Hair Dye Debacle: How Vinegar Let Me Down

For those who have wondered about whatever happened with that hair-dye stained towel (thank you, Patient Ones), please accept my apologies for my Procrastination.  Part of it was due to necessity.  I had to re-stock hairspray.  Since then, I have tried hairspray and vinegar on separate parts of the stain.  I had not previously washed it, so it had been sitting for over a month in my

Sleep and Press

Mr. Yeater and I do not "vacation" per se, but we attend about three conventions each year.  Two of these weekends generally require an overnight stay.  When we arrive in our hotel room, I make a thorough check

Hair Dye Debacle

Hair dye on everything!  Mother decided to dye her hair and now has a mess on her hands.  And I have this with which to contend.  I will not be heartbroken if I find several things that do not work to remove it, but I would love to find what does work.  Unfortunately, this has been sitting for a while.

My first step is to try soaking the stain in hairspray, then vinegar.  I will then throw it into a warm cycle in the washing machine and see what happens.  I will NOT put it into the dryer.

Do you have any ideas of how to remove hair dye stains from cotton towels?  Or anything?

Vinegar Softener

Are you sick of vinegar yet?  So various are its uses that it could probably fill a book.  Perhaps it does.  Here is another!

While growing up, we rarely used fabric softener- though I was a strong advocate for that adorable little bear who frequently landed in piles of laundry and giggled.  We were content with clean, if a little scratchy, towels.  I loved new towels.  They were so soft and snuggly, and I always missed that feeling.  Unfortunately, it is not always cost effective to purchase fabric softener for regular use.  I still want soft towels.  I do not want them so softened that they no longer wick away the beads of water from my skin, only a little more indulgent of my desire for some luxury in these straightened times.

What is very cost effective nowadays?  Hmmm....  Vinegar!  A great big jug of distilled white vinegar can be found for about two dollars and it has so many uses.  One of these is Fabric Softener.  A little can be added to or substitute for commercial fabric softeners and without making the towels and clothing smell like vinegar. Why not give it a try?

Do you have any favorite uses for vinegar around the house?

Jelly and Crisp Clothes

Alright, that title might be misleading.  No jelly recipe today.  I will save that for another time, though, as I have a few favorites.

This is laundry day!  Mr. Yeater wears a lot of suits, which means that he needs crisp, clean, pressed shirts.  I am not a whiz in housewifery, and it only recently occurred to me that the poor man has been without certain amenities in this marriage.  So, what do jelly and crisp clothing have in common?  Cornstarch!  A person can buy starching agents at the stores (apparently), but who wants to spend extra on something that could be made with things that are usually at home?

I found this video helpful (this is not me, but she is adorable).

How to Make Starch -- powered by eHow.com

Needed:
   1 plastic spray bottle
   1 Tbs cornstarch
 approx 2 c water

Put cornstarch in the plastic bottle, then add water.  Secure the lid on the bottle and shake vigorously.  Voila!
Spray lightly on the cloth, then iron until dry.  Be careful of using too much!  I am sure that the Mister of the house will thank you, and none of us likes an overly starched skirt or shirt.


Copyright November 2010

In Hot Water with Blood Stains

Have you ever wondered why you are not supposed to wash a blood stain with hot water?  I remember being told when I was younger that if one should get blood on one's clothing to use cold water and never hot.  Of course, they were right, but I never understood why, and I found the answer without even looking.

Without a Dryer

So, you've moved to the country, little Town Mouse, and your new home has a hook-up for a washer and dryer but you have only a washer and cannot afford to buy the other.  You have visited the local laundromat and are underwhelmed.  Plus, you do not want to sit there for hours waiting for your clothes to dry when there are so many other things to do!  You have noted with relief that at least the porch is long and covered.  So far you have been hanging the clothes in the house in front of the fire, which works, but it is cluttered.  Off to the hardware store!

You will need some rope, several hook screws, and definitely some clothespins.  Did you know that they have a rope specifically for hanging out the clothes?  They do not soak up the water from wet clothing and so they do not mold and must.  They are usually fairly inexpensive and one can get out of the store for less than $20 (depending on the area and the store, of course).  Time to set up!

At home, you survey the conditions once more.  You get out your measuring tape (or tailor's tape for those whose husbands have hidden the measuring tape on you- I know your sewing kit will be unpacked!) and figure out where your hooks will be.  How high these are placed depends on your height and other needs.  Make sure it is at a comfortable height.  Practice with your arms up because it will take a while to hang up the clothes. Then, measure out your clothesline and tie it up- make it taught.  As time goes by it will slacken and you will need to make adjustments.  You now have a dryer!

Winter is coming, so those with outdoor "dryers" will be experiencing some fun-ness particular to freezing temperatures.  Hints for this will come later.


Copyright October 2010

Versatile Vinegar

I grew up using vinegar for just about everything.   It added flavor to food, caught fruit flies, made baking soda fizz for school projects...  Why had I never thought to use it for cleaning?  I know, I know.  Apparently my parents didn't know either.  What a versatile liquid we have in vinegar- and cheap to boot!

     Over a romantic dinner of Chef Boyardee Ravioli, a friend of Mother had spilled some tomato sauce on to one of his favorite shirts- a blue shirt to complicate the matter.  Bleach was a no-no.  The stain comprised of tomato, grease, and meat proteins, so hot water was out of the question.  They did the best they could to wipe it off at the time, but they were half way across the country without any laundry facilities.  Mother offered to take the shirt with her since she would be home before he.  She also knew that I love a laundry challenge.  She used some of her own detergent to set on it in hopes of keeping the stain more or less fresh, but it was a number of days before it reached me.
     I had heard that soaking such a stain in white vinegar might remove it, but I wanted to make sure.  When she dropped the shirt off to me, I made sure to throw it in the wash on the cold cycle and was careful not to put it in the dryer yet.  I wouldn't want the stain to really set.  The wash had faded some of the stain a little, but it would show up worse if I dried it.  Here goes nothin'!  I said to myself, and filled the bathroom sink with cool water and about a quarter cup of distilled white vinegar.  I placed the damp shirt in the diluted vinegar and let it sit for a couple of hours or so.
     Still skeptical, I put the shirt in another cold cycle (with detergent) and waited.  When the washer was done, I inspected the shirt and couldn't find the stain.  If it's not gone, it'll show up after some time in the dryer!  With a sigh I tossed it in the dryer and waited again.  Taking the shirt from the dryer I was astounded.  Placed in bright light, with my eye near and focused, I found only the lightest palimpsest of sauce remaining where once the stain had been.  If I did not look for it, and with great intensity, it was invisible, non-existent.  I was pleasantly surprised and Mother was pleased as punch!

While I still use my stain stick for most other stains, I know that if I ever run into another tomato sauce stain, it had better watch out.


Copyright October 2010