The standard school attire dilemma

Dear Home Ec 101,

Here’s my dilemma –now that school is nearly out, it’s like a “Click and Clack” theoretical dilemma, but a month ago, it was the hot topic in the house. I know other people have wondered, too. So here it is.

I didn’t really buy enough standard school attire outfits at the beginning of the school year, and now that we’re at the end, SweetCheek is on the verge of outgrowing some of it. We’re left with only about 6 skorts, shirts, and trousers, depending on her mood that day and whether she will wear something a little to short paired with leggings, or the slightly non-compliant skort with cargo pockets.

My argument is that school is nearly out, and she’ll grow over the summer, so we should wait until August. In lieu of buying, we’ve been doing an extra load of laundry midweek to wash the two or three most-acceptable items.

So which is cheaper — 50 percent more loads of laundry for two months, or buying the $15 for trousers or skort?

Signed,

Muddled in Metro

Ivy says:

Can I just point out here that this is why I’m glad I live in Rutherford County and not Metro Davidson? For non-Nashvillians, Metro Nashville went to a “standard school attire” that has been the bane of every Metro Nashville parent I know.

Now, to answer your question, Muddled, I really think this is a matter of preference. On one hand, depending on the size of the load you’re washing (are you only washing the SSA stuff, or are you washing other stuff?), you might be able to save a buck or two. But time is money, so that might negate the cost savings.

But being the total hippie that I am, I also am throwing in environmental considerations. If you’re washing the clothing in big loads with an environmentally friendly laundry detergent, then washing is the way to go. But if you’re like me and adore Tide and are just tossing in small loads, then buying might be the way to go. (For the record, we’ve started using an eco-friendly lavender laundry detergent. It works fine, but I miss my Tide.)

But then you have to take into consideration the chemicals used in making these clothes, and the gasoline to get them to the store, and the gasoline to get you to the store. Buying is probably less eco-friendly than washing!

Of course, you could go to a thrift store, which is economical and eco-friendly. I would hazard a guess that toward the end of the year, there would be more SSA stuff than there would be at the beginning of the year. All things considered, I believe I would buy at a thrift store. If you have a kid that’s like my oldest and absolutely refuses to wear “used” clothing, then I’d go with the washing.

Clear as mud? What would you do, Home Eccers?

And THIS is why we don’t wear white pants before Memorial Day

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I managed to get that reddish Tennessee clay all over the cuffs of my favorite pair of white pants. Can you help me get the stains out?

Signed,

Mr. Lavender

Ivy says:

What in the world were you doing wearing white before Memorial Day!?!?! Just kidding, if I didn’t have 3 Pigpen-like kids, I’d probably wear white before Memorial Day myself. Although- it’s usually less muddy after Memorial Day, and that might have had something to do with why you have all those mud stains. Or perhaps you should stop mowing the lawn in your favorite white pants. Just sayin’.

We discovered this method of getting mud and grass stains out of white pants when my brother was playing baseball. Why baseball players all have white pants when they are sliding and diving into the mud and grass is beyond me, but here’s the solution: soak the pants overnight in a half- full bucket with about a half cup of automatic dishwasher detergent and water. My personal favorite brand for this is Cascade, however I figure just about any brand would work as well.

Once it’s soaked overnight, rinse them out and make sure the stains have completely faded. Then just wash and dry as normal. Make absolutely sure you have gotten the stains out before you put the pants in the dryer- once they’ve been run through the dryer, there’s a good chance that they may never come clean.

Attack of the stinky fish shirt

Dear Home Ec 101,

I recently bought a linen type shirt. I think it is linen. Anyway, it has this scent that smells like fish. The shirt is dry clean only. My mother has bought clothes that have had this scent, and I’ve always been turned off by it. I really like this shirt, but my students tell me I stink, and I’d like to keep the shirt. HELP! How do I get rid of this scent?!

Thanks,

Mr. Stinky Fish Shirt

Ivy says:

I suspect some processing method caused your shirt to smell like a fish. It’s not a specific thing I have faced, but I have faced a somewhat similar problem before, and I’ll tell you what I did.

I used to be a Renaissance Festival actor. One year I played a French princess, and my gown had to be yellow. I searched high and low for a yellow that wouldn’t look terrible with my skin color and finally found one. Difficulty? The fabric was dry clean only. Meh. I hate dry clean only.

Long story short (too late!), I went ahead, bought the fabric, made the dress (with a whole lotta help from my dear mama), and it turned out beautifully. However, after a weekend of mud and heat and general funk you might find at a ren faire, the dress smelled like…well, you can imagine. It was a bad scene.

Now, I’ve never been a huge believer that just because a garment or fabric said “Dry Clean Only”, that it really meant that it was dry clean only. But if I washed the dress and it was ruined mid-season, I wouldn’t have time to make another gown. I used Dryel on the dress.

It worked- sort of. The gown smelled less bad, but I could still smell it a little bit, if I was sniffing the fabric. By the end of the next weekend, it smelled worse than ever. People back during Henry VIII’s time smelled pretty bad, so I was period, but for today’s time, smelling like a horse’s backside isn’t really appropos.

Finally, I broke down and washed the gown with some Borax. It was a risk- I could have ruined the entire gown. But I couldn’t stand the smell anymore. Luckily, my dress came out of the wash fine, and it smelled clean. Whew!

This very long story for what really comes out to be a short answer. Try using Dryel, and if that doesn’t work and you’re willing to risk ruining the shirt, wash it with some Borax. It’s a very real risk that you could ruin the shirt- I’ve ruined a couple of dry clean only skirts by washing them. However, sometimes the risk pays off. It’s up to you.

You know you’re awesome when your mom needs your advice

Dear Home-Ec 101,

In thirty five years of doing laundry, I have never made a mistake. That’s right, I have found the perfect way of doing laundry through a very complicated method of washing clothing by color and weight.

Except…well, today I did a load of tablecloths. One of them was red and another was white. They were both new, but I figured modern methods of dying surely would keep the red tablecloth from bleeding onto the white. Right? Wrong. Now I have a pink tablecloth and a red tablecloth. It’s a lovely pink tablecloth and not blotchy at all, but still. What should I do?

By the way, Ivy is not a great name. I Your mother named you [redacted] because it’s a beautiful and wonderful name. How was I your mother to know that every other mother in 1975 would also think it was a fabulous name? I Your mother wanted to name you [redacted] since I she was a wee little girl. Everyone else just stole my name from me. I mean, well, you know what I mean.

Oh, well, I your mother loves you anyway.

Signed,

Mystery Lady X

Ivy says:

Mom, I can tell it’s you by your email address. That’s okay, though. I Your daughter loves you anyway.

With any luck, you haven’t already dried your tablecloth. Both Rit and Carbona make dye removers. Rit’s is called Rit Dye Powder Color Remover and Carbona has the awesomely named Carbona Color Run Remover. Both can usually be found in the same section of a store that you would find dye. Usually this is by the laundry products although at one very random KMart I was at, the dye stuff was by the hardware. Both products will almost definitely work if you haven’t dried the tablecloth.

If you’ve already dried the tablecloth you can try these products, but your best bet would be just to enjoy your new pink tablecloth. It works for both Valentine’s Day and Easter! Congrats on your first laundry mistake, Mom.

Sing With Me

Heather says:

While cycling laundry this came to me and I must share it with you all.*

The Laundry Song

This is the chore that never ends.

Yes it goes on and on my friend. 

Some people started washing it not knowing how it’s done and now I’m washing forever just because. 

*Some would say it is because I am cruel and heartless, others because I am easily amused.  Which do you believe?

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