Laundry

The laundry, is there really anything that is more time consuming and mind numbing than doing the laundry? In order to be able to complete your laundry as quickly and easily as possible, so that you can go on to doing other, more fun things, it might be beneficial to know where to find as much information to help you out as possible. Whether you call them laundry baskets or laundry hampers, do you know how to keep whatever it is clean after you have removed the dirty clothes? How about your laundry room cabinets, do you know the best way to go about keeping those clean, so that nothing nasty "creeps" in during your laundry time? Do you know what the best laundry detergent is (believe it or not, it is different for each person)? If you have ever wanted the answers to these, and similar laundry questions, then this is where you are going to get the answers that you are looking for.

Tips, Tricks, and Answers

The following articles are available for the 'Laundry' topic. Click the article''s title (shown in bold) to see the associated article.

Laundry day

   Cleaning a Sleeping Bag
Washing a sleeping bag can be tedious and time-consuming. The key to keeping your sleeping bag useful and in great condition is to wash it thoroughly, and allow it to dry completely.

   Cleaning Blood from Polyester
Accidents can happen to anyone at any time, and as such we can find ourselves needing to clean some rather unique stains. One of the more problematic stains around is blood, most especially when it gets onto polyester. Cleaning blood from polyester is possible, if you use one of these methods for doing it.

   Cleaning Crochet Work
Crochet work, because it is so delicate, often requires a little special attention when cleaning. Just because it requires a little extra attention though, doesn't mean that cleaning crochet work isn't something that you can't do yourself. With the proper care and effort you can help keep your crochet work looking fantastic for years to come.

   Cleaning Decorative Pillows
Decorative pillows are great items that can help increase the beauty, and general comfort level, of almost any home design. However, cleaning decorative pillows can often present a few unique problems that need to be addressed. If the proper care isn't taken, these pillows can quickly go from being decorative, to being an eyesore.

   Cleaning Delicate Sheets
Not all sheets can be cleaned the same way. There are some sheets that are just a little bit more delicate, and require some special treatment. Cleaning delicate sheets, while it may require some special treatment, is still something that you can do yourself. Here's how.

   Cleaning Dry Clean Only Drapes
Just like with clothes, there are drapes and curtains that have those dreaded words "Dry Clean Only" spelled out on their care tags. If you find them on your drapes don't worry. Here is a simple way that you can begin cleaning dry clean only drapes at home without having to take a trip to the cleaners.

   Cleaning Embroidered Shirts
Embroidered shirts often present a unique problem when doing laundry. The reason for this is that the mixture of the delicate embroidery with the rest of the fabric can lead to some unique problems. Don't be afraid of wearing or cleaning embroidered shirts anymore. Simply follow these simple guidelines.

   Cleaning Massage Oil from Sheets
Getting a massage is a great way to long stressful day at work, but it usually has two drawbacks. The first is that you have to lie down, and the second is that most massages include some kind of oil, which both leads to an interesting problem. That problem is cleaning massage oil from sheets.

   Cleaning Massage Oil from Towels
The results of a massage can be great—except for the oil left on the towels. With a little extra time and care, you can get your towels clean.

   Cleaning Pillow Shams
Cleaning pillow shams can often present a few unique problems. The reason for this is that pillow shams are simply fancy pillow cases. Fancy typically means that there will be some extra work involved. However, it doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be difficult.

   Cleaning Tablecloths
Tablecloths are not cheap, and it is always a great idea to protect anything that is expensive. Cleaning tablecloths is not a particularly simple process, and is more convoluted than you believe. Here is the step by step way that you can clean and protect your expensive tablecloths.

   Controlling Allergic Reactions to Laundry Detergent
You don't want to be itching in your clothes and sneezing all day just because of a detergent allergy. Find the right kind of detergent for you and eliminate any uncomfortable allergy problems with your clothes!

   Cure Sticking Zippers with Lip Balm
Zippers get stuck and it's always a pain to try and wiggle them free. When your best wiggling efforts aren't working however, you have another option available to you.

   Dealing with Bleach Damage
Bleach on your pants is never fun and almost always puts a kink in your style. The best way to avoid this predicament is to simply prevent the stain in the first place.

   Dealing With Butter Stains
Butter is one of the more commonly used ingredients in cooking, and as such has a tendency to create a lot of stains. Removing butter stains can be a bit tricky if you don't do it exactly right. Never fear though, there are some methods that you can use to get those stains out, and get your fabrics nice and clean.

   Dealing with Graying Whites
It can be extremely frustrating to find that your favorite white shirt, or table cloth comes out of the laundry gray and dingy instead of clean and white. When this happens, instead of throwing away your expensive linens, take a little time to reclaim your whites. Dealing with graying whites is something that anyone can do, here's how.

   Dealing with Laundry Scorch Marks
Have you ever noticed how simply doing the laundry can be a fairly annoying chore? When you add a scorch mark into the mix, it soon becomes even more so. Well, dealing with laundry scorch marks doesn't need to be a continuing source of frustration any more. That is, if you use this simple method for handling light scorch marks.

   Dealing With Maple Syrup Stains
Whether it is fresh, or a day or two old maple syrup can be a fairly difficult stain to remove. When dealing with maple syrup stains, the key is to not allow yourself to get too stressed out. Simply follow these simple steps, and you will find your clothes nice and clean.

   Do Sewing Repairs When You Wash Your Clothes
It's inevitable that you get rips and tears in your clothes—there's just no way to avoid it. One way to lessen the damage the washer can do to already torn clothes is to keep some supplies by your laundry area to make quick repairs.

   Dry Cleaning
Dry cleaning can be a hassle, but when you have a garment that doesn't respond well to water, it can be worth the bother. This article explains how it works.

   Finding a Laundry Service
Have you ever noticed how hard finding a laundry service that you like is? Well, getting the right kind of laundry service is much like finding any other kind of service. It takes a little effort, and you doing a bit of homework, but you can find the one that you want.

   Finding the Best Laundry Detergent
Finding the right laundry detergent is important for your machine and your clothes but picking the right one can seem overwhelming. Try making a list of what you need in order to eliminate detergents that won't work.

   Folding and Storing Bed Sheets
Folding and storing bed sheets may sound like a rather simple project, but it can be surprisingly tricky. Considering how expensive bedding can be, it only makes sense that you would like to protect that investment for as long as possible. One of the best ways to do that would be to learn how to properly fold and store your sheets when you aren't using them.

   Freshen Your Clothes with Dryer Sheets
Clothing always smells sweet and fresh when it comes out of the dryer. Maintain that fresh scent by keeping dryer sheets in your closet or drawers. You can also rub a dryer sheet on your clothes to quickly freshen them and remove static.

   Get Rid of Dryer Grease Stains
For some reason even though you do everything right when washing your clothes, there are times when stains still seem to "magically" appear. Often these stains come from the dryer for some reason or another. Here is everything that you need to know so you can get rid of dryer grease stains.

   Getting Rid of Soap Residue
It is amazing how doing the laundry can often remove most stains, only to leave another kind of mess behind. Getting rid of soap residue isn't particularly difficult a project, as long as you are willing to follow a few simple guidelines. Pretty soon you will have perfectly clean laundry that has no soap residue whatsoever.

   Hang Clothes before Laundry Day
Laundry day is crazy and you're probably willing to follow any advice that will make it less so. By following this simple trick you'll be able to make your laundry days more efficient and your clothes cleaner.

   Home Remedies for Brighter Whites
There are many ways to get your white laundry white again using products you already have around your house. You don't have to use bleach or special detergent: instead, give one of these easy methods a try.

   Homemade Laundry Detergent
Making homemade laundry detergent is one great way to stretch your family budget. You will find that you love how your clothes look and the extra cash in your pocket you save by making your own laundry detergent.

   How to Remove Ink Stains From Silk
Finding an ink stain on your silk fabric might seem scary. You may, however, be able to remove the stain with careful cleaning.

   Keeping Clothes Safe From Moths
Moths can be a major hassle, particularly for woolen clothes. While there are some traditional methods for keeping clothes safe from moths, they don't always seem to work. Here are a few other alternatives that you can use in the future to help give your favorite wool sweater a chance at a long life.

   Making Old, Hard Towels Soft Again
Keeping towels soft and fluffy over time can be a real challenge to anyone. Here are some simple ideas for revitalizing your old hardened towels. Using these simple solutions result in your towels feeling like new.

   Methods for Sorting Laundry
Believe it or not, there is a right way, and a wrong way to sort your laundry. By properly sorting your laundry can help ensure that there are fewer accidents that can end up ruining your clothes. As long as you know the basic methods for sorting laundry, then you shouldn't have too many problems.

   Moldy Shower Curtains
Shower curtains need to be cleaned periodically just like a shower door does. If this is not done, you can easily find yourself faced with some moldy shower curtains that are not only disgusting to look at, but also fairly unhealthy as well. Dealing with moldy shower curtains doesn't require that you simply throw them away, though that is an option. Instead try one of these methods before resorting to the more expensive option.

   Musty Dark Towels
Sometimes, no matter what you try, towels just don't seem to get totally clean. Periodically these pieces of laundry will begin to get a little musty. The normal method of using bleach doesn't always work though, particularly when dealing with musty dark towels. That's when a little ingenuity needs to come into play.

   Quick Laundry Room Cleaning
The laundry room is one of those areas of the house that can get messy and disorganized, no matter how hard you try to keep it from happening. At times, this causes many people to think that quick laundry room cleaning is impossible. Luckily, this isn't just a daydream, but reality. Simply follow these instructions, and you should be able to get your laundry room clean in less than twenty minutes.

   Rejuvenate the Softness and Absorbency of Your Towels
It's not uncommon that your towels lose their softness and absorbency over time. In this case there are a few ways you can rejuvenate them and bring back their initial quality.

   Remove Sour Smells and Odors from Your Laundry
Sour smells can make you physically gag if let alone for too long. Don't let the not-so-pleasant smells in your laundry take over; wipe them out now with a few simple tips.

   Removing a Tomato Stain
Did you get a tomato stain on your shirt at last night's dinner? With a few easy steps, you can get your shirt to look as good as new.

   Removing Beeswax from Fabric
Removing beeswax from fabric may actually be easier than removing paraffin wax, since it is more pliable and soft. The trick to removing beeswax from fabric is to harden it as much as possible, peel it from the fabric, and then reheat the remains and allow them to seep into paper toweling.

   Removing Blood Stains from Bedding
How many times have you had to run into the kids room due to someone screaming in pain? Getting into the room, you find yourself faced with a crimson mess from one of the kids having a bloody nose. Blood can leave a terrible stain. Luckily, it's usually possible to get out if you catch it fresh enough. And if not? There's still a chance!

   Removing Calcium Stains
When you have hard water, calcium and magnesium can build up and create stains on your sinks, tiles, and other fixtures. While commercial cleaners can remove these stains easily, try lemon juice or vinegar and baking soda for a natural method. If you clean your fixtures weekly, you can stop hard water stains from sinking into the surface of your tiles and becoming permanent.

   Removing Car Grease From Clothes
Whether you like working on cars as a hobby, do it for a living, or simply need to conduct some kind of roadside repair, it is a fact of life that if you have a vehicle you are going to end up with grease on your clothes. Removing car grease from your clothes can be a major hassle if you don't know how. Here are the best ways that you can help your backyard mechanics keep their clothes clean.

   Removing Chewing Gum from Shirts
It is a simple fact of life that if you happen to chew gum, eventually the gum will get stuck in some fabric. Removing chewing gum from shirts and other kinds of fabric is a really easy thing to do. That is, as long as you follow these simple steps.

   Removing Color Bleed Stains
How many times has this happened to you? You go about doing your laundry as you would any other day. You look through the clothes to separate the colors from the whites, as normal. However, when you pull your clothes out of the washer you find that you somehow missed a single red sock. Here's how you go about removing color bleed stains.

   Removing Cranberry Stains from Cotton Tablecloths
Whether you are having a nice family meal at a holiday time, or you simply like the taste of cranberries, the stains that they can leave behind are not all that enjoyable. Removing cranberry stains from cotton tablecloths doesn't need to be a harrowing adventure in cleaning. Rather, all you need to do is follow these simple steps.

   Removing Deodorant and Antiperspirant Stains
If you happen to have a few white t-shirts, blouses, or button-up shirts, then chances are you know the pain of having to deal with deodorant stains. Removing deodorant stains is possible, if you simply are willing to spend a little time, effort, or possibly money, to deal with it.

   Removing Motor Grease from Cotton-Poly Blend
Motor grease can be one of the more difficult types of stains to remove from anything, and when you have a fabric such as a cotton-poly blend, it can only seem more difficult. Removing motor grease from cotton-poly blend isn't as difficult as you would think though. That is, as long as you use the right methods.

   Removing Rust Stains from Cotton
Cotton is an extremely popular type of material that almost seems to love to collect stains. Rust is a type of stain that can crop up just about anywhere at almost any time. When you mix the two together you can find yourself faced with an interesting situation. Removing rust stains from cotton doesn't need to be all that difficult of a task as long as you use one of these methods.

   Removing the Odor of Sickness
Anyone that has ever been around chronically sick, or terminally ill people know how there is a slight, but significant, odor. This odor can seep into the clothes, sheets, and blankets which can be a real pain to remove. However, there are some methods that you can use to begin removing the odor of sickness.

   Restoring Yellowed Apparel
While it can be annoying to find that your white apparel and linens have turned yellow in the laundry, it no longer needs to be a cause for worry. With one of these great methods and a little work, you can begin restoring yellowed apparel. Better yet, by following these methods you won't have to go out and replace anything—thereby saving you money.

   Sanitizing Microfiber
Microfibers cloths are a great tool for getting things clean, but have you ever wondered how you can clean these cloths themselves? It's not hard or difficult, but sanitizing microfiber does need to be done a certain way. If you don't, then you run the risk of ruining one of your greatest cleaning tools.

   Save Money and Water When Doing the Laundry
Doing laundry can actually get kind of expensive. This is a pain to have to deal with, but fortunately there are ways to cut back on cost.

   Unstick a Zipper with Liquid Soap
Got a zipper that's giving you fits? You can try to unstuck that zipper using a little dab of liquid soap from the kitchen.

   Unstick Metal Zippers with a Pencil
When a zipper gets stuck, it can be a real pain to wiggle it free. Here's an idea for a common household item—a pencil—that can be used to head off problems with a stuck metal zipper.

   Washing Black Clothes
You would think that washing black clothes would be a fairly simple prospect. After all, it's only logical that dirt or stains are not seen as easily, right? Well anyone that has ever owned a black car or had a favorite black shirt can attest to the fact that black is probably one of the hardest colors to keep clean. It seems that logic has no place when it comes to washing black clothes—until now.

   Washing Colors
It happens to all of us. One sneaky red sock gets into the light colors, and before you know it, your whole laundry load is pink. You can try to comfort yourself by saying, "Well, at least all my clothes match now," or you can prepare for your next laundry adventure by learning these tips on how to wash you colors without fear of color bleeding.

   Washing Shirts
For some reason, washing shirts, particularly dress shirts, is something that many people have a hard time with. Stains seem to show up on these types of shirts at the drop of a hat, and it can often be difficult to remove them if you don't know what to do. Luckily learning the proper method for washing shirts isn't all that difficult.

   Washing Whites
There's a reason they're called whites. Don't let irony get the better of you with grey and dingy "whites." Here are some ways to get your white laundry to actually be white in color as well as in name.

   Whitening Tobacco-Stained Whites
As any current or ex-smoker can tell you, few things are more difficult than removing tobacco stains from clothing. How do you go about removing those annoyingly grungy discolorations from your garments? Here is how an amateur can get professional results.

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