LAUNDRY SPECIAL GET ORGANIZED
PRESORT AND PRETREAT It seems like a no-brainer, but this two-step laundry strategy is a total game-changer.
1
One pile for lights and one for darks, right? Nope. “Ideally,
you should have categories by fabric, too,” says Melissa Maker, host of YouTube’s popular channel Clean My Space. “Lights—white, beige, light grey—colours, darks, delicates, jeans, towels and linens should each have their own cycle.” If you feel your whites (undershirts and underwear) need to be washed in hot water, they can be done separately. Once you stop lumping items together, you’ll prevent colours from bleeding, reduce lint transfer and prevent pilling, all which make your clothes look worn.
2
Removing a stain is easiest when it’s fresh. Stash a
pretreating stain-remover stick/spray (read the directions first) beside the laundry hamper to get a leg up on stains at the end of each day, if you can. No chance? All is not lost, but know that set-in stains may require more effort. “Time and temperature are a stain’s worst enemies, so presoak it for up to six hours,” says Michael Vercelletto, group product manager for OxiClean Stain Fighters. In a large bucket or sink, dissolve an all-purpose stain remover like OxiClean with the amount of water suggested, then submerge the item. Use the hottest temperature recommended by the garment’s care label. “If you have an item that should only be washed in cold water, dissolve the product first in hot water, then add the mixture to cold water,” says Vercelletto.
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Gabrielle laundry set, $526, potterybarn.com.
Put the Walls to Work In a space-strapped home where the laundry area co-opts a corner of the kitchen, bathroom or mudroom, there’s often no place to go but up. That’s what makes this wall-mounted rail-and-peg system such a smart investment: Complete with hanging shelves, canvas hamper and drying rack, it’s a one-stop laundry supply station that takes up no floor space. Neatfreak Quad laundry sorter, $53, canadiantire.ca.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER Sorting clothes in advance can save a lot of time in the laundry room. When one of the hampers in this rolling rack gets full, simply lift it out and tip the contents directly into the washer. WE TRACKED DOWN SIX LAUNDRY HAMPERS THAT ARE TOO HANDSOME TO HIDE AWAY. CHECK THEM OUT AT canadianliving.com/hampers.
CANADIANLIVING.COM | APRIL 2015
