent. After you treat the stain, wash the item. If it didn’t come out, don’t dry the item. Try another treatment.

• Soak protein stains (grass, urine, blood) in cold water
• Dried blood stains should be soaked in very, very salty cold water
• Put paper towels to absorb the stain on the other side of the stain before spraying or blotting with a laundry pre-treater
• Soak coffee stains with a solution of detergent and warm water for 20 minutes
• Blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry stains should be treated with a commercial stain treatment
• Oil stains can often be taken out with dish detergent and water
• Pen stains can be treated with rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits
• Makeup stains and sweat stains can usually be removed with OxiClean
• Deodorant stains can usually be fixed by sprinkling baking soda directly onto the stain then following with a bit of vinegar
• Candle wax should be scraped off, then you can usually iron a paper bag over the stain that will absorb the residue