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I don’t know about you, but one of my least favorite jobs around the house is doing laundry. Over the years, I’ve found some tips to make that job a whole lot easier and I thought I would share them with you today!

  • Use Vinegar Instead Of Fabric Softener

Pour ½ cup of white distilled vinegar into the softener dispenser or your machine (or a softener ball ) instead of using “traditional” fabric softener. Believe it or not, it leaves your clothes smelling clean and does a great job of softening fibers. If you’re concerned about your clothes, you can also add a drop or two of essential oil in with the vinegar. One other benefit is that the vinegar helps to reduce the amount of static cling during the drying cycle.

  • Keep Socks From Disappearing

Have you ever seen those little mesh bags that people use for “delicate” items? Well, I’m here to tell you, they work great for keeping socks safe too. I have two bags, in fact, one for socks and the other for underwear. You can wash them separately or with a big load and never have to worry about the dreaded sock monster again.

  • Got A Grease Stain? Use Baking Soda

It happens. We’re cooking up the next masterpiece and blob something greasy on our clothes. When this happens, don’t panic. Just add a bit of baking soda to the stain and throw it in the wash.

  • Dry Clothes Fast!

If you’re running late and need an outfit out of the dryer ASAP, simply throw a clean, dry bath towel in with your clothes. It will speed up the drying process as it helps to wick away the excess moisture from the wet clothes.

  • Wrinkled Clothes? Oh No!

Make your own DIY wrinkle releaser. In a clean spray bottle add 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.

  • Collect Dryer Lint In A Tissue Box

If you don’t have room for a trash can in your laundry room, try repurposing a tissue box to collect your dryer lint. When the box is full, you can toss the entire thing out or — even better — compost it! Both the cardboard tissue box and the dryer lint itself is compostable.

  • Remove Sticky Messes With Ice

If you have something sticky on your clothes like caramel or even worse; gum – gently rub the spot with an ice cube for a few seconds, then let it set on the spot until the sticky mess hardens. It should come off in one piece. You can also try this on rugs as well!

  • Freshen Clothes With Baking Soda & Water

Baking soda is a natural deodorizer. If just need to get one more wear out of that dress shirt for a meeting……..spray your shirt lightly with a mixture of baking soda and water. It will neutralize any odors in your clothing and actually helps to reduce the odor of cigarette smoke or other not-so-pleasant odors without a “perfumy or floral” scent that a lot of commercial fabric refreshers use. (Mixture: 3 parts water / 1 part soda)

  • Hand-Wash Your Clothes In A Salad Spinner

I heard about this a few years ago from a friend of mine and I laughed in her face when she first told me about it. Now I swear by this method for anything that says “hand wash” on the tag. Put your items into the spinner basket (don’t overload it). Add warm or hot water (depending on instructions) and a little bit of laundry soap (I use baby shampoo) then spin the dickens out of them! Dump out the soapy water; spin them in a few batches of rinse water (until it is clear). Finally, pour out the remaining water and spin them a few times to get rid of excess water before hanging to dry or placing in the dryer.

  • “Iron” Your Clothes With Ice

If your clothes are dry but a little wrinkled; throw in a few cubes of ice and turn the dryer on again for about 20 minutes. Your clothes will come out wrinkle free!

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A few last things to remember when it comes to laundry:

If you do laundry in smaller batches, a few times a week, they are much easier to put away where they belong instead of the dreaded mountain of laundry to do once per week.

If you have kids, they are NEVER too young to help out when it comes to folding clothes. (If they can walk……they can help)

Most importantly, if you just can’t deal with the stress of laundry, you have options:

You can take your laundry to a local laundromat that offers drop off service. They will wash, sort and fold your clothes for a fee. Most prices are very reasonable and it’s worth the cost if it will help you keep your sanity.

You can hire a housekeeper / laundress to come to your home and take care of your laundry for you. Their fees may be a bit higher but again, well worth it.  If you’re looking for a professional, check out Angieslist.com or Care.com. Did you know that there are people who actually love doing laundry? Is that even possible? You can find these wonderful people on bulletin boards, social media or job posting sites where they will pick up and wash your clothes for a small fee. If you’re having trouble finding someone on a job board, you can also send out a message through social media looking to hire someone. You’d be surprised at how many responses you may get.

If all else fails. Beg your mom to do it for you.

 

 

 

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