Home Made Cleaning Solutions for the Laundry

There are a number of home made cleaning solutions that can increase the effectiveness of your laundry detergent, and reduce you use of harsher laundry additives.

All Food and Beverage Stains

Carefully lift any solids off of the fabric (be careful to avoid spreading the stain). Then pour club soda over the stain until it is flushed out.

If you spill food on yourself at a restaurant, ask for a little club soda or seltzer water, and blot it out right on the spot.

Fabric Brightener

Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice (minus the pulp) to the rinse cycle

Fabric Rinse and General Deodorizer

1/4 cup white vinegar in the rinse cycle

Detergent Booster

1/2 cup baking soda in the wash or rinse cycle

Bleach

replace your bleach with hydrogen peroxide

Fabric Deodorizer

Spray offending area in white vinegar and let soak for 15 - 30 minutes before laundering

Perspiration Stains

Apply a baking powder & water paste to the entire underarm stain. Allow to 'work' for 30 minutes and then launder.

Rust Stains

Apply lemon juice undiluted to the fabric, and lay the garment in the sun until it dries.

Fruit-based stains

Apply lemon juice undiluted to the fabric and allow to soak for 30 minutes before laundering.

Make Odor-Eater Socks

Mix 1/4 cup of baking soda in 1 gallon U.S. of water. Soak freshly washed socks for 30 minutes, and then spin dry without rinsing out the solution. Dry, and they are ready for wearing.

Laundry Symbols

For a complete list of laundry symbols and what they mean, I highly recommend you take a look at this PDF from 'Textile Affairs.org' Click here to read the PDF in your browser, or right-click to download it.

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