Removing tough stains using household products

Many commercial products out there that claim to remove tough stains “guaranteed” but many of them often deliver empty promises and cost a pretty penny. Some of these removal products in fact contain the same agents that can be found in regular household items. Note however that application of treatments depend common sense and the recommended wash for your clothing, for example, if instructions say wash in cold water, do not use hot water procedures to remove stains!

Blood Stains
Apply shampoo to the stain and use cold water to gently rub off the stain. If this does not remove the stain completely, try hydrogen peroxide.

Coffee/Tea stain
Try applying liquid laundry detergent to the stain and wash with hot water. Continue doing this until the stain disappears. Do not throw the stained clothing into a dryer otherwise the stain is set for good.

Fruit stains
You want to eat a fruit but sometimes you end up wearing it. If you attend to the stain fast, fruits stains can actually be removed quite effortlessly. Pour hot or boiling water on top of the stain until it disappears.

Paint
Use alcohol or hair spray to remove this. Spray the alcohol or hair spray on the affected area and then, with your fingers, gently rub away the stain. Wash it twice if the first time does not completely remove the stain.

Berry Stains
Using cloth or tissue, blot the stain and remove much of the moisture then rinse the garment in cold water. Apply a cut lemon or lemon juice on the stain and let it sit for half an hour then rinse off with cold water and air dry. Hot boiling water can also work on a berry stain. Pour the hot water directly onto the stain.

Do drop me a comment to let me know if the above tips have been useful to you!

Some Washing Tips and Tricks

As mentioned in the last post, different wash spins are suitable for different types of clothing and material. A gentler wash at a lower rpm (recall this means revolutions per minute, of the washing drum) is suitable for delicate materials such as wool or silk while a higher spin speed works for regular shirts and sweat pants. Also, you want a high spin speed for a cleaner wash.

If you need to wash several different types of clothing at once, either to avoid the hassle of different washes, or your washing machine does not offer variable spin speeds, then you can do the following.

Separate the non colorfast clothing from the colorfast ones; colorfast refers to fabric that will not run or fade with wash. This is the bare minimum you have to do, unless you want to walk around wearing white shirts bearing color other than white.

Next you want to run the washing machine at settings suitable for the most delicate material of the laundry you have to wash. For example if you have wool top and cotton towel mixed in the wash, then you want the washing machine to wash at speeds, temperature adaptable for the wool (more delicate) material. Although this means a longer wash for the cotton material to be cleaned, this will keep your wool clothing in one piece!

Fabric softeners

If you use or would like to use Fabric Softeners with your wash, then take heed of the following. Fabric softeners contain substances that bind to the fabric fibres, giving it the soft and nice feeling. However, it is exactly these substances that can cause problems to your washing machine. The softener will leave a sticky waxy residue in the compartment as well as the interior of the washing machine. Left unmanaged, this will build up over time and damage your washing machine. Therefore it is essential that after every wash with softeners, give the softener compartment, linen filters and the interior of the washing machine a good scrub. This will ensure a longer lifespan for your washing machine.

Regular Maintenance

On the topic of maintenance of your washing machine, it is important that regular maintenance is done. Check your WM manual for the maintenance cleaning run. Usually it is a program in the WM where 60 degree Celsius water is run with soap but with no load. Run the maintenance program twice annually or once quarterly to maintain good hygiene. Grime from the waste trap should also be removed regularly, at least once a month. It is also good housekeeping wiping your washing machine interior and exterior with a clean slightly damp cloth after each use.

Features to look out for...

Features to look out for

Door that opens outward 180 degrees.

It is not uncommon for washing machines these days to come fitted with a door that opens out 180 degrees. The reason you want this is so that you can easily load and unload your laundry from the WM. There are still manufacturers that make WM with doors that open 90 degrees out or less, the reason could be cost or technology, I do not know. However I discovered it is troublesome not so much when you have to load the clothing in but taking out the heavier wet clothing.

Variable Spin Speeds

As mentioned earlier, the higher the maximum spin speed the WM has, the better and usually more expensive the WM is. This notion is only partially true. Some of you may know that different clothing are cleaned optimally at different spin speeds.

For example, your regular shirts and t-shirts can be spun at higher speeds while more delicate items like expensive lingerie or curtains need a slower more delicate wash. The reason for wanting the laundry spun at a higher speed has already been discussed and it is for a cleaner wash and a drier result at the end of the dry cycle. Try to find WM that offers at least 3 variable spin speeds. For example, if you settle for one that has a maximum spin speed of 1000rpm, then its best if it has variable modes at 1000 for cotton, 800rpm for synthetic materials and 650rpm for delicate materials.

Delayed Start

Since you are already spending a small fortune on your washing machine, I would personally suggest you spend maybe a couple of hundreds more and get the delay start feature. This feature from what I learnt from the suppliers usually only appear in the higher end WM. Why you would want to spend more and get the delay start function is because when the laundry is washed and at the end of the cycle not hung up to dry soon, a lot of creasing occurs and the clothes start to smell bad. What this feature does is essentially provides a timer to allow the washing of your clothes to be triggered at a certain time of day.

For example, in the morning you wake up and dump the laundry into your WM and set the timer for 5pm in the day before heading off to work. At exactly 5pm, the WM will start the wash cycle and in about 2 hours time when you reach home, the washing would have been done with the clothes ready to be taken out for drying. This is where the delayed start feature comes in very handy, especially for working adults. WMs with delayed start feature are usually easy to recognise with a digital LCD screen. That said, always check with the sales person that the WM has that feature.

Hot and Cold Wash Functions

This is one extra feature that may be useful to have.
The reason for having hot, warm or cold washes is the following:

1. Hot wash mode (>54 degree celsius) is mainly for getting rid of the tough stains and dirt since higher temperatures allow for a cleaner wash. This is good for most of the linens and regular white clothings. One drawback however is that the clothing does not turn out looking as good, they may look creased, shrink and even fade colored cloths.
   
2. Warm wash (about 32 to 43 degree celsius) is just a step down from hot washes and a step up from cold wash. In fact it is exactly what the WM does, mix hot and cold water together to wash your laundry. This mode is typically present in most washing machines and is suitable for alot of laundry, providing adequate cleaning without much wrinkling, shrinkage or fading.
   
3. Cold Wash (15- 27 degree celsius) is used for delicate items, and also fast fade clothing. If the clothes to be washed are heavily soiled however, the washing duration should be longer and pre-wash treatment may be needed to remove the tougher stains.

Topics still to be covered in later posts... recommended brands for washing machines, some tips and tricks for doing your laundry, maintaining your WM so it serves you up to 10 years without going kaput!

Washing Machine Basics

So I am buying a new washing machine for my new house. Being just a regular guy who is buying his first washing machine, I know nuts about what to look out for. But some research and reading turned up some very useful advice indeed.

Here I am to share them with you.

Washing Machine 101

What to look out for when buying a washing machine?
We may all know that when you want to buy a computer or notebook, you would look out for how much RAM it has, what is the clock speed, how heavy it weighs (for notebook), which are the reliable brands to look out for. Well no surprise then when you find out that there are such things to look out for when buying a washing machine.

A) Capacity

This is one issue that you cannot run away from; you have to tackle it. You should buy a washing machine (hence forth to be known as WM) that suits your needs. There are WMs with different capacities out there from the small 3 Litres up to the large 10 or 11 Litres. Below is a simplified guide for the sizes and what is is appropriate for.

• 3-4 L - For small households with 2 or less persons.
• 6kg - For the average households of about 4 people.
• 7.5kg - Slightly larger and suitable for throwing in extra clothing such as jeans or blankets with the daily wash.
• 10kg - For large households.
  

B) RPM

Short for revolutions per minute, this refers to the fastest speed the drum turns while washing your clothing. WM spin speeds go anywhere from the slow 600rpm to the fast 1200 rpm or more. The general guide is the faster the spin speed, the better the ability of the WM to clean your clothes and the drier your clothes get during the dry cycle; of course the top speed you would want to spin your clothes at is subject to how delicate your wash is, but more about that in the later posts. As a rule of thumb, try to get something with at least 800rpm or more to get your clothes more effectively cleaned.
The higher the rpm, the more expensive the washing machine gets. A difference of 200rpm could mean around USD100.

C) Type of loading, Front Load or Top load

This is another very common thing to consider when buying a WM. Personally I would recommend the front loading type, and here's why.

Pros of a Front Load Washing Machine

1. Saves water and uses less detergent. Front load WMs have been found to use about 2.5 times less water than top load WMs.
   



2. Saves energy. Front loaders have been found to use up to 75% less energy than top loaders.
   



3. Saves space. The top of front load WMs can usually be used to stack a dryer or additional storage space.
   



4. Gentlier on clothing. There is less twisting and pulling of clothes in the front load WM because it has no central agitator. More usable space inside the drum. Without the centre agitator, there is more room inside the drum of a front load WM to squeeze in a few more pieces of clothing.
   



5. The clothes also come out cleaner when using a front load WM because of the higher spin speeds.
   

Cons of using a Front load WM

1. More expensive to buy one. (However, by using less water, less energy, less detergent and the clothes lasting longer, I thought this factor is not as crucial. Think of it as investing for the future.)
   



2. Once the drum is filled and the cycle starts, you are not able to add more pieces of clothing into the Front load WM. For the top load WM you can easily open the top and toss in a few more pieces, while the wash cycle is in progress. (I do not foresee myself needing to throw in last minute pieces to wash very often so that's not a big issue.)
   

I hope the above information is a good start for those who need to get a washing machine but do not know where to begin. I will post more about other features and recommended brands for the washing machines. Stay tuned!