I have a question about deodorant stains on nice clothing!
I have a fuchsia pink bridesmaids dress and there is a thin line of white along the armpit seam. I need to get rid of that stain.
I’m sure I could bring it to a dry cleaners but do you have any suggestions?

Thank you!

No Stinky Pits Here

Ivy says:

I emailed the original emailed about this to find out what her dress was made of before answering, because there’s a big difference in what you do with different materials. What I failed to ask were the regular laundry directions, so I’ll just give both answers.

The fabric is a polyester blend on this particular dress, which means it’s most likely washable. In the case of washable items, simply pretreating the stain and then washing as usual would probably get the stain out. Some antiperspirants can permanently fade the material, so keep that in mind.

If the material is not washable, the best method of removing the stain is to sponge the area with alcohol. Dilute alcohol with 2 parts water for acetate, Rayon, and triacetate; test silk for colorfastness before using alcohol.

Be careful and spot test the material before doing anything serious to it! Good luck.

For many, keeping up with laundry is their Achilles’ heel when it comes to housekeeping. I know that it sure is mine. It seems that whenever I manage to get caught up, there’s a new giant pile lurking somewhere 5 seconds afterwards. So I share with you some of the strategies I’ve picked up over the years to keep the laundry monster at bay. And I know some of our lovely home eccers who don’t have trouble with the laundry will jump in with their own helpful hints.

Make it easy on yourself- limit the amount of clothes you have. This is a hint Heather’s shared with me at least 40 million times. “But I’m a clothes horse,” I tell her. “I can’t help it!” She tells me I’ll always have trouble with the laundry, then. I can dig that. Now, I do take that somewhat to heart- all the ill-fitting, permanently stained, ugly clothing is removed as soon as possible. It’s especially important to deal with kid clothes, since they grow out of things so quickly. If you’re saving clothes for another kid, box them up and put them away somewhere.

Put off season clothes away. Speaking of boxing things up and putting them away, it’s summer. Put your winter clothes away. In the winter, do the opposite. This might not be necessary if you’re living in a house with only adults, but I can tell you, if you have kids, this saves piles of time. It’s June 16th and I live in Tennessee. I just washed a pair of winter gloves. Why? They didn’t get put away and I’m sure one of my kids was playing with them and tossed them in the laundry pile. Arrrgh.

Get a system going for your laundry. Some people like to wash once a week. Some people like to wash every day. Decide what sort of person you are, and stick to the schedule. Right now, I’m a fan of washing once a week. Monday is my laundry day, and that’s what I do all day on Mondays. Come heck or high water. If you’re an every day sort of launderer, then make sure you do at least one load every single day. (More or less, depending on how much laundry you need to do.)

Fold and put away immediately when the dryer buzzer goes off. Don’t mess around. Not only will you end up with wrinkly clothes, but also clothes are more likely to sit in your washer if you have a load behind it. Ewww. Smelly clothes. It wastes time and water and energy and, and, and. Just suck it up and deal with the dryer right away.

Go ahead and spend a little more for a laundry detergent scent you love. Of course, if someone in your house is allergic, forget that idea. But if you can, get a scent that you find absolutely wonderful. It makes laundry just that much better to do. Plus, your clothes will smell fabulous. Bonus!

If you’re behind, make laundry your priority. Whenever I get behind on my laundry, I just plow in and do laundry until it’s all finished. Sure, that new pile will spring up in no time, but being caught up feels soooo good. And by “plow in and do it til it’s all finished,” I mean DAY AND NIGHT. This is a little harder in the summer when it’s miserably hot, but you let it get behind, pay the price, ha!

Sorting got you down? Shout Color Catcher to the rescue! Man, I hate sorting laundry, so I really just don’t anymore. Instead, I put clothes in (excepting towels, which have to be washed seperately due to fabric softener issues and delicates, for obvious reasons) until the washer’s full enough and then toss in a Shout Color Catcher. I’ve not had a single pink sock since starting to use these. I think that’s totally worth the extra cost.

Keep your laundry area clean. Nothing makes you want to do laundry less than a dirty laundry room. My laundry room also happens to be the best place for cat boxes. So before I go in to do laundry, I clean the area well. I keep a push broom in the laundry room to push stray cat litter out of the way throughout laundry day.

OK, now it’s your turn: Tell me, Home Eccers, what are your laundry strategies?

Heather says:

It sounds as though the acids and salts from your husband’s sweat are reacting with the dyes of your sheets. Rest assured the stains you see aren’t lingering dirt, it’s a chemical change. Since cranking down the AC is an expensive and wasteful solution I highly recommend switching to white sheets and spraying his side of the bedding with a vinegar / water solution before laundering. Do not use chlorine bleach, but an oxygen bleach such as Oxyclean may be a product worth trying to keep your new white sheets from yellowing.

If you aren’t ready to shell out for new sheets simply make the bed and use pillow shams. If your husband tends to be a heavy sweater, make sure you use a high quality mattress pad to protect your mattress.  Good luck.

Send your household questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

Help oh great home ec goddesses! I was making breakfast for the kids, and didn’t have my tried and true apron on. As I am sure you guessed, I got grease on my favorite go to khakis. HELP!!!!!!! I need guidance! Thanks for all of your great tips.

Signed,

Greasy in Gallatin

Ivy says:

When I worked at the auto repair shop, I was introduced to the miracle that is Simple Green. Not only is it one of the best degreasers I have ever used, but it’s nontoxic, biodegradable, and not stinky. I used it to clean the grease off my shoes and clothes that always gets on ya when you work around cars.

Later, I married a restaurant manager who brought home the grease all over his clothing, and Simple Green worked wonders again. My darling restaurant manager doesn’t bring home so much grease anymore, but since I’m a messy cook, Simple Green is still my best pal.

For your khakis, just spray Simple Green directly onto the stain and wash as usual. Make sure the grease stains are gone before you put it in the dryer, but chances are good that they’ll be fabulous once again. Thanks for the great question!

Got a household dilemma that needs solving? Email us at helpme@home-ec101.com

HELP! My husband put a pen in his pocket today and I forgot to check the jeans before I washed them, then I dried them unknowingly, along with the destroyed pen. Somewhat luckily, the clothes were mostly the kids comfy stay home play clothes and jammies, but one of my fave cotton t-shirts was in there too, with a couple of noticable stains. First of all, is there ANY way to get the stains out of the clothes and inside of my dryer? And second of all, WHOSE fault is it?

Signed,
The Cork Fell Out and You Stink

Heather says:

Inside the dryer, try Goo Gone or WD-40. If you have a gas dryer, please turn off the gas before using WD40 as it is highly flammable. Wipe the drum of your dryer out with plain water after using either product. To be on the extra safe side, make sure the first load is rags or towels to prevent any damage to delicate clothing.

As far as your cotton blouse, try using rubbing alcohol on the stain. Blot with a paper towel and then gently rub more alcohol into the stain with an old toothbrush. Blot and treat with a stain remover such as Shout. Wash on a cold cycle, but don’t dry the shirt unless the stain is entirely gone. If some of the stain is still present, try soaking in an Oxiclean solution before laundering again.

In our house the blame would be shared. The clothing owner should as a courtesy empty their own pockets. As the washer I get to keep any change or paper money to add to my mad money stash. Obviously, this is our system and it may not work for others.

I wish you the best of luck.

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

Heather says:
You could wash your down comforter on the gentle cycle with an extra rinse and then pop it into the dryer with a couple of clean tennis balls on low. However, there is a trade-off, the lifespan of your comforter may be significantly reduced. As the cost of dry cleaning can vary by region (and local competition) the home care option may or may not be more cost effective.
A high quality, dry cleaned comforter can be expected to last five to ten years. Quite the spread, eh? Har, har. There are home dry cleaning kits, but they are best for spot and odor management and probably won’t get a heavy article like a down comforter as clean as you would like. If you choose to wash your comforter, carefully inspect it for any small tears before putting it into the washer. A clogged drain line is not the frugal option if you end up having to call a repairman.
My personal experience? I have had a cheap comforter for five years, but it is well past its prime. It creates lovely fuzzy dusty bits that I must enjoy vacuuming or I would have gotten around to replacing it by now.

Finally, a good quality duvet cover will help keep your comforter from needing frequent cleaning.

Good luck!

Submit your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

For a few weeks I’ve occasionally noticed a musty smell. At first I thought it was something in my house, but I couldn’t ever pin it down. I finally realized it was my favorite pair of jeans! I think they sat too long in washer, but I’ve washed them several times since and they still smell. I’m not ready to part with these pants.

Signed,

~Little Suzy Stinky Pants

Heather says:

It sounds like you have a case of detergent build up. This sticky residue can trap all kinds of funky odors. This usually happens with heavier fabrics and more commonly in high efficiency washers. The easiest solution is prevention. Always use the least effective amount of laundry soap possible and add vinegar to the final rinse.

In your case, it’s a little too late for prevention. If you have a progammable washer use hot water, place vinegar in the prewash dispenser, borax powder in the main wash and add an extra rinse. If you have a standard washer, run with vinegar in the wash water, rinse, then use borax in the next wash cycle, and finish with a plain water rinse.

Dry your jeans thoroughly and you should now be stink free!

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

If you have fallen behind on laundry and have several loads to do, start with the one that requires the most obnoxious amount of folding. In my house that’s the light colored load, it’s crammed with toddler clothes and other piddly items that are annoying to fold.  Finish off with towels which require the least effort to sort, fold, and put away.

Here’s my situation…Mr. Knots has a tie that needs some attention. It has a few stains but he needs to wear it Saturday night and I don’t necessarily want to take just a tie to the dry cleaner. It’s a satin like material. Do think Dryel would work for that?

Signed,

Mrs. Knots

Ivy says:

I like Dryel’s ability to make things look nicer and smell nicer, but I do not think it has good spot removal abilities. I think your best bet in this case is to work on removing the spots by using something like Shout or, if the spot is greasy, use something like Dawn Dishwashing liquid.

The key here is to make sure you’re not getting the tie too wet or too soapy. I’d put a bit of whatever you’re using for spot removal on a slightly damp washcloth and gently rub the stains. Test it first on the back of the tie first for colorfastness.

I’ve had some good luck with stain removal on ties and some horrible disasters, so just remember: if all else fails, JC Penney is having a fabulous sale this week.