White Vinegar: Eliminate soap residue by adding 1 cup of white vinegar to the washer's final rinse. Vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics but strong enough to dissolve alkalis in soaps and detergents. Vinegar also breaks down uric acid, so adding 1 cup vinegar to the rinse water is especially good for babies' clothes. To get wool and cotton blankets soft and fluffy as new, add 2 cups white vinegar to a full tub of rinse water. Do Not Use Vinegar If You Add Chlorine Bleach to Your Rinse Water. It Will Produce Harmful Vapors.
Baking Soda: 1/4 to 1/2 cup baking soda per wash load makes clothes feel soft and smell fresh.
Dry Bleach: Dry bleaches containing sodium perborate are of low toxicity (unless in strong solution, then they can be irritating to the skin). Use according to package directions.
To Whiten Yellowed Silk or Wool: Mix 1 tablespoon white vinegar in 1 pint of water. Sponge with this solution and rinse. Wash as usual.
Chocolate Stains: Use club soda. Soak stain with club soda before washing.
Cola Stains: Use white vinegar. Apply undiluted vinegar directly to the stain within 24 hours. Wash as usual.
Perspiration Stain: White Vinegar or Lemon Juice. Sponge stains with a weak solution of white vinegar or lemon juice.
Grease on Suede: Vinegar. Sponge spot with a cloth dipped in vinegar. Dry and restore nap by brushing with a suede brush.
Baking Soda: You can cut the amount of chlorine bleach used in your wash by half when you add 1/2 cup baking soda to top loading machines or 1/4 cup to front loaders.
Vinegar: To remove smoky odor from clothes, fill your bathtub with hot water. Add 1 cup white vinegar. Hang garments above the steaming bath water.
Cornstarch: For homemade laundry starch, dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in 1 pint cold water. Place in a spray bottle. Shake before using. Clearly label the contents of the spray bottle.
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