Ever had problems with your laundry? We all do. Here are some tips I saw recently from the Iowa State University.
• Separate the lightly soiled from the heavily soiled.
• Always keep pesticide-soiled clothing separate from family laundry before and during washing.
• Do not put too many clothes in one wash load. Free movement of the clothes during agitation in washing is needed for best cleaning.
• Soak protein stains in cold water (milk, egg, soybean formula, ice cream, blood and meat juice, or any food stain that contains these ingredients).
• Pre-treat oily collar soil, grease, or oil stains with liquid detergent or pretreatment spray.
• Do not pre-treat tannin stains (cola drinks, coffee, tea, and fruit juice) with soap. Soap will cause these stains to set and become permanent.
• Dye stains, such as felt tip marker, require use of bleach, if item is washable, white, or colorfast.
• For a combination of food stains or difficult stains such as chewing gum, pencil, etc., consult a stain removal guide.
•Do not treat rust-colored stains with bleach; use rust remover. Prepare clothes for washing
• Empty pockets to remove crayons, ticket stubs, tissues, paper, ballpoint pens, coins, nails, etc.
• Close zippers and Velcro® to prevent snagging of fabrics.
• Turn jeans and dark colored clothes inside out to prevent color streaking.
• Put panty hose and items with long ties in a mesh bag to prevent tangling and subsequent tearing. Sort the clothes before loading
• Separate whites from colors.
• Separate lint-givers (terry towels, cotton
• The amount of foam on the wash load does not show the cleaning ability of the detergent.
Extra foam from too much detergent may interfere with rinsing and can cause yellowing
and a harsh feel in clothes.

• Liquid chlorine bleach is the most effective whitener and sanitizer. But, it can damage
cellulosics, silk, and wool, as well as fade or change colors of fabrics of any fiber content.
• Follow the colorfastness test directions on the bleach package to check if safe for fabric.
• Measure and dilute bleach before adding it to the wash load, if the washer lacks a bleach dispenser.
• Never pour full strength liquid chlorine bleach onto a wash load; it can cause color
fading and may weaken fabrics leading to premature holes or tearing.
• Do not soak cottons in bleach solutions for more than 15 minutes for purposes of stain
removal. If the stain has not changed in that time, it will not be removed by the bleach.
• Do not use liquid chlorine bleach on garments of silk, wool, spandex, polyurethane foam, rubber, or with those having rubber- or spandex-containing elastic.
• Concentrated bleach solutions or excess soaking time can weaken cellulosic fibers.

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