Oh no! I hate it when laundry is forgotten in the washer!
If you recall, earlier this week I confessed to being a bit off my routine as I am soaking up the last bits of space in the schedule at the end of summer, because when the fall season hits, I am a VERY busy girl. Being off my routine a bit means things like laundry might get missed too.
I had a vague memory of asking my daughter to toss in a load of laundry about 2 days ago. I guess I forgot it because I wasn't even the person to have put the load into the wash in the first place.
We have an old style top loading washing machine. I love it. It's actually a really great washer, but it also means that lid is not airtight, so I knew immediately that the wash was forgotten in there.
Check out this pic I found. His face pretty much sums up how I felt too. Ewwww!
I opened the lid to find the washer full of a load of dark laundry that was my kids. Hence, my asking my daughter to add a load of her and her brother's clothes.
I am not a laundress mavin. Stain removal is not my forte. In fact, laundry tips are one of the areas I look forward to swapping tips with other bloggers.
So in the past, when faced with a mildewy smelling load of wash (I know, I know....how can I possibly forget the laundry in the washer, that's why I am writing the blog remember....it's about getting organized) the smelly wash would get a dose of Dettol, which is an antiseptic disinfectant. It's a bit pricey, but it will work.
I was presently out of Dettol. What could I do? I can't kill the germs with bleach, it would stain the clothes.
Now when you hear my solution... if you are anywhere over the age of 40 or happen to have honed your laundry skills, this will be so obvious it will make you laugh. Yet, I can laugh at myself, at least sometimes, and if I only stumbled upon this now, perhaps another reader will benefit from this information for their first time knowledge too.
Common household ammonia and hot water! That's right. It was so easy.
I re-washed the clothes with soap, hot water and common household ammonia. It even says right on the bottle that it can be used in every load as a laundry booster.
**NOTE: DO NOT EVER MIX AMMONIA WITH BLEACH. IT WILL CAUSE HARMFUL AND DANGEROUS FUMES.
My load of laundry came out clean, and smelling only of the laundry soap. There was no residual odor of the ammonia and the clothes are free of those smelly germs. Hooray!
Here are the tips of the day:
1. DON'T forget your laundry in the washer in the first place. (ha ha)
2. IF you encounter forgotten laundry, use laundry soap, hot water and 250ml of ammonia to erase the mis-hap.
3. Ammonia can be used as a laundry booster any time, any load, just dont' mix it with bleach.
If you have any laundry tips, feel free to post comments and share what you know.
Have a great weekend.
Cassie
Today I linked up with these bloggers.
I have left a load or two in the laundry in my lifetime...well, maybe three or four! :-) thanks for the tip
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo glad to hear I am not the only one!
ReplyDeleteWill have to try this. Have been busy with projects in recent months and have made this mistake a couple times. I found when I just rewashed, the towels still had a residual yucky smell. Can relate to the face : ) Thanks for the tip will try it if I make the mistake or just to give my laundry a boost.
ReplyDeleteI leave laundry in the washer on at least a weekly basis, never seem to have a problem after a rewash though. I had no idea Ammonia could be used in every load of wash, cool.
ReplyDelete