laundry this... laundry that...

laundry piles
laundry helpers
laundry soap
laundry tips
and
a surprise for YOU!


I told you it was FULL of laundry... I finished everything but putting away.
I am NOT going to get this behind again. NO.NO.NO.

and not only is my laundry room rockin
Check out these super adorable little happy helpers...
they may not be able to wash and fold but they sure do make everything more enjoyable!
as do bright.fun.funky colors!
and yes I love taking pictures... even of folded clothes!

a few of you asked about natural soap... and I thought I would share
my NEW favorite soap! I recently discovered ECO Store and just love their products!
The Pure Oxygen Whitener is the perfect alternative to nasty bleach.
I love adding it to diaper washes, white and medium lights. I have been surprised more than a few times when taking clothes out of the washer... expecting a baby poop stain to have not washed out or extra dirty boys clothes to be dingy and they aren't!
stain free without bleach... I LIKE that part! {as Ozzie says}
-------------------------------
so now for the surprise for YOU!
leave me a comment telling me your laundry tips
and you'll have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to ECO Store
I just checked out their site and saw that for Earth Month {april} they are giving away free shipping on orders $25 or more! 
We're all excited about soap aren't we! {grin}
-------------------------------
I'll start with the laundry tips... 
I don't have many but one that works really well for us is a sock basket. All of the boys socks go into one basket in the laundry room. I don't have to guess who's socks are who's or mess with getting all of the socks upstairs into dresser drawers.
Lame tip... I know! I'm sure yours are much better!
Now let's hear them! {grin}
----------------------------------
contest will end sometime this week
winner will be drawn via random.org
your comment must include your name and email

127 comments:

  1. Oh boy...a laundry tip, huh. Hmmm.

    Lemme think about it while I tell you how beautiful Nolia and Eliza are in their little squishy seats.

    My laundry tip? I always wash everything in cold, and never separate whites from colors. So I think I've saved 2,029,843 minutes of my life.

    Wouldn't you agree?

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  2. Love the sock tip - we actually just do that with one sock drawer for out boys (so there is only 2 of them but still socks are a hot commodity)

    My favorite laundry tip is white vinegar. Plain white vinegar. I put it into the softener spot of the little front soap drawer (on my front loader). It works as a fabric softener, it disenfects (great for diapers), and it prevents my clothes from becoming stagnant too fast when I forget to put them in the dryer (oops).

    Thanks for the giveaway!!
    lovingmomtwoboys AT gmail DOT com

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  3. My best laundry tip is:
    "Make my husband do the laundry". :)

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  4. Oh, shoot, you needed my e-mail?

    thaitrait at gmail dot com

    But my profile links to it, so you probably knew that already.

    :)

    Leah

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  5. Hi!

    My laundry tip is pretty basic...since I do not get much opportunity to fold as soon as the drier stops (who does?)...when I load everything into a laundry basket I lay everything flat and layer...isntead of just dumping it all in the basket. This way if it does take me a bit of time to get to folding the clothes won't be quite as wrinkly. :-)

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  6. i wash ALL baby socks in a lingere bag because they always seem to get lost!
    i LOVE to hang things out on the line!!!
    i only use fabric softner (no dryer sheets) and use the extra rinse cycle on my kids' clothes because they both have very sensitive skin. i also use tide free and clear instead of dreft (seems to get the stains out better).
    i also use oxi-clean but i will definitely will have to try out that pure oxygen whitener!!!
    i always do a load every night... and if i don't have enough for a load (which i almost always do!) i wash both kids' clothes together (all colors) and just use cold water.
    the part i hate the most in puting it all away... that's why there is a mountain of towels sitting on the coffee table and they're definitely going to have to wait until morning. i'm tired :)
    thanks for sharing!
    ~samantha
    luvdove12{at}yahoo{dot}com

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  7. My laundry tip is I put vinegar in with the towels and it takes away the musking smell that they can sometimes have if they've been wet for awhile. I also am a freak about organization like all the short sleeve shirts are hung up together and so are the long sleeve and so on. I love organization.

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  8. I don't have great tips or tricks up my sleeve, but one way I've managed to keep things organized is to have a no exceptions policy - when the basket is full, laundry is done. No matter how I feel about it or what else is going on. Otherwise, things quickly find myself overwhelmed. Doing one load when the basket is full vs. doing 3 because I let things get out of hand - easy call for me!
    Good idea on the soap - I've been thinking about switching to more natural products...I'll have to check that website out!
    ~Amanda
    {I just have a "contact me" page on my blog, but my email is teasinglydiverse@gmail.com}

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am all about trying new things with less to no chemicals. Trying baby steps with this. And right now, just about everything laundry related is chemical...so please no flames!

    Here's my tip: Super stained baby clothes gives me trouble...not to mention sadness. I seem to get particularly attached to certain items and hate to see them ruined. I soak in Biz with Oxy which generally works. But when that doesn't work, a squirt of Grease Lightening seems to do the trick.

    And as a joke: when all else fails, I toss it to the cats!

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  10. I live in a complex that has community laundry rooms downstairs, which is good in the sense that I can get three loads down in just over an hour (IF no one else is in the laundry room) and bad in the sense that, short of carrying two babies up and down the stairs along with laundry, I have to do laundry while they're sleeping, or leave them alone in their cribs (which I hate).

    I guess my tip can work for anyone, as I often hear people complaining that they forget loads in the washer all day long. Set a timer. Clip it to your belt, set the stove timer, so that it won't turn off until you go to it, etc. Make sure you don't forget that laundry! Especially if hundreds of people have access to it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow. Coolio. I'm number one. My tip is to keep stain remover by the laundry basket. Mine is in Jakob's room. That way as you undress and throw in the hamper...you can spray and it can soak until washing time.

    Jana Green
    bananadc@yahoo.com

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  12. Just saw your "tweet" and had to head over before I let my head hit the pillow!

    Great idea....and even though it's just laundry...it photographs so well! Or maybe it's you who photographs so well =)

    Ok...laundry tip? DO IT! I have to keep up on laundry. With 4 small bodies wearing a whole lotta clothing...add in 2 adults wearing a couple outfits a day...and maybe a bit of bedding from some possible night time accidents and that's a lot of laundry!
    So even if I can't do it all at once, I have to do a couple of loads a day! It works for me...but I cannot wait to hear some "possibly helpful" tips from others...
    I WANT SOME OF THAT SOAP!

    ReplyDelete
  13. We do the "family closet" thing at our house. No hauling clothes up the stairs, no baskets full of clothes piled up, and my turnover rate is 1/2 of what it was, so we need to own less clothes!

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  14. I have lots of "methods" to my laundry-doing, but my best laundry tip is to do a load a night to keep up with it!

    I put my 4 kids (aged 6, 5, 3 and 10 months) to bed, empty the dryer, then move the load from last night from the washer to the dryer, and put the new load in the washer for tonight.

    Then I fold that ONE load of laundry I took out and put it away while my kids sleep (and while I'm at it, I take out clothes for them to wear tomorrow and lay them on the couch).


    1) I don't have them knocking over piles.

    2) I don't have to try to supervise them while I'm trying to put away laundry in a different room.

    3) One load of laundry is such a short and easy task, it is easy to not procrastinate on it, because it really takes no time at all. :)

    4) I don't really have to fold the WHOLE load if I am taking stuff out for them to wear the next day. :D

    Great post!

    Amber
    mom2princes@gmail.com

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  15. Ooh, as soon as I saw the pic with the Eco Store oxygen whitener, I said, ooh, what is that? Always looking for an alternative to oxyclean, especially for the toddler clothes and the diapers!

    My laundry tip is a simple one: we live in an apartment and don't have the option to line dry our clothes or diapers. Clean out the dryer vent every other month! The lint filter only catches about 75% of the lint, and cleaning out the vent not only dries your load faster and more efficiently, it saves in energy usage and also reduces risk of starting a fire.

    Brooke
    inkstainsandfingerprintsATgmailDOTcom

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  16. Who would have thought pictures of doing laundry could be so amazing! Wonderful pics!

    My laundry tip is to wash pee stains on sheets RIGHT AWAY. (Can you say potty training?)

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  17. OOO my gad what is this? :)))I have 2 boy and 1 man but this laundry tooo much for me:)))

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  18. I am not sure if I have any great tips, I know it is never ending at this house! Here is something I do ... as we do not have dryer ... we have two baskets ... the 'MUST haves' and the 'it can wait'! Most of the time I do laundry daily and keep up but when we get a week of rain we must prioritize!!!!

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  19. best tip ever...

    my hubby does all the laundry!

    he has since we were in college... and I LOVE it!

    the smell doesn't seem to gross him out like it does me!

    It's a guy thing... and since that's ALL I have--- well, there you go!

    ha

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  20. Oh I love Eco Store products, although haven't tried any of their laundry products yet! I just recently started using vinegar in place of fabric softener, and it seems to be working wonderfully, and still leaves a fresh scent! That's my tip for today!

    :)
    ~Tabitha~

    freshmommyblog.com

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  21. I do the sock thing too, except they're all in one drawer. And I don't match socks either. My oldest two wear the same size socks...grey. Next son has all black and the baby son has colored ones. So when searching for socks I can just grab for colors rather than looking for size.

    I don't fold underwear.

    I don't have a dryer so I use drying racks on non-sunny days. My drying racks and dressers are all in the same room. So no carting clothes around to put them away. I love the big family closet thing...works for me. :)

    My name is Dawn. My e mail is calebcoverett@aol.com :D

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  22. Laundry tip: Do your laundry before it becomes unbearable! My laundry is currently up to like 3 or 4 probably even 5 unsorted loads!!

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  23. Mine is incredibly stupid, but ... I HATE when liquid detergent caps get detergent dried in them, but in a front loader I can't throw the cup in like I did on my top loader, so I put a dish cloth on my washer and let the soap drain onto it, and then I just wash that cloth when I do towels without adding extra detergent. See, lame.

    ReplyDelete
  24. After couting 52 (52!!!) "widowed" socks, I began to wash all our socks in lingerie bags. There is one for each family member plus 2 extras. We haven't lost a sock since!
    Amy
    pumpkin9831@hotmail.com

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  25. My laundry tips include:

    Wash like colors together (although I think that's more common knowledge stuff...haha it's a tip to me!)

    &

    I like to wash my bras (i know, i know you should really hand wash them...) but I wash them in the washer, but to prevent them from getting tangled in the wash, I hook the bra to itself. Also, that makes for easy hanging when I take them out to air dry.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Mine is pretty simple too - I put all the baby socks in a lingerie bag so they don't get lost in the washer or dryer and are easier to match up (they are so cute but so hard to find when they are tiny! I kept finding them in her other clothes later).

    I also wash anything that does not have stains on cold-cold, regardless of color to save energy. I even have forgotten to switch it for my daughter's clothes with stains and they usually come out okay!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Sorry! Forgot my name and email. I am Kaycee and my email is (mooreka6@msu.edu).

    ReplyDelete
  28. Melanie (Bixi-and-Goxi)4/21/09, 6:57 AM

    I love Soapnut shells for laundry. Another, very cheap and eco-friendly tip is from my grandmother: She told me to put clothes with carrot stains outside in the sun - it works perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  29. My great laundry tip comes in the way of a product, Holy Cow all purpose cleaner. It is safe for use around pets and children, organic and biodegradable and is HOT PINK!!!! I just happened across this product in the store one day. I literally use it for EVERYTHING, oven and stove cleaner, bathroom cleaner, carpet stain remover, outdoor grill cleaner, AND laundry stain remover!!!!! I feel like they should send me a free case once a month for as many people I tell about this product, ha! www.holycowproducts.com And I promise I am not affiliated with them in any way, just an obsessed customer

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  30. I have a wicker laundry basket that I use to carry clean clothes from the basement to it's proper home. Any unmatched socks get left in the basket and are readily available when their partners turn up.

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  31. I love the sock idea! We are a chemical free household and I sell chemical free cleaning products. Norwex laundry detergent is amazing. Not only do you use the smallest amount it is great for stains. It contains zero fillers and it great for the most delicate clothes. This has saved us tons of money.

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  32. Your girls are adorable in their bumbo chairs

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  33. Great tips! I'm going to give some of them a try. With 4 kids, we have a sock basket too. Works great.
    Dial Gold works great on many stains especially infant poopy stains.
    I use laundry time as a time to bond with one of my children, so depending on their age, they will help fold or just dump the clothes on the floor for me. It's been tons of fun.

    spunkyred4ATgmailDOTcom

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  34. With 3 kids I do lots of laundry (although no where near as much as you do). The best way I found to reduce the amount of time was to keep each room's laundry separate. Instead of mixing all the clothes together and sorting by color and washing, I have two laundry baskets in each bedroom closet, a blue one for darks and a white one for whites. I look in the closets find the fullest basket and wash that one by itself. That way I can pull the clean clothes back into that room and fold on that bed and put back in that dresser or closet. No need to sort before washing, sort afte washing, put away in multiple rooms, etc. I've also discovered that my 9 yo and even my 4 yo are very capable of putting away their own clothes and even helping to fold, so now they have to help.

    Trish @ 2princesses1dude.blogspot.com

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  35. My laundry tip is about my laundry detergent. I also use a natural detergent.
    I have never been a bleach user but back in the day when I was a Tide/Sunlight user I used bottles and bottles of Stain Remover a month.
    Now --- I use a concentrated natural detergent... only one squirt per load... no matter how large the load... no matter how dirty the load... it always comes out clean. I love that.

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  36. My husband installed a switch on our dryer that allows the warm air to be vented out into the house. So during the cooler months we save on our heating bill since we're doing tons of laundry anyway. :)

    Also I keep a toothbrush by the washer to scrub out stubborn stains.

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  37. I make our laundry soap from Baking Washing Soda, Borax, and Fels Naptha. It only costs 5 cents a load. I make a big batch that will last a little over a month.

    To keep jeans lasting longer I wash them inside out, put them in the dryer for 1/2 cycle then pull them out to air dry.

    Hubby's clothes that he wears to work I pull out of dryer and hang on hangers right away. That way I never have to iron them and they are ready to go in closet with no folding.

    I think that is all I have. Can't wait to read what others do. :)

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  38. I am always doing laundry... literally. Besides clothes for the 8 of us, I have 4 in cloth diapers. So I throw a load in the wash every time I walk past the laundry room door. And I fold the loads as I take them out of the dryer so nothing gets wrinkled. Now if I could just figure out how to get it all put away...

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  39. hmmmm....i don't have any super amazing super mom kind of laundry tips or anything like that...but my policy (that i am desperately trying to adhere to!! but i have to give myself some grace!!) is to do a load of laundry a day. and if it's a mixed load i just wash it all on cold without separating it out. this way i just have small loads to wash, fold and put away, which makes it MUCH easier to keep up with the never ending task of laundry!
    --tamara in mn
    tamarafladung at aol dot com

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  40. Laundry is my down fall as a wife. I hate doing it. We both do - my husband even trades cleaning the whole house to get out of helping with the laundry - pitiful!

    So, I do not touch the laundry until Sunday, every week. Sunday afternoon-night i wash, fold, hang, and put away all of our week's laundry.

    I then check the weather and pick out a week's worth of clothes for the hubby and I - iron them and hang them in order in our closet. It takes about 20 minutes to do that routine, but reaps great rewards on a busy weekday morning!

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  41. My laundry tip. I have two.

    1} I dry all my clothes, except socks, underwear and nightgowns, on drying racks. I am a tall girl and I have kept my clothes from shrinking this way.

    2} I wash all clothes in cold water. Also cuts down on the shrinking.

    Please keep the tips coming. I love them all. Thanks.

    Amy here. Amnan2004@msn.com

    ReplyDelete
  42. I'd love to give that oxygen whitener a try! I'm planning on cloth diapering my first little one, due in a few days, so it sounds great! :) my tip....well, I love Charlie's Soap, and I always use cold water, and I love to line dry on sunny days. Nothing special...I suppose once we have some little ones around the house I might come up with some more tricks, but that's it for now. Thanks for the giveaway!!

    Rachel
    myshadow28 at aol dot com

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  43. My laundry tip:
    Do one to two loads EVERY day. It's annoying to always be doing laundry, but a little bit is better than a lot.
    Becky R.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Ooohh...I'm going to have to check out their site.......I'd love to try that!

    Laundry tips?....Hmmmm....
    I almost always wash in cold...always gentle. And i find there's hardly any fading.
    There's a separate hamper for TigerBoy and us.....
    One tip is to do the laundry late in the day. For some reason I find it easier to keep track of the time and it somehow gets done faster than when I start in the early morning.............

    ReplyDelete
  45. First, you just made laundry look almost fun and that is hard to do.

    Laundry tip... I have frugal laundry tips.

    I cut dryer sheets in half. They work just as well and save me money.

    Also I wash everything on cold. So that I don't have to pay electric on the water. Of course, once I'm diapering this shall change...

    ReplyDelete
  46. Ummm... I always use dishsoap when dealing with food stains (rub a little on and let it sit for a couple minutes before washing). And for blood stains (I'm sure with little boys, you've had some of these), hydrogen peroxide is what hospitals use and it works wonders :)
    lbspringer@gmail.com

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  47. When my whites start getting dingy, I wait for a sunny day, add some vinegar to the load, and then hang them in the sunshine to dry. Also do this with big stains too.

    It seems like no matter how much you plan and say you will never let laundry back up, it will happen sometimes. We try to avoid it by doing one load every night - hubby washes/dries & I fold before we go to bed. Kids help put away their things in the morning. My 8.5 year old is also learning how to fold her own clothes - she may not fold them perfectly, but how else do you learn?

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  48. Your laundry tip is great...I couldn't imagine the frustration of sorting out all those socks!

    I wash everything in cold water and I don't sort (Gasp!). That way the entire load goes to one place to be put up...I think it save me time at the beginning and at the end.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Oh my gosh, I was seriously going to place an order from ECO today or tomorrow! I haven't tried their products yet, but my new mission is to live more naturally! I'm obsessed with Sara Snow...have you heard of her? She has a new book out. Anyway, my laundry tip is to have my boys and my husband bring their empty hangers to the laundry room once a week. Then when I take clothes out of the dryer I can automatically hang them up! No wrinkles! Also, I keep three different dirty clothes baskets (whites, darks, towels) so the clothes are already sorted...saves me a step on laundry day. I REALLY hope I win this!!

    My name is Morgan and my email is morgan2484@bellsouth.net

    ReplyDelete
  50. I will have to check that stuff out. I hate stains so I am always looking for ways to get it out.

    Tip- I get all the stained clothes - those the boys got really dirty or spilled on - and wash them in one load. I know to double check everything in the load before throwing it in the dryer. No more forgotten stains because they were hiding in a regular load. Plus a time saver because i only have to do extra stuff to the one load.

    Kristin -asherpuppy@yahoo.com

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  51. I went from doing laundry for just me to doing laundry for 4 of us! Whew, what a change...so although this is probably comment sense to most people...I put the clothes that need to be hung up on the hangers right away...that way I don't waste time laying them out flat and then going back and putting them on a hanger. It seems to work for me. ;)
    mrstoro @ ymail . com

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  52. I don't have any amazing tip to offer but, there is one thing I do. I wash jeans and towels separately. Jeans are an agitator and can cause wear when washed with other clothes. I usually wash jeans and my dark towels together. Also with jeans...I dry them on low and set them out to dry the rest of the way- it helps to save the color- if you're partial to dark rinses like I am. :)

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  53. Maybe that's what I need to inspire me, two lovely little helpers. No laundry tips from me. I'm great at washing it, terrible at putting it away.

    ReplyDelete
  54. My tip is....Always get help from a willing participant!!! Check out this pic to see my little helper!
    http://peeksnoodleandsillypins.blogspot.com/2009/04/mommys-little-helper.html
    gcaw@swbell.net

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  55. My tip is... Always get help from a willing participant! Check out this pic to see my little helper!

    http://peeksnoodleandsillypins.blogspot.com/2009/04/mommys-little-helper.html

    gcaw@swbell.net

    ReplyDelete
  56. I use lye soap as a stain remover. It works great. I also have a sock basket that I put all socks in while I'm doing laundry, then when all laundry is done I go through them and pair them. I got so sick of one sock being in one load and another in another load that I just wait to the end to do them...should have figured that out years ago, I know! lol.
    Ashley Walker
    ashleykimble@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  57. I use lye soap as a stain remover. It works great. I also have a sock basket that I put all socks in while I'm doing laundry, then when all laundry is done I go through them and pair them. I got so sick of one sock being in one load and another in another load that I just wait to the end to do them...should have figured that out years ago, I know! lol.
    Ashley Walker
    ashleykimble@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  58. I guess my best tip is:

    *since I'm a working mom, I have to really stay on top of things...I put a load in first thing in the morning, one at lunch break, one when I get home, and one before bed...4 loads a day...that usually keeps it somewhat caught up.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Hey! My tip that works best for me is, I got us smaller laundry baskets and when they are full (they are 1 load full), I wash them and put them away...that way, it does not get way overwhelming!

    brockjojosh@yahoo.com

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  60. Okay, I am OBSESSED with laundry and I love doing it. I have such white whites my friends often notice. My brother even noticed a cotton dress they gave us as a hand me down was WAY whiter after we had it for a few months.

    Separate whites (especially socks and stained items) and soak them in a pail, laundry tub or in your washer for at least 12 hours with a scoop your detergent. You will be AMAZED at how dirty the water gets during that long of a soak, even if you think the clothes aren't that dirty. A few hours is not enough--the dirt takes time to break down. Try overnight. If you consistently do this, your whites will gradually get whiter and whiter. And old stains will come out. I've had excellent luck with stains on second hand clothes doing this, and with baby stains too.

    I even soak colours (carefully), especially if they are stained and I can't get it out. Some colours run if they are soaked so be careful.

    Instead of washing your clothes on Normal for 15 minutes or whatever amount of time, wash them on Heavy Duty for four or five minutes. Less time, a little more action...I have not noticed any more wear on the clothes and our clothes are very clean. It takes a lot less time and energy. (My MIL told me this one--why wash sheets for 10 minutes? They don't need it! Wash them for three minutes on heavy duty and be done.)

    I use a three bag laundry sorter on wheels and the kids are instructed to bring any laundry there as they dirty it. They sort it themselves (I've labelled them). When one compartment is full, I wash it. Blacks, navys, dark browns together. Red, pink, purple, burgundy together. Greens, grays, light blues, khaki together, and a separate pail for all lights.

    With four kids, all six of us each have a colour coded laundry basket. I wash a few loads, I warm them up in the dryer, I fold, (or they help me fold), we put all the baskets out and fill them as we fold. They race and put their stuff away and immdiately bring the empty basket back to me...and get a treat. Quick, easy, done.

    Sorry so long. Can you tell I love laundry?

    ReplyDelete
  61. This may sound a little nasty BUT if you get blood on something, spit on it! Use your own spit to get your own blood out of your clothes! I am sure this works better for smaller blood stains because you would eventually run out of spit. But do it right away, rub it together under cold water, and there ya go! Blood be gone!

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  62. I put all of the baby socks in a garment bag to wash. It helps keep them all together. My email is jwagoner at cableone dot net

    Happy washing!

    ReplyDelete
  63. I did almost all of the laundry for our family of 6 from the time I was 12 or 13... now I'm a senior in high school and my mom is kind and giving me a break! Anyways, it was much easier for me to do the laundry if the empty hangers were in the laundry room so I could just hang things up immediately. Also, we don't have a sink in our laundry room so we just had a basket that was meant for dirty towels. That way the wet, stinky towels wouldn't make the rest of the dirty laundry wet as well. This work especially well because we might go a whole week without washing towels but still have a few dirty ones from the kitchen. Another thing that works well for us is we have a folding table in our laundry room, so we just fold and sort laundry in there as soon as it comes out of the dryer (usually :P). That way my siblings can just find their own pile of clean clothes and put them away!

    Jordan- sissymissy08@gmail.com

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  64. I don't start another load until the first load is put away!

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  65. I'm the oldest of 7 kids and we had problems with mismatch socks all the time. So those of us who were old enough to do this: had a basket of huge safety pins that we had to pin our socks together when we took them off at night. We each had a different place we pinned at, so you automatically knew whose socks were whose.

    So we never had mismatches, and never had to do matching since they went through the washer that way.

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  66. My laundry tip is the good 'ol sun!! It brightens white, takes out stains (including baby poop), not to mention it does me some good to soak up a little sun for some Vitamin D!!

    ReplyDelete
  67. My laundry tip is: Instead of sorting the laundry the day you are going to wash it. I have set up three baskets one for whites, lite colors and darks. It makes it easier when that basket is full I dump it in the washer and no sorting needed. Also it helps my kids figure out which basket there clothes go into.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Laundry tips! Yeah! I love to do laundry and I am extremly picky with my laundry. One thing I like to do is keep a sponge on the washer and every few loads I get it wet while the washer is filling up and wipe down the parts that get all gunky then I just throw it in to be washed. I take it out after spin cycle and put it back for next time.
    I use Shaklee detergent to wash and they have a product called Nature Bright that I use for soaking stubborn stains. It can get out impossible stuff.
    When I used to use Tide I would throw the lid in to be washed with the clothes so I didn't get gunky build up on the top.
    courtney
    courtney7782@earthlink.net

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  69. I love your laundry room. It's a dream of mine to have a BIG and beautiful laundry room. Some Day!

    Laundry tip regarding socks. When kids take socks off, have them safety pin the socks together before putting them in the laundry. It keeps the pairs together. You can get different colors of safety pins as well so you can assign a safety pin color to each child making it quicker! I lived with a family who had 6 children and this is what she did. It was quick and easy and socks did not get serparated! I only have one child right now but as our family grows this will be something that I do!

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  70. Thank you for voting for me - I'm a little starstruck that you visited my little old blog!

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  71. My laundry tip is to have multiple laundry baskets for each grouping (like colors or whites or however you do it) so that you can pick up a basket that's full and wash it. My kids also have baskets in their closets as generally I combine theirs into one load and then I have both baskets to sort as they come out of the dryer.

    I also have a stain stick that I found helpful to use on the children's clothes as they come off of them and go into the basket. Once they are in the basket I know I'll forget what needs to be spot treated etc. Still looking to find something that can get everything my daughter can throw at it out the first time. :-)

    Melissa

    mkmiller(at)nc(dot)rr(dot)com

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  72. Tips? I have a mound to fold that won't go away!

    Enlist the boys to fold towels and washcloths? I had to get over my need for them to be nicely folded.
    Still even doing that I can't stay on top of it all!!

    Thanks for the eco whitener info. Bleach is the one thing that I was wondering what could take the place of it...

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  73. Love these laundry tips! Especially the ones that are leading me to believe that I need to do laundry more often. I'm a laundry procrastinator that has always had problems with stain removal...so instead of attacking them early, I set them aside and forget about them. If I did a load each night, I wouldn't have so many stain removal issues!

    Since I had my son, almost 2 years ago, I've been making an effort to get rid of most chemical-laden products and go the "green-cleaning" route. He has very sensitive skin, so it's made me much more aware of the harsh chemicals in many products. I recently started making my own laundry soap using Fels-Naptha, Borax and Washing Soda. It works good and is very cost effective. Sometime I add a little vinegar during the rinse cycle which works wonders as a natural fabric softener, but does not leave a vinegar odor behind.

    I was excited to see this post about this Pure Oxygen Whitener. I don't use bleach and read about this in a green cleaning book I have, but had not found any in stores yet.

    Sorry for the long, rambling post!

    Jessica
    wigirlje@att.net

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  74. First off... I hate doing laundry. I am terrible at it. I have washed 186 dollars, permant markers, highlighters, chapstick, crayons, gum, chewing tobacco... fun times.
    I DO have a tip though. For those tough grease stains... DAWN dish soap is the best. You don't need much. Drop a little on a tooth brush or the grease stain and scrub, throw in the washing machine... TADA... grease be gone.

    Hailey
    thelafones@gmail.com

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  75. I have laundry room envy. I don't know which is more beautiful the kids or the room...okay the kids win...but it was close.

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  76. laundry. umm i have to go with some other people's tip...DO IT!
    i like using tea tree oil in my diaper loads. it helps with the stink. i must try vinegar! looks like it works for others.

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  77. Oh I am sooo behind on laundry..I have a load waiting in the washer for me right now :)

    I am one that actually uses bleach in my whites so I might have to try out your tip..anything that might be alittle healthy!

    My tip or maybe not so much a tip..I wash everything in hot water. They say clothes won't last as long but I feel like it helps to disinfect things. Who knows it I'm right or not but it does my mind good :)

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  78. Oh fun!
    My laundry tip is to sort laundry as it is taken off. That way I don't have to sort it twice. I use a 3 basket system - whites, lights, darks. Then towels and sheets get added to the mix - no basket for them yet. :)

    jamesbdarling@frontiernet.net

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  79. I put my 7 and 5 year old boys to work bringing the laundry downstairs each morning and sorting it (whites, lights, darks). Then my hubby washes full loads each night, and I fold and iron.

    I also have a sock bag (large lingerie bag) for each boy that all of their socks go into. I have 4 boys wearing 4 different sock sizes, so that saves a huge amount of time to not have to sort out which socks belong to which boys.

    I use Sun Oxygen cleaner instead of OxyClean. It is a lot cheaper and works just as well. It is sold at Dollar General where I live. But, I would love to try the ECO product - all natural!! :)

    Nancy
    nancyrellis at gmail dot com

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  80. My husband can do pretty much anything, so he built me a laundry center in the back room by the laundry room. I have shelves for towels and face cloths, toilet paper and paper towel and one big spot is taken up by helmets for four wheeling. I also have six huge drawers. Each child gets one drawer (the other is full of puzzles). The only laundry that ever goes upstairs is mine and my husbands clothes and bedding. Once the clothes are all folded, the old three children (3,6 and 7) put their clothes into big ziploc bags (one outfit per bag) and the bags go into their drawers. I also have a small closet rod for sweaters in the laundry center. As our family grows we will need to alter the design of the laundry center.. maybe the duggars were right to give an entire room for clothes?

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  81. okay my other tip is that I took the time to teach my seven year old to do the laundry. So when I'm sick/pregnant/have a newborn, I can get him to throw a load on.. I just don't make him to the diapers ;)

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  82. Whoops! I left my comment for this post on the previous post.
    Kangen Water or alkaline water will take out all kinds of stains. So will sunshine--this works especially well on baby poop.

    reidesther@googlemail.com
    Esther

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  83. i can't really think of a tip but, i do love laundry day 'cause my hubby knows he's in charge of keeping kids out while mommy is folding...in peace and quiet!
    metcalfruf@hotmail.com

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  84. I wash shirts with 'painted' designs on them and jeans inside out. I always read the labels to see if clothes should be washed in warm or cold water. Dawn dish soap does wonders taking out stains. Shout gel stain stick is amazing also. I don't use a hamper, I use laundry baskets. Most hampers hold too much for one load. Since I would wait until the hamper was full, I would carry the whole thing to the laundry room. Then I would have to hunt for a basket to take the clothes to their home when done in the dryer. Using laundry baskets saves me a lot of time. Another way to get dirty whites clean is to soak them in the washer with powder Cascade soap. It really works!

    Amanda Maple
    supermomamanda{at}hotmail{dot}com

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  85. i liked your lame tip....i am gonna have to try that! my tip is that I hang all our shirts right away (most of the time) to prevent wrinkles and it saves on dresser room! I hang them right above the dryer, so it is easier for me..I also have all my boys help put their laundry away..even my 20 month old!
    love and blessings from ga~erin

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  86. Dang! I just read a ton of the comments...you people are doing tons of laundry!! Whew!
    Well, guess who is spending the day catching up with her laundry too! My tip is having lots of lovely Victoria Secret panties to wash, gives me something delicate and pretty to look forward to. I'm a big aromatherapy junkie so I find having lovely scented, natural laundry products makes the entire task enjoyable. Loving my lavendar softner right now.

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  87. I definately use all cold water, use vinegar quite a bit and always fold while the kids are all sitting around with us at night. They love to cuddle up in the warm clothes and even help me sort.

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  88. We safety pin our socks together when we take them off, then they saty together in the wash! saves so much time mathcing!!

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  89. My laundry tip:

    Use the clothes line as often as possible. It just feels good!

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  90. I have six children...two adults....lotsa laundry.

    my tip is....get your older children to be responsible for their own laundry. I started this about three months before my twins were due. They were 12 and 13 at the time. It took a little educating, a few mix ups and colour runs when unauthorised shortcuts were tried out but now they are self sufficient! I allocated them a day to wash, Sat or Sunday and anytime in between if necessary. They MUST change their bed linen THAT day {I check!} {{they are teenagers and really don't care about clean bed linen as much as I do}} and they wash thir own bath towels.

    It has reduced my washing by a quarter...plus they have big adult sized clothes!!
    AND I do not iron for them at all...they do it themselves {supervised}

    Susan :):)

    PLUS just do it....it gets out of hand too fast......just do it

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  91. Hi!

    I am also a mom of twins :-) I really enjoy following your site and the recipes!

    My tip:

    1 Cup White Vinegar
    Add vinegar to rinse cycle. Works great. Removes residue and odors. Also helps to keep washing machine and hoses fresh and clean too.

    Nancy
    schaeferclan(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

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  92. A trick I learned from my seamstress Mom: Since reds fade and turn pink or everything pink (especially if it has white on it)-- Prewash/soak in cold water with white vinegar it sets the color. I also wash jeans inside out to keep the darkness.

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  93. I too have a sock basket....love it! Also I love Eco Store! Many detergents give me migraines, I love there stuff!
    As for a tip....I put a little vinegar in my whites.....works just as well as bleach.

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  94. Oh my email address just in case I'm lucky?

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  95. Thanks for the product review! Would love more of these. I'm always on the hunt for more natural products! My best laundry tip is to use Zout on stains. Works like a charm!

    jforbeck@tctelco.net

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  96. I have been trying to figure out what to use that will be better for the earth and safer for the babies. Thanks for this post it is great. I never thought of vinigar in the laundry...love it!

    Tip #1 is if I have a stray sock in the load it goes back into the dirty because the other one got missed in seperating.
    Tip #2 if you don't mix the colors you will not have to waunder how the babies light pink teddy bear is a dingy blue. Now there is shout color catchers...and they work.

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  97. for got email

    dsjj{at}insightbb{dot}com

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  98. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  99. Wool dryer balls!! I swear by them. They lessen your drying time and soften without the chemicals/build up of dryer sheet. Super easy and cheap to make too :)
    C
    bromfamily at aol dot com

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  100. Oops I forgot name and email.

    Hi im Morgyn. :)

    Email = morgyncarey@hotmail.com

    :)

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  101. hmm...laundry tip...I have more room in my bathroom than in my laundry room so that's where the dirty laundry goes. I have 6 small round baskets (a full basket makes a load). I have them in order: denims, darks (blue/black/green), lights (lt blues, lt greens, grays), reds/oranges, pinks/yellows, and whites. I can tell at a glance what needs washed. I also have a small basket in our clothes room for the dirty clothes to go in when they change. Then the 6 year old sorts that basket into the other baskets.

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  102. My laundry tip actually comes from my mom. She wa so tired of trying to remember whose clothes were whose that she used tally marks in permanent marker on the tags. The oldest kid had one tally mark, the next kid down had two tally marks, the next kid down had three, etc. So when one piece of clothing was handed down from one kid to the next, she'd just add a tally mark.

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  103. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  104. My tip is for getting stains out of cloth diapers. I line dry them when I can and the sun bleaches a lot of the stains out. It also saves electricity! I also use some natural oxygen whitener once in a while.

    Do you ever have an issue with detergent build up on your bum genius diapers?? I use BioKleen soap and it seems like I have to strip the bum genius diapers about once a month because they lose absorbency.

    Julia
    juliaholmdick@gmail.com

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  105. We have a "personals" bag for each kid that we put their dirty socks into. Then when we wash them we just zip up the bag and throw it in with the clothes. No more lost baby socks!!

    Tiffany

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  106. My "best" laundry tip (not creative, I am sure!) is that we have five tall laundry baskets that are labeled for sorting as soon as an item is worn and ready to go into the laundry...so no massive sorting effort needed before tossing in a basket. That way, if I have a few minutes I can just grab a basket, toss it in, and go!

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  107. Sunshine! It's nature's perfect "bleach." Takes out those stubborn poopy diaper stains, the mushed in marina sauce on the t-shirt, etc. When the weather's nice, hanging items outside is fantastic, but I often just hang stuff indoors in front of my sunniest window ... usually takes a day or two and spots are gone. Truly amazing!

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  108. Since we only have three in our family right now I'm sure that our laundry program is a little different than those with big families. Anyway, I found that when our son came along I was doing a load every day and I never felt caught up. We now have two designated laundry days, Monday and Friday. Those days we all know that the laundry gets done and it gets worked into the schedule of that day.

    Also, when we remodeled our bathroom (which happens to be almost directly above the washer/dryer area in the basement) I had my dad put in a laundry chute. No more clothes baskets hanging out upstairs with stinky dirty clothes piled up in them. We just throw it down the chute (which my two year old loves to do) and then on laundry day I quickly sort into piles and begin our 2-4 loads. It works like clockwork.

    Thanks for the tips and the giveaway. I'm trying to look for ways to go more "green". I recently have gone to using baking soda and borax for dishwashing detergent and have found it does a superb job.

    Kim
    placeyourbetz@hotmail.com

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  109. My laundry tip isn't much of a tip...but I'll give it anyway. I used to have piles and piles of clean clothes. Now, I fold a load as it comes out of the dryer. It only takes a few minutes (unlike Mt. Laundry that would take forever to fold) and nothing is wrinkled...so no ironing...not that I ironed when it was wrinkled.

    I just stumbled across your blog and really enjoyed it!

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  110. Each kid has a laundry basket with thier name on it that their folded laundry goes in and if you do not bring your dirty clothes down I do not was them. I also make my own laundry detergent.

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  111. My tips: I make everyone have their clothes right side out before I wash so it saves time in folding. Also, each child has their own basket. AND, my hubby and I have a Container Store laundry divider that has 3 dividers so we have one divider as whites, one as colors and one as towels. Makes me feel organized at least!

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  112. Hi y'all!

    I have 4 boys - dirty, messy, active, boys. And a husband. And my niece who doesn't believe in wearing anything twice.

    I find that the less clothing we own, the less laundry I actually do. Yes, I run the washer more frequently but there's less to sort, fold and put away.

    My other tip is to do laundry somewhere where you HAVE to get it done. Like the kitchen table. I used to do it on the couch but I'd get a mountain of laundry that could sit there for days on end. Now I fold at the table or on MY bed. Let me tell you, it gets done!

    I really like the family closet idea. Too bad I don't have the place for one right now.

    I also use ammonia for musty stuff. Like wet jeans and towels.

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  113. You can get blood out of material (or carpet) using hydrogen peroxide. Works for me!

    ~Leah in Alaska

    tlcsj@ideafamilies.org

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  114. Best thing for me... start early in the day! I hate not being finished with the laundry and it's after supper. Also, I ALWAYS have hydrogen peroxide handy for any blood stains.

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  115. White vinegar is great for odors. I use it all the time when I wash the towels. Also add a dry towel to the dryer - it takes less time for the clothes to dry.

    Marie
    My email is mmcroth@cox.net

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  116. i made wool laundry balls. i put them in the dryer and they help my clothes dry faster. the best part it that i made them and they are not the store bought plastic laundry balls!!

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  117. I air dry all of our (4 kids under the age of 5) clothes on a drying rack in front of the gas fireplace in the winter (and outside in the sun in the summer). We have an extra fan that we direct at the wet clothes when we dry them inside so that they dry within the day.

    Your laundry room is beautiful.

    (sarah.nadine77@gmail.com)

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  118. I air dry all of our (4 kids under the age of 5) clothes on a drying rack in front of the gas fireplace in the winter (and outside in the sun in the summer). We have an extra fan that we direct at the wet clothes when we dry them inside so that they dry within the day.

    Your laundry room is beautiful.

    (sarah.nadine77@gmail.com)

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  119. laura knisely
    lagotwin@juno.com
    I would love to get some of this soap-and free would be the best way to get it! :)

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  120. I always wash my clothes in cold water - and try and squish as many in as possible - with out overloading the machine, of course :)

    I also dry on low setting - and use a rack or outside drying if possible.

    Your helpers are just too cute :)

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  121. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  122. I use dog spray to get out baby blowout stains. The spray you get at the petstore that removes pet stains/odors also works miracles on baby poop. It's the only thing I've found that reliably gets out those stains on the first try.
    Anna
    Animal2468@hotmail.com

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  123. I don't wash the baby's clothes separately, I just do it all together! I don't use dreft, just something that is FREE of fragrances, etc...

    Not much of a tip, I know!

    Oh, to get pen ink OUT, use shout and drown it, then rub rub rub!

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  124. The best tip I can think of is...Just do it! (Talking to myself here:)

    Nicole
    fnoon@nc.rr.com

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  125. my laundry tips? buy nothing that says you can't wash it or dry it. life is too short to hand wash and line dry. :-)
    shenais
    divertida@fastmail.fm

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  126. Never use bleach. I put all my whites in with tide and the pour in a container of peroxide and let them soak overnight. They turn out extremely white and if I put anything colored in there it will never loose it's color. Plus peroxide is 2 for $1.00 so it is super cheap.

    deanarooks@gmail.com

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  127. I wash bibs in lingerie bags so the velcro doesn't stick to everything and tear stuff up.

    kix_gkb at hotmail dot com

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Thank you for blessing me with your words!

Brittany