In 2007 washing clothes seems like such a simple thing, just throw it in the washing machine, and off you go-getting those dirty clothes sparkling clean. Of course there is the occasion where clothes might smell clean, but they sure don’t look it. Moms before the days of spray on spot removers had some nifty ways to get clothes clean and their methods virtually guaranteed to get the spotty stains out!
If your mom was anything like mine, you know that some of their secret ways were handed down by grandma, or mom invented her own applications for getting the grungy clothes clean. Some suggestions came out of books, like helpful household tips from Heloise, of which my late mother was an avid follower to save money and wash clothes at the same time.
The following are a few tips straight out of one Heloise’s books for the everyday homemaker from the mid 1970s. Enjoy the tips, but most of all it should make you thankful that polyester suits, and styles that are only a little better of the 1980s are not back in vogue.
Spot Remover Ideas:
You might be a messy eater, or there is probably someone in the family that is, when it comes to eating foods like spaghetti or drippy barbecue pork sandwiches. If so, grab some lemon and rub the spot with it, then throw it in the washer and clean away. It will work on most any type of stain that is from the tomato family, on cotton products of any type.
Most homes have the accident prone too, so you need to be prepared for the occasion of a blood stain. One of the best ways to get stubborn blood stains out is too look into your spice rack. Meat tenderizer that doesn’t have any other seasonings and a tiny bit of water will get the garment spot free. You might have to let it sit there if it’s been a while since the stain set in, but it works. Just mix the two together to form a paste and rub.
The dirty neck line can be a real hassle to get out. You can use a pre-treat spot remover, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem to work. According to Heloise the sweat and oils from the skin, plus the constant grinding of the neck on the collar, are what makes it so hard to get out. Now it might seem a little impossible to find this treatment for oily shirts, but take heart if a piece of old blackboard chalk is lying around. Rub the chalk briskly and let it sit overnight, and wash as usual.
Remember the days of cloth diapers? Well, it used to be a real problem for housewives to get them clean, no matter how much pure bleach they used. Thank goodness for the electric dishwasher though because the powdery mixture could be mixed with water and bleach to get them clean on the cotton. Heloise recommends mixing a gallon of hot water, and 1/2 cup of compound, and ¼ bleach to soak. Then after rinsing throw it into a regular wash cycle, and rinse with vinegar.
Heloise recommends too that when using bleach out of a bottle and detergent out of a box, to not over do its use. A yellowish gray film is caused by using too much of either. The trick for measuring the mixture is to stick your hand in and feel if the sudsy water feels a little slippery, to know if you’ve got right.
Washing clothes to get a great look doesn’t have to be a hard thing to do. Mom, grandma and Heloise had it right on crispy clean clothes. It’s true you don’t have to follow every suggestion because every tip might not apply to you, but when you do it’s a guarantee the clothes will be a snappy bright circle free color.
Sources:
Heloise’s Work and Money Savers
5th Printing 1971
