Bicycle Grease On Clothing ?

I've found that regular dish soap, especially Dawn and Palmolive, will take bicycle grease out of pants with very little scrubbing. I've also used dish soap to take out other oily/greasy stains from washables, including suntan oil, and chicken gravy.

Black Clothing

Black clothing tends to look brown after several washings. To restore the black color, add coffee or strong tea to the rinse water.

Pillows

Foam rubber pillows should be washed with the case on to prevent fraying. Then, air dry the pillow - never in a hot dryer.

Never use bleach to get your fabric tennis shoes whiter! A little lemon juice in the final rinse should do the trick, though.

Ring Around The Collar

Dirty neck rings around shirt or blouse collars can be removed by putting shampoo on them. Rub the shampoo in like you were washing your hair. Shampoo is specifically made to remove body oils. A cheap bottle of shampoo kept by the washing machine is handy for all kinds of stains in clothing. Don't forget this trick when you are traveling.

Static Electricity

Add a few drops of vinegar to the rinse water to help prevent static electricity in synthetics.

Crayon In Clothing?

Wash & dry clothes and not know a crayon had been missed?
Try this.
1. Wash all clothes again using pure soap (not detergent), a box of baking soda and the hottest water possible.
2. Repeat if necessary

Scorch Marks From An Iron

Scorch marks occur when your iron is too hot for your fabric, or when you leave the iron in one place on the fabric too long. If the scorch is not too bad, there are a couple of things you can do to try to get it out.

Light scorch marks can be treated with 1 part water and 1 part hydrogen peroxide dabbed gently on the mark. Also you can try a borax solution (1/4 cup borax to 1 quart of water) on the scorch. If the fabric permits, it can be soaked in a bleach solution. Be sure to rinse thoroughly and wash as usual after treatments. On the down side, if the scorch is heave and dark, there may be nothing you can do to remove it. You may, however, be able to "decorate" over it, depending on where it is on the garment. You may be able to add a pocket or add an embroidery decoration over the scorch.

Fading Blue Jeans?

Turn inside out and wash in the coolest water possible; dry on lowest heat. Try dry-cleaning jeans once every five to six washings to slow down the fading process and keep colors fresh long.

Mildew

Mildew spots can be removed from white fabrics by rubbing a lemon juice and salt mixture into the spots. Then, let the garment dry in the sun before washing.

Ironing

Tap water will corrode the insides of your iron. Always use distilled water in your iron. It's cheap and will prevent corrosion of the iron, and hard water stains on your garments.

If you use a dry iron instead of a steam iron, place heavy duty aluminum foil over the ironing board and cover it with the board's slipcover. The foil will reflect heat back to garment being ironed making your work easier and more efficient.

Shrinkage

If you don't like it when your wool clothing shrinks while washing - just add some glycerin to the rinsing water.

Stains In Table Linen

To remove stains of wine or fruit from table linen. A wine stain may sometimes be removed by rubbing it, while wet, with common salt. It is said, also, that sherry wine poured immediately on a place where port wine has been spilled, will prevent its leaving a stain. A certain way of extracting fruit or wine stains from table linen is to tie up some cream of tartar in the stained part (so as to form a sort of bag), and then to put the linen into a lather of soap and cold water, and boil it awhile. Once that is done, transfer it to wet lukewarm suds, wash and rinse it well, dry and iron it. The stains will disappear during the process.

Another way is to mix, in equal quantities, soft soap, slacked lime, and pearlash. Rub the stain with this preparation, and expose the linen to the sun with the mixture plastered on it. If necessary, repeat the application. As soon as the stain has disappeared, wash out the linen immediately, as it will be injured if the mixture is left in it.

Wax On Fabric

Set your iron on the "warm" setting or the lowest setting. Let the iron get warm. Take a couple of sheets of paper towel and put them on the ironing board. Take the fabric with the wax stain, and place the stain over the paper towels. Place additional paper towels over the stain. Then press the iron on the spot. Do not move the iron back and forth, but just set it down, leave it for a moment, and lift it up.

Check the paper towels to see if any wax has been absorbed. If some of the wax has been absorbed, move the paper towels to a clean spot and do the same thing again until the wax is removed. You are going to melt the wax and transfer it onto the paper towels. Be careful not to "iron the wax on the paper towels" back onto the fabric, if you have to repeat the wax transfer treatment.

General Laundry Tips

• Even your washer needs to be washed once in a while.

• Run the machine on hot water, normal cycle, and add a bottle of vinegar to clean the soap film and scum that's built up inside.

• Never hang a sweater to dry.

• Block it on a flat surface to maintain its shape and fit.

Stains - Other

BABY STAINS-To remove formula from clothes,soak overnight in warm water and dishwashing detergent.

BLOOD-Add a dab of 3% hydrogen peroxide to remove blood stains from clothes.

COFFEE-To remove stains from a thermos,fill with ice,water,and some table salt. Shake well,then wash.

RUST-Put a thick paste made from lemon juice and a bit of salt on stain. After the paste dries,rinse with cool water.

INK-Here are a couple of suggestions for removing ink stains. Ball point pen stains can be removed by using hair spray. Let the hair spray dry and wash.

   Table salt will absorb ink when it is spilled. Pour salt on the wet ink and continue to add salt until there is no more "wet ink". Then vacuum or wash. Other types of ink can be removed using rubbing alcohol.

   Here's a response to rubbing alcohol used to remove ink marks on leather car seats. "Rubbing alcohol did well. It did not remove the ink completely, but it did fade them to the point that you would have to look very closely to see the the marks."

NAIL POLISH-Use shaving cream and a clean cloth to blot off excess nail polish. Rinse off the cream, then dry the surface thoroughly.