Household Tips for Laundry

From Adviceopedia

Household tips for laundry can help you save fabric colors, brighten your whites, and remove odors.

Household Tips for Laundry

Add Vinegar to Remove Odors

Sometimes life gets in the way of remembering to transfer a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer in a timely manner. Even after you remember, often the stench associated with the mistake just won't go away, regardless if you throw the load into the dryer or you wash them again. You can eliminate the need to use more laundry detergent by adding about a cup of white vinegar to the load and wash as usual. The vinegar takes care of the soured smell without leaving one of its own behind. It will also keep lint from clinging to your clothing.

Use Cornstarch on a Grease Stain

Grease stains can seem impossible to remove, but a little prep work before washing can remove most stains. Sprinkle a generous amount of cornstarch onto the grease stain and leave it for a couple of minutes. The powder will pull the grease out of the fabric, and then you can brush it away before washing.

Get the Wrinkles Out

Getting the laundry out of the dryer and folding it immediately isn't always possible. What you could end up with is a load of wrinkled clothing. You don't have to iron your clothes to get these wrinkles out. Instead, leave the clothes in the dryer and throw in a damp bath or hand towel, depending on the size of the load, and run the dryer cycle again.

Whites that Aren't so White Anymore

If you have tinted whites because of a laundry sorting mishap like a red sock that accidentally got tossed in with a load of whites, you can use Rit Color Remover to restore the white. This product is available near the laundry detergent in the grocery store. This trick works best if there are no patterns or colors on the white clothing.

Over time, whites sometimes take on a gray or yellow cast. While bleaching is an option, it isn't always the right solution for the fabric type. You can throw in a half cup of baking soda with your laundry for whitening and odor control. Another option is to go through a series of soaks and rinses using two tablespoons of liquid dish soap, ammonia, and vinegar in a bucket of warm water respectively. After the vinegar and water soak, rinse clothes thoroughly and dry.

If there are old, discolored splotches on your clothing as opposed to the whole garment looking dingy, you can spritz some lemon juice and set it out in the sun. When you bring the clothing inside, simply rinse it well, and then run it through a wash and dry cycle.

Prevent Colors from Fading

You always want to read the care labels for each laundry item, but as a general rule, washing clothes in cold water and drying them on low heat or air-drying them works best in preventing color fading. By turning the clothes inside-out you can prevent the fabric from looking dull and washed out as a result of wear and tear from being tossed around in the washer and dryer. Vinegar shows up time and time again in household tips for laundry, and this is no exception. Add vinegar to your laundry loads of bright and dark clothing to prevent fading.

Simple Tips for Big Results

Most simple laundry tips use household products that are easy to find in your home. These small tips pack a big blow to keeping your clothes looking clean while increasing their lifespan and saving you money.