50 Simple Laundry Solutions

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Interesting

I would implore our dear Launderess for input--some of these seem a touch weird, but others seem feasible.

 

Geez, does anyone proofread posted content anymore?  Some of those are missing key words, like verbs.  :-)

 

What's up with moistening and refrigerating garments for ironing?  How does that work?  I remember Ross and others talking about that process, but I don't understand the mechanics.
 
They forgot one glaring one that so many people do...using too much detergent. So many people think "more is better" in addition to not measuring. I think that is one (not the sole reason) of the reasons people have so many washer odor problems.

One I do not agree with is:
"Bleached-out whites can develop a dingy, discolored look over time. Prevent this by adding one-half to one cup of hydrogen peroxide to a load once the washing machine is filled with water. Allow it to soak for half an hour and add about one-third less laundry detergent than usual and wash as usual."

In a standard top loader, I think the peroxide would be too diluted by water to be effective. It might work in a front loader because of the lower water levels.

Perborate based oxygen bleach like Ecover would be best, Oxy Clean next. (I personally don't like Oxyclean because it has too many fillers.)
 
Good point

One of the issues I noted with these tips is that the dosing goes back and forth for front- and top-loaders.  They need to make it clear as to which they mean--I agree, a cup of peroxide in a top loader would be very dilute indeed!

 

Somewhere around here, someone once posted the official 1950s Maytag guideline for how to restore whiteness to dingy whites--it was an awesome and detailed process.  I'll have to pester Roger to see what that was.
 
The item about drying loads back to back

to save heat is not too logical with a modern dryer, or on Permanent Press cycle.  My dryer is at room temperature at the end of a Permanent Press cycle, and is not very warm at the end of any other cycle!

 

 

Also, the one about a dryer using 50 to 65 % of a household's electricity.......seems as if the bright boys and girls who recycled this article from other articles have never ever heard of gas heated dryers.  In this part of the country, you have pixies in your pea-patch if you have an electric dryer when gas is available.  Admittedly, not all homes/apartments do have gas service, but..........

 

 

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Well apart from what few disagreements are on here, I think the rest of it is ok. Although I think detergent would work better on ring around the collar than shampoo. And I also have my own tip that I had to use today. Thanks to my cat peeing on the bathroom floor where a couple of towels, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt were laying, I had a challenge of my own. What I did was soak them in the hottest water my sink would produce with a good amount of detergent. Some thick Rubbermaid gloves will come in handy with this as well to keep from scalding your hands. I sloshed them around in it, squeezing and plunging at the same time. I let them soak for an hour. After that hour I rinsed them under the tap squeezing out as much water as possible. I then took them to the laundry and washed them with detergent as usual in hot water. Luckily every bit of the smell was gone. Although my hands and arms were very sore and tired from the squeezing lol. I hope this helps anyone who may encounter a problem like that in the future.
 
Did somebody mention proofreading?

Nah.

 

Tip 3: To keep brights their brightest and blacks from fading, turn garments inside out and choose the coolest temperature setting that will get them clean.

 

Tip 14: To keep brights their brightest and blacks from fading, turn garments inside out and choose the coolest temperature setting that will get them clean.

 

smiley-cool.gif
 
35: Be careful not to overload your dryer because the air will not be able to circulate evenly. As a result, clothing may emerge wrinkled and damp in areas. Instead, find out what the optimum capacity is for your dryer and pack it accordingly.

There are times when I go to the laundromat and I see people overloading the dryers so badly, the clothes don't even tumble. Also, they put in quarter after quarter after quarter (each quarter is 8 minutes of drying time), put the dryer on high heat, and leave the laundromat.

IF people would merely take the time to sort their stuff, use multiple dryers and then set the dryer for the correct heat level, they'd have almost wrinkle-free clothes and spend less money on drying.
 
Also, the one about a dryer using 50 to 65 % of a household&

Though I have natural gas in the house, I do have an electric dryer (don't like gas).  Still I think the 50-65% is too high.  I have heard, and better believe 10-20%.   When not line drying the dryer only runs at most a few hours a week.  Whereas the air conditioner runs 7-10 hours a day depending on the temperature.  I would be more inclined to say the A/C is the energy eater.
 
Biggest standing (non-seasonal) load is the fridge. ~1kW, runs half the time, more with kids, 12kWh/day. Dryer is ~3kW but as above, runs couple hours a day tops, skips days, <6kWh/day.

Central air varies too much--capacity, sq ft, setting, weather--to assign one value to all. Obviously expensive--speaking of which I just clicked mine off--but when you need it you need it. I run it manually by the switch, monitor temp, turn it on at 83F and off at 79F, as well as turn it off at bedtime, so it runs less than half the time even though it's 100F outside. 'Course I'm home all the time to mind it.

Electric stove is 0.5-3kW but highly intermittent use. Summer, gas oven actually costs more to use because the air has to take all that heat out. Technically air has to take electric heat out too but over a much longer time. Last gas oven I had was off limits in summer, air couldn't keep up.

But if you really want to see the meter spin, have the misfortune to own electric heat. My bills go from $50 off season to $300 in winter, with average lows in the mid 30s. Air eats less than half that even at 100F. Summer differential is only 20F, whilst winter diff'l is 35F. And this is only 800 sq ft apartment. Doublepane windows but pretty sure the attic insulation is inadequate. Speaking of which, I just clicked the air back on.
 

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