Best Laundry Tip Ever!

Main Posts Background Image

Main Posts Background Image

5.2.10

Best Laundry Tip Ever!

 

What do you do when you need to wash your teenage daughter's t-shirt and it  is the whitest white and the deepest red?!!   Wash with the colored clothes...yipes--of course not!  Wash with the whites...no way!  But if we wash it with the lights (the remaining option), the stains won't come out!

The answer is to use my best ever laundry tip (actually it's not my idea). In my whole life, there is only one laundry tip that I consider the very very best--automatic dish detergent for stain removal! 

Years ago, when Rebekah was only a baby, I was in desperate need for a magic cure.  You see, Rebekah was a drooler.  In case you didn't know, drool turns brownish gray on everything--especially on the gorgeous baby dresses that my friend Sarah Forman loaned me. 

One day I was perusing the homemaking books at Half-Priced books when I picked up a cute book by Erma Bombeck.  Hand-written on the inside cover was a laundry tip--1/2 cup automatic dish detergent, 1/2 cup bleach in a few inches of sink water for baby drool stains.  Wow---manna from heaven! The Lord had answered my prayers!  I left out the bleach because all of these beautiful dresses were colored, but the automatic dish detergent worked perfectly.  And it still works great today!

When you get out those baby clothes from two years ago and find yellow stains on them, or urine on diapers, sweat, many food stains, stinky tennis shoes or just dingy socks or underwear that the boys have worn a few times too many...this tip is the answer for you!! And if those items are colored...this is the only solution!  Any protein stain can be improved or removed by this cleaner. Why?  Because automatic dish detergent is filled with enzymes! It's designed to eat protein...and that's the kind of stain I'm trying to remove!  Don't gross out by the brown water though--you just didn't know that item had so much dirt in it!  Surprise!!

So give it a try on those delicate colored items and enjoy the clean clothes!

Steps for cleaning with automatic dish detergent---
  • Add 1/2 cup detergent with enough lukewarm water to cover the item. (Coldish if item bleeds.)
  • Swish detergent until it is dissolved and mixed with the water. (especially needful with dry detergent)
  • Add item--scrub and squeeze a little--especially the stained part.
  • Let soak for thirty minutes.
  • Rinse thoroughly with clear water.
  • Dry as usual.
Voila--clean clothes...no fading of colors...and one very happy teenager!

Happy Homemaking!
Donna

11 comments

Trudy said...

Donna, this is an amazing tip. I've always wondered about all those little stains that you mentioned as well as the white shirt or dress with some color on it in other places. I really appreciate all of the tips you share with us on your blog. They are such a help.

Diana said...

Hi Donna, Whats 'automatic' dish detergent? Is it the detergent for those dish washers??

Donna said...

Hi Diana, Yes it's for dishwasher but it works very well for clothes too. I added a picture and link for buying the product. I don't know if they ship overseas or not. Do you have this stuff in your country?

Diana said...

Hi Donna,

I haven really noticed that line of detergent because I do not have a dishwasher.. Thanks so much for the link.. They do not ship to my country, but I will check it out at the local supermarkets..

Regards
Diana

Melissa said...

Simply brilliant. I never would have thought about the enzymes in dishwasher detergent. Thanks for sharing.

While we are on the subject, I keep a small bottle of dish detergent in my laundry room for grease stains. Spot treat your grease stain and drop item in the laundry as per usual. You can even spot treat it when the stain happens and leave it in the laundry until laundry day since there are no bleaches in it.

Donna said...

Wow Melissa! Great idea! I hated buying that expensive greasy stain remover in the itty bitty bottle. I will have to try that right away!

The Doctors Wife said...

What a great tip. All of my babies were spitters and so many clothes were "ruined". Now I'm going to try this. Do you mind if I provide a link to this post from my blog. I would love to share this tip with my readers.

Donna said...

I'd be honored Julie!

FRUGAL DAYCARE MOM said...

I may provide a post as well. My washer repairman for my front loading HE washer suggested I run the powder through my washer in hot water once a month as a cleaning cycle. I do it with the towels.

Donna said...

Great idea Scarlett!

k.marie said...

Hey Donna- this is a great idea! I'm gonna try it on a couple of my son's white t-shirts! He's nearly one and still fits in his 6-9mo tees, which is great, except for those hideous drool stains from when he was teething like a maniac when he WAS 6-9mo! My only concern is, I've washed and dried these shirts countless times already... so will this still work, even though the stains are supposedly "set" from drying?

“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” ~ Margaret Sangster

Friends of Comin' Home

Thanks for visiting!

Search This Blog

Followers

Copyright Comin'Home 2020. Powered by Blogger.

Error 404

The page you were looking for, could not be found. You may have typed the address incorrectly or you may have used an outdated link.

Go to Homepage