My son is an outdoor enthusiast and has A LOT of gear that cannot be washed without ruining the protective treatments applied to the materials. That stuff gets STINKY!
Tennis balls and essential oils to the rescue!
Spray a few tennis balls with your favorite oil and put in the dryer for 20 minutes and … smells are gone!
In addition to Mary’s wonderful suggestion of Lestoil, I have found that Fels-Naptha laundry soap is the absolute best for blood stains. Of course, it works best to attack the stains when they are fresh. But even on dried stains, Fels-Naptha is the only thing that has worked.
I run the bar under warm water and then just rub it right on the stain. If the stain is bad, I rub soap on both sides. I then throw the dirty garment into the washer and 99.9% of the time the stain has come out completely. One time, I had to repeat the steps and it was all gone. For less than $2 a bar at most grocery stores, this is a bargain you can’t miss!
I had hoped that my plastic laundry basket would last until the next half-off sale. No such luck. It split right down both sides. I wondered what Mary Hunt would do. The answer was easy. I laced it together with a piece of rope and tied it with a bow. Works great and now I’m wondering if I’ll ever need a new one! Joan
I keep a thick, clean bath towel in the clothes dryer at all times. It helps to quickly absorb moisture from a load of wet laundry. That means clothes dry much faster and that reduces my energy bills.
I read this hint on Mary’s column years ago and (of course) it works!! I actually did some comparison testing out of curiosity. That clean dry towel in the dryer shaves about 20 minutes per load from my drying time!
Easy Peasy.
To clean the lint from your dryer trap quickly and easily, swipe it with a used dryer sheet.
Like magic, the lint comes off cleanly in one swipe and non of it sticks to the screen!
If you take Mary’s advice and do not use dryer sheets (old habits are hard to break), you can use a bit of the lint itself with the same results.
Please vote for my tip. I had to do 6 loads of laundry to demonstrate it. Thanks.
I make my own fabric softener “sheets” by mixing liquid fabric softener with water. Here are the steps I follow to fill a 16-ounce bottle:
Step 1. I mix 2 tablespoons of the cheapest liquid fabric softener I can find with 2 cups of water.
Step 2. Next, I soak a washrag in the solution.
Step 3. Then I squeeze out what I can and throw it in the dryer. Easy solution for softer clothes and towels! Linda
Note: I was having a problem with mildew forming in my fabric softener mix. I began adding 2 tablespoons of vinegar to my mixture and I have not had any more problems with mildew.