Loving Laundry Loving Laundry

Make Your Laundry Room A Space You Love

Why do laundry in a room you hate? If you have a dedicated laundry room, spend some time sprucing up the place. Paint it a vibrant color, add some fun wallpaper, make sure there is ample storage space. This should be a room you enjoy, not one that makes you depressed as you are forced to fold shirts. If your laundry is in the garage, there are still things you can do to make it more attractive. You can paint the area around your washer and dryer to give you a more dedicated space. Keep the walkway clear so you aren’t tripping over balls and car parts as you try to carry baskets of clothes to and from the washer and dryer. Adding a fan can also help you beat the heat in a garage laundry space.

Wash Your Detergent Caps

No matter how careful you are, detergent caps will become covered in messy drips and sticky spots. Don’t waste time trying to wipe off these drips - just toss the detergent lid right into the wash with your clothes to get it clean. Just make sure you aren’t putting them into the wash with delicate clothing and always remove it before it enters the heat of the dryer.

PRE-SOAK YOUR PARTICULARLY DIRTY CLOTHES IN VINEGAR

For really dirty items like gym and sport clothes and pet items, soak them in a half a cup of distilled white vinegar mixed with cold water for at least an hour before washing. This will help remove unpleasant odors and break down sweat stains and buildup. And don’t machine dry them.

Soften Sheets With Vinegar

While you have the bottle out, might as well use the distilled white vinegar to naturally soften your sheets. Run a cycle with your bed sheets and a half-cup of distilled white vinegar to give them a quick boost of softness and brightness, and to remove lingering odors.

Sort Better

With all the advancements in dye and laundry detergent, you don’t need to worry about colors bleeding as much these days. Sorting your clothing by other categories might be a better way to go about this chore. For example, large families might like to sort their laundry by person, or you can save detergent and energy by sorting by soil level. Really dirty gym or work clothes will need a different cycle than a once-worn tee shirt. Sorting by categories other than colors can help you optimize each load.

GET RID OF GREASE STAINS.

The dreaded grease stain can be the end of your favorite blouse, shirt, or pants if you don’t know how to get the stain out. A great method can be found in your kitchen. Dish soap lifts grease off of pots and dishes and can also lift grease stains out of your clothing as well. Another great option is chalk. Its ultra-absorbent properties will pull out the stains and you can keep it on hand especially in your kitchen to rub on any oily marks as they happen to absorb grease and hold you over until you can throw the garment in the wash.

DRY CLOTHES FASTER WITH A CLEAN TOWEL IN THE DRYER.

Nothing is worse than putting clothes into the dryer only to discover they haven’t dried on time and now you are in a pinch picking out a new outfit. You can speed up the machine-dry process by adding a clean, dry towel to the mix. Toss it into the dryer with your wet clothes to dry everything faster. Try to pick a towel that matches the color of your clothes - don’t put a fluffy white towel in with your mainly dark clothes unless you want to spend time lint rolling each piece.

Make Your Own Wrinkle Releaser

Laundry can be filled with toxic chemicals. From detergent to dryer sheets, trying to be conscious of what’s in your laundry room can be a task. One way you can eliminate these chemicals is to make your own products. If you need some help with wrinkles, this homemade wrinkle releaser is made from things you probably already have in your bathroom and kitchen cabinets. Fill a spray bottle with 2 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of hair conditioner, and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Spray the mist onto your wrinkled clothes until they’re lightly damp, then stretch and pull the fabric until the wrinkles release.

USING ICE TO “IRON”

If you find yourself pressed for time, you can quickly get wrinkles out of your clothes with an ice cube. Toss the wrinkled clothes in the dryer with an ice cube or two, on the warmest possible setting and then let the ice cube create steam in the dryer. This will leave your clothes looking smooth and allow you to multitask as you focus on getting ready while you “iron”.

Use Vodka As A Deodorizer

Once again thinking of ways to eliminate chemicals, Vodka is a natural deodorizer so you don’t have to worry about carcinogens or endocrine disruptors found in the grocery aisles as you pick up laundry products. Keep a spray bottle full of cheap vodka on hand and use it to freshen up your smelly clothes for a re-wear before washing.

Dish soap lifts grease off of pots and dishes and can also lift grease stains out of your clothing as well.

Sticky Stains Hate Ice Cu Be S

The most stubborn of stains, the sticky ones are tough to tackle. If you notice a sticky mess on your clothes (like gum) simply cover the stain with ice cubes and allow them to sit for a few minutes. You should be able to easily peel the now hardened substance off your clothes.

Use Your Freezer

The last laundry hack is for when you don’t have time to do laundry at all. An overnight stay in the freezer will help to refresh your clothes by killing the bacteria and mildew that causes your clothes to smell. This can help you get another wear out of a smokey top or your favorite pair of jeans before washing them.