Top 5 Laundry Tips

Here are my favorite laundry tips, learned by trial and error since we started our vintage clothing business.

1. Use Biz as a presoak for any protein stain such as blood or gravy. I have found you can use it on almost any fabric, just be careful if it says dry clean only (you probably shouldn't do this then). In a pail, dissolve 1/2 cup of Biz in warm water. Let it cool to room temperature and add the article of clothing, soak for at least 1/2 hour or until stain is gone.

2. Shout Color Catcher sheets for any color, any fabric, anything to keep the dye set and prevent pink undies. It works for towels which often seem to bleed dye forever. I don't know what I did before I discovered these, but I think my things were dingier than I realized!

3. Polyester clothing with discoloration from hanging too long (particularly if there are smokers around) and stains can be cleaned with this "potion": add 1/2 cup of automatic dishwasher detergent and 1/2 cup of non-chlorine bleach to a pail of warm water and soak until the stain are gone, usually best overnight (12 hours). This one is magic!

4. Delicate fibers made from hair are most carefully washed by a gentle slosh in baby shampoo. Wool and mohair are two examples and they can be gently washed and laid flat to fry.

5. Any article with an odor (cat anyone?) including a musty smell can usually be remedied by adding 1 cup of vinegar to the rinse water in the washer. It's cheaper than all the odor remedies!

Bonus moneysaving tip: most laundry can be washed with 1/2 the detergent and additives recommended by the manufacturer. Experiment with the amounts, but mostly the agitation does the work!

NB: I am not compensated for the mention of any specific brand names, nor do I work for any of the manufacturers. These are my opinions on what I have found to work the best.