What do you do when you need to wash your teenage daughter's t-shirt and it is the whitest white and the deepest red?!! Wash with the colored clothes...yipes--of course not! Wash with the whites...no way! But if we wash it with the lights (the remaining option), the stains won't come out!
The answer is to use my best ever laundry tip (actually it's not my idea). In my whole life, there is only one laundry tip that I consider the very very best--automatic dish detergent for stain removal!
Years ago, when Rebekah was only a baby, I was in desperate need for a magic cure. You see, Rebekah was a drooler. In case you didn't know, drool turns brownish gray on everything--especially on the gorgeous baby dresses that my friend Sarah Forman loaned me.
Years ago, when Rebekah was only a baby, I was in desperate need for a magic cure. You see, Rebekah was a drooler. In case you didn't know, drool turns brownish gray on everything--especially on the gorgeous baby dresses that my friend Sarah Forman loaned me.
One day I was perusing the homemaking books at Half-Priced books when I picked up a cute book by Erma Bombeck. Hand-written on the inside cover was a laundry tip--1/2 cup automatic dish detergent, 1/2 cup bleach in a few inches of sink water for baby drool stains. Wow---manna from heaven! The Lord had answered my prayers! I left out the bleach because all of these beautiful dresses were colored, but the automatic dish detergent worked perfectly. And it still works great today!
When you get out those baby clothes from two years ago and find yellow stains on them, or urine on diapers, sweat, many food stains, stinky tennis shoes or just dingy socks or underwear that the boys have worn a few times too many...this tip is the answer for you!! And if those items are colored...this is the only solution! Any protein stain can be improved or removed by this cleaner. Why? Because automatic dish detergent is filled with enzymes! It's designed to eat protein...and that's the kind of stain I'm trying to remove! Don't gross out by the brown water though--you just didn't know that item had so much dirt in it! Surprise!!
Steps for cleaning with automatic dish detergent---
Add 1/2 cup detergent with enough lukewarm water to cover the item. (Coldish if item bleeds.)
Swish detergent until it is dissolved and mixed with the water. (especially needful with dry detergent)
Add item--scrub and squeeze a little--especially the stained part.
Let soak for thirty minutes.
Rinse thoroughly with clear water.
Dry as usual.
Voila--clean clothes...no fading of colors...and one very happy teenager!
Happy Homemaking!
Donna
Happy Homemaking!
Donna
11 comments
Donna, this is an amazing tip. I've always wondered about all those little stains that you mentioned as well as the white shirt or dress with some color on it in other places. I really appreciate all of the tips you share with us on your blog. They are such a help.
Hi Donna, Whats 'automatic' dish detergent? Is it the detergent for those dish washers??
Hi Diana, Yes it's for dishwasher but it works very well for clothes too. I added a picture and link for buying the product. I don't know if they ship overseas or not. Do you have this stuff in your country?
Hi Donna,
I haven really noticed that line of detergent because I do not have a dishwasher.. Thanks so much for the link.. They do not ship to my country, but I will check it out at the local supermarkets..
Regards
Diana
Simply brilliant. I never would have thought about the enzymes in dishwasher detergent. Thanks for sharing.
While we are on the subject, I keep a small bottle of dish detergent in my laundry room for grease stains. Spot treat your grease stain and drop item in the laundry as per usual. You can even spot treat it when the stain happens and leave it in the laundry until laundry day since there are no bleaches in it.
Wow Melissa! Great idea! I hated buying that expensive greasy stain remover in the itty bitty bottle. I will have to try that right away!
What a great tip. All of my babies were spitters and so many clothes were "ruined". Now I'm going to try this. Do you mind if I provide a link to this post from my blog. I would love to share this tip with my readers.
I'd be honored Julie!
I may provide a post as well. My washer repairman for my front loading HE washer suggested I run the powder through my washer in hot water once a month as a cleaning cycle. I do it with the towels.
Great idea Scarlett!
Hey Donna- this is a great idea! I'm gonna try it on a couple of my son's white t-shirts! He's nearly one and still fits in his 6-9mo tees, which is great, except for those hideous drool stains from when he was teething like a maniac when he WAS 6-9mo! My only concern is, I've washed and dried these shirts countless times already... so will this still work, even though the stains are supposedly "set" from drying?
Post a Comment