1. If you choose to clean your sheer voile blouse, beaded top, fringed silk shawl, or lace trimmed dress at home, tie the articles in a cotton pillow case and knot it closed. Wash in cold water on a regular cycle. Hang to dry and steam iron or steam in the shower.
2. To clean baseball caps without destroying their shape, place them on the top rack of the dishwasher and run through a complete cycle.
3. A better idea than using dangerous smelly mothballs is to place leftover soap slivers into a vented plastic bag. Place the seasonal clothes into the bag and pack them away. Fabrics will smell great and stay protected.
4. If you don't have a sleeve board, insert a rolled-up towel into sleeves so they can be pressed without leaving creases. Or make your own sleeve board using a cardboard tube covered with soft fabric.
5. Reduce wrinkles, preserve fabrics and avoid shrinking textiles by not putting clothes in the dryer on a heat setting. As soon as the wash load is finished, give your shirts a shake and hang to dry. On that same note, lay sweaters to dry. Once the shirts and sweaters have air dried put them in the dryer on a cool setting.
6. Pit stains got you down? Make a paste of baking soda and water. Apply to yellow underarm stains and let sit. Wash in hot sudsy water.
7. Speaking of pits, let's talk fire pits; Save your dryer lint. If you have a wood stove or fire pit, use lint as a fire starter rather than purchasing chemical-laden fire starters.
8. If you have really greasy or soiled clothes pour one can of Coke into a hot bath of water and add in greasy or soiled clothes. Swish and soak. Wash as usual in hot water.
9. Make your own fabric softener! Combine 2-cups white vinegar, 2-cups baking soda and 4-cups water. Allow fizz to subside and pour into a lidded plastic bottle. Shake and add one-quarter cup to each load or pour into a "Downy Ball".
10. Black clothing tends to look brown after several washings. To restore the black colour, add coffee or strong tea to the rinse water.
11. To iron embroidered linens, place the linen with the embroidered side down over a white terry towel then press (wrong side up). This will help preserve the direction of the stitching without flattening it. You can also do this in reverse: first lay the embroidered side up, and then put a terry towel on top and press.
12. Keep a few hangers on a small bar or hook in your laundry room, so you can hang wrinkle-prone items up as soon as you remove them from the dryer.
13. Don't overload your dryer, as it can result in excessive wrinkling. The best load of laundry is one that mixes items of varying sizes. This allows clothing to move much more fluidly in the washing machine and keeps the clothing fully washed, fully rinsed, and undamaged. Although a full or queen sized quilt may weigh only seven pounds, it could still be too big for your top loading washing machine. Front loaders are much more able to tolerate large items, still get them clean and keep them protected. Check your manufacturer's instructions to see specific information for your machine.
14. Aroma addition; if you are using a tumble dryer, add a few drops of your favourite essential oil to a dampened scrap of flannel and put it in the dryer near the end of the cycle.
15. Invest in a three-compartment laundry sorter to make easy work out of keeping clothes separated. Separate by colour as you put clothes into the hamper and save the step of going through hampers and hampers full of laundry one item at a time. By sorting-as-you-go, when you see a full compartment in your hamper, it is simple to throw the load in.
Solutions is compiled from various sources; laundry-alternative.com, kitchen.robbiehaf.com, housekeeping.about.com, home.howstuffworks.com, tipnut.com, adviceopedia.org, thefrugalshopper.com, washing-machine-wizard.com, greenfootsteps.com. Thanks to all who contributed! Similar information may be found elsewhere.
Solutions sleuth Reena Nerbas is a home economist and speaks professionally on the topic of household challenges; she is also the author of two national bestsellers, Household Solutions 1 with Substitutions and Household Solutions 2 with Kitchen Secrets. She can be heard on radio and television programs across Canada.
www.householdsolutions.org
