Neil, Amanda & Margaret in May 2012.
We've talked before about how Millimopps Ironing Service is a family company that started out with just Amanda and Neil Sutcliffe running the business, and Amanda's mother Margaret joining the team shortly after to complete the team. Margaret retired many years ago now but one thing that remains in our memory is a book that she owns, 1001 Practical Uses For Vinegar. The Sutcliffe daughters, Margaret's grandchildren, spent many an hour reading through this bizarre book learning all the weird and wonderful uses for vinegar in modern society. These range from helping bruises to fade quickly (just soak a cotton pad in white wine vinegar and apply directly to the bruised area and hold for 15 minutes of so - this can even prevent bruising from appearing at all if applied quickly enough and dramatically reduces bruising) to cleaning windows (a quarter cup in a quart of water makes an excellent window cleaner - just dry with newspapers and your windows will sparkle!). However, amongst all these tips (all 1001 of them) were several that related to laundry so we thought we'd share a few of them here with you today!
Prevent lint from clinging to clothes by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the wash cycle.
To remove soap residue that makes black clothes look dull use white distilled vinegar in your final rinse.
Get stained white socks and dingy dishcloths white again. Add 1 cup white distilled vinegar to a large pot of water, bring it to a rolling boil and drop in the articles. Let soak overnight.
Some stains on clothing and linens can be soaked out using equal parts milk and white distilled vinegar.
Before washing a mustard stain, dab with white distilled vinegar.
Attack spaghetti, barbecue, or ketchup stains with a white distilled vinegar and water solution.
Remove perspiration odor and stains on clothing, as well as those left by deodorants, by spraying full-strength white distilled vinegar on underarm and collar areas before tossing them into the washing machine.
Forgot that you left wet laundry in the machine and it now smells mouldy? Pour a few cups of white distilled vinegar in the machine and wash the clothes in hot water. Then run a normal cycle with detergent.
Remove smoky odours from clothes by filling the bathtub with very hot water and 1 cup white distilled vinegar. Hang the garments above the steaming water and shut the door so the steam can penetrate the fibres.
Remove musky smells from cotton clothes by sprinkling them lightly with white distilled vinegar and then pressing them.
Get water and salt stains off shoes and boots by wiping them down with a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water.
Give patent leather shoes and bags a better shine by wiping them down with white distilled vinegar.
Get cleaner laundry! Add about 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar to the last rinse. The acid in white distilled vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, yet strong enough to dissolve the alkalis in soaps and detergents. Besides removing soap, white distilled vinegar prevents yellowing, acts as a fabric softener and static cling reducer, and attacks mould and mildew.
Eliminate manufacturing chemicals from new clothes by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the water.
Remove soap scum and clean the hoses of your washing machine with white distilled vinegar. Periodically run the machine with only a cup of white distilled vinegar in it—nothing else added to the wash cycle.
Bring out bright colours by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the rinse cycle.
Fluff up wool or acrylic sweaters (hand- or machine-washed) and rid them of soap smell with 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar in the last rinse water.
Get rid of the tiny holes left along the hemline when you take out the hem of any garment by moistening a cloth with white distilled vinegar, placing it under the fabric and ironing.
Who knew there were so many uses for vinegar after putting it on your fish and chips?!
Thanks Margaret!
To remove soap residue that makes black clothes look dull use white distilled vinegar in your final rinse.
Get stained white socks and dingy dishcloths white again. Add 1 cup white distilled vinegar to a large pot of water, bring it to a rolling boil and drop in the articles. Let soak overnight.
Some stains on clothing and linens can be soaked out using equal parts milk and white distilled vinegar.
Before washing a mustard stain, dab with white distilled vinegar.
Attack spaghetti, barbecue, or ketchup stains with a white distilled vinegar and water solution.
Remove perspiration odor and stains on clothing, as well as those left by deodorants, by spraying full-strength white distilled vinegar on underarm and collar areas before tossing them into the washing machine.
Forgot that you left wet laundry in the machine and it now smells mouldy? Pour a few cups of white distilled vinegar in the machine and wash the clothes in hot water. Then run a normal cycle with detergent.
Remove smoky odours from clothes by filling the bathtub with very hot water and 1 cup white distilled vinegar. Hang the garments above the steaming water and shut the door so the steam can penetrate the fibres.
Remove musky smells from cotton clothes by sprinkling them lightly with white distilled vinegar and then pressing them.
Get water and salt stains off shoes and boots by wiping them down with a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water.
Give patent leather shoes and bags a better shine by wiping them down with white distilled vinegar.
Get cleaner laundry! Add about 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar to the last rinse. The acid in white distilled vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, yet strong enough to dissolve the alkalis in soaps and detergents. Besides removing soap, white distilled vinegar prevents yellowing, acts as a fabric softener and static cling reducer, and attacks mould and mildew.
Eliminate manufacturing chemicals from new clothes by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the water.
Remove soap scum and clean the hoses of your washing machine with white distilled vinegar. Periodically run the machine with only a cup of white distilled vinegar in it—nothing else added to the wash cycle.
Bring out bright colours by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the rinse cycle.
Fluff up wool or acrylic sweaters (hand- or machine-washed) and rid them of soap smell with 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar in the last rinse water.
Get rid of the tiny holes left along the hemline when you take out the hem of any garment by moistening a cloth with white distilled vinegar, placing it under the fabric and ironing.
Who knew there were so many uses for vinegar after putting it on your fish and chips?!
Thanks Margaret!
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