Ladies! Do you thrive on housekeeping and take personal pride in every square inch of your home and its features? You probably do, that is, if you have the time for housework. Laundry chores, and keeping the condition of your family’s clothing looking as new, are valuable skills. Here are a few tips to brighten your laundry results, and your day, by making the job easier.
For freshness, try a clothesline:
To have a clothesline, especially for families living in urban areas, is a luxury. Drying your laundry in the sunshine and fresh breezes leaves a distinctly fresh odor that makes wearing them pleasurable. It also has the bonus of being economical. You can make a simple clothesline for yourself using clothesline of a length that will reach from your porch to a tree, or between two windows, a metal eye hook, sailor’s cleat, metal eye hook, and a snap shackle.
Attach the metal eye hook to your chosen location and add the sailor’s cleat below it, about one foot. Thread the clothesline through the metal eye hook and wrap one end around the sailor’s cleat. The hook, fastened to a post or tree some distance from the eye hook will conveniently allow the snap shackle, with the other end of the clothesline firmly tied, to attach. After removing your fresh-smelling clothes from the line, the added convenience is in the clothesline’s portability.
(Photo: clothes on clothesline blowing in the breeze.)
Consider the color:
A simple habit that you should make a part of your fabric-care routine is using cool water. Cooler temperature water will prevent the colors of your garments from running and keep them in the original shade much longer.
Another trick, not a very new one, is using liquid bluing for your whites. Your grandmother probably used bluing, but it does work and has many other household uses, as well. A small bottle of only eight fluid ounces goes a long way because you need to dilute it before adding it to your wash. Liquid bluing brightens all colors, but especially the white garments that need to be extra bright.
Two other products that will be helpful with your colors are washing soda and borax. These additives will help your detergent and also soften the water. They also have whitening and deodorizing properties which, I am sure you will agree, are very useful. If you want, you can use them together, but be careful that they don’t clump, that will slow down their dissolving. (Photos: crisp, white shirts or bright colored clothes, like a red dress or something blue.)
Remove Stains:
Our poor clothes suffer ugly stains from many sources, sometimes the ones we least expect. We wear our favorite shirt or dress in spite of slight discolorations. But, stains will disappear if you do your job. As soon as you drop chocolate or ketchup on your outfit, brush the goo off and soak the garment for about 20 minutes. Rinsing immediately will dilute the stain. It can also be pretreated with detergent or stain remover before washing. Don’t allow the food item to dry on your garment in the laundry basket. By the time you do your wash, the stain will be permanent. (Photo: stained garments, children’s clothes or a shirt.)