Clothing Stain and Odor Removal

Tip: Color Brightener
If you add about 1/3 of a cup of white vinegar to your rinse cycle, you´ll find that your clothes will come out brighter and softer. Any vinegar scent should vanish after the clothes have been dried.

Tip: Softer Towels
The cause of stiffness in laundry is usually that too much detergent has been left in the clothing. To make your towels softer, use less detergent than normal, and add white vinegar to the first rinse cycle. You may also want to add an extra rinse cyle when washing towels. Line dried towels do not get as fluffy and soft as ones dried in the dryer, but this should help.

Tip: Brightening White Clothing
You should be able to restore dingy clothes to white (and not damage the fibres of the fabric) by soaking them them in lukewarm water and color safe or oxygen bleach for 24 hours, then rinse them with vinegar and water. Use one tablespoon of vinegar to one quart of water. Your clothes may be turning gray because you have hard water, and this diminishes the effectiveness of detergents, and often leaves a residue on clothing. If you think this is the case, you may want to add a powdered water softener to your wash, particularly when washing white clothes.

Tip: Refresh Black Clothing
You can refresh your black clothes by adding bluing, or strong coffee, or tea (2 cups) to the rinse water. They should return to their original dark black state. To prevent future fading, wash them in cold water, with Ivory Flakes plus only a small amount of detergent.

Tip: Washing Soda
Washing soda used to be used for washing clothes in the old days. It is a form of bicarbonate of soda. It is most commonly found in a blue box by Arm and Hammer. You can buy it at any grocery store in the detergent section next to the boxes of water softener.

Tip: Washing Whites
Hot water works the best, since your detergent will dissolve and work the most effectively at this temperature. Water rinses equally well at any temperature, however, so be sure to rinse all your clothes using cold water to save on hot water. If your clothes are not particularly soiled, you could probably get away with using hot water every second or third washing to save on hot water as well. Be sure to always follow the washing directions given on the label of your clothes for best results.

Tip: Baby Wipe Magic
As silly as it sounds, baby wipes are a great way of removing stains and are also great for cleaning in general. They pretty much can remove anything!

Tip: Enzyme Pre-Soak Product
An enzyme pre-soak product is a stain remover that contains an enzyme which digests the stain in the same way that your body digests food. It works best on food, milk, tea, coffee, baby formula, juice, blood, body fluids and grass stains.

Tip: Keep Jeans Looking Like New
To prevent a new pair of jeans from fading when washed, soak them in 4 tbsp. of vinegar mixed with 5 quarts of water for about 30 minutes. For added insurance, wash them inside out.

Tip: Stain Strategy
When applying stain-removing solutions to fabric, it´s best to work at the stain from the back of the fabric and not the front. This way the stain won´t spread deeper into the fabric.

Tip: Preventing Fading and Color Bleeding
We all have had that favorite dark colored shirt that fades and ends up with a “frost” of fade on it. Next time you buy dark (or bright) colored clothing, set the color by soaking the garment for an hour in a mix of 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon of salt and 1/2 gallon of water. If the rinse water shows color after an hour, repeat the process. Use this technique only for single-colored items, because multi-colored items may bleed into each other. Multicolored items will likely need to be dry-cleaned. The clothing will still fade, but after many more washes. This will also prevent already laundered items from fading even more.

Tip: Restore Whites
You should be able to restore your clothes to white (and not damage the fibres of the fabric) by soaking them them in lukewarm water and color safe or oxygen bleach for 24 hours, then rinse them with vinegar and water. Use one tablespoon of vinegar to one quart of water. After treating them overnight, wash them in hot water with chlorine bleach added. This should refresh them to their original white state. If possible, dry them in the sun.

Tip: Softer Flannel
A great alternative to commercial fabric softeners (which work, but tend to leave a build up over time, thus the flannel loses softness after awhile) is vinegar. If you add 1 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle of your washer, it removes any soap residue and naturally softens the fabric. Also, be sure not to use too much detergent, as this makes fabric stiff and hard; and you could add an extra rinse cycle to ensure that all the detergent is removed.

Tip: Eliminating Static Cling
To eliminate static cling from clothing, stroke the garment with a wire hanger. Do the same for your hair if static in your hair is also a problem.

Tip: Soften Stiff Clothing
If your clothes feel stiff after washing, usually this means that too much detergent is left in the clothing. To prevent this from happening, try using less detergent, adding a commercial rinse agent or 1 cup of white vinegar to the first rinse, or add an extra rinse cycle.

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