Laundry Tip: Keeping White Clothes White

My mother taught me this trick when I was getting ready to have my first child. She used it for the infamous "diaper load". I was under the delusion that I was going to put my newborn in cloth diapers. (ha!)

After changing four outfits a day for the first week, I was blessed with a friend who told me that using cloth was environmentally equivalent to using disposable. (Thank you,
Arun D'Souza!) Did I check the science on that one? No! I just gratefully gave myself permission to switch.

In certain cases, my environmentalism is trumped by practicality.

So, if you are a mom who is using cloth diapers, my hat is off to you. If on the other hand, you have boys to keep track of (I have two) and those boys happen to go to a school that requires uniforms (particularly, white shirts), I have news. The same trick that works for diapers will keep those shirts looking like the day you bought them.

The trick is to use the temperature settings on your washer.
I'll explain.

My boys have found new and exciting ways to stain their clothing. During the first week of school, I have washed out grass stains, blood, mud, chocolate milk, pizza splat, cherry juice, Popsicle drippings, greasy hand-prints and ice cream.

You may wonder how this is possible.
They are boys. Anything is possible.

So, to do battle with their mess (at least the laundry mess) I start by treating their shirts as I sort the laundry. I use Shout Gel. It has a little brush on top to work the stain remover into the stains and it is thick enough to stay on the stain as the clothes get washed. I've tried other brands and even thinner versions of Shout. Trust me, get the gel.

I then put all the whites in the washer and wash them with just detergent (no bleach) in COLD water. Why start with cold? Protein stains, like blood, milk, or grass need cold water to work loose from the fibers of your clothes. If you wash in hot water before these stains are out, the heat will set the stain and make a permanent mark on the shirt.

When you hear your washer spinning out the cold water to start the rinse cycle, switch the heat setting to HOT and reset your washer back to the beginning of the wash cycle. Then pour your bleach into your washer's bleach cup, but use no more detergent. The hot water will get out any grease-based stains (i.e. pizza splat!) and the bleach will whiten the whole load.

I know this method uses an extra tub of water. But, if you're a parent washing school uniforms, it really is the way to go. And, according to my own mom, there's no better way to take care of those nasty cloth diapers, either.

Good luck with it!
Remember, we're in this together!

Midwest Mom

The Best Money I've Ever Spent

My children spent most of yesterday afternoon and this morning digging for pirate treasure next to our house.

Me: Hey, guys! Now don't get muddy over there!

Them: Mom! It's only dirt.

I shrug. They're right again. After all, I like playing in the dirt, too. I call it gardening.

The trio started digging holes to fill up colorful plastic buckets with dirt. Once the holes were about 6 inches deep, the fun started. Each one found a different 'treasure' -- a grime-caked penny, a broken piece of green plastic, and another grime-caked penny (possibly the same one -- no one knows.)

Their imaginations sparked.

Primo: Mom! Hey, Mom! Is our house, like 100 years old?
Me: Yep.
Primo: Did pirates exist a hundred years ago?
Me: Sure they did, but... goes on to explain the history of piracy and the sad fact that we live in the middle of the continent so pirate sightings are unlikely... stops when noticing reality does not register with this group.

They continued to dig, creating a fictional pirate who must have buried his secret treasure right on our property. When I asked questions, they had an answer for everything.

Big D: This must have been a real Pirate cove!
Me: But how would a pirate even have gotten here?
Big D: (looks at me like I have popcorn-for-brains) He walked, of course! He must have needed a rest from pirating, and he saw our cozy house...

Nightfall did not stop the speculation about the anonymous pirate. I heard them talking about it in bed. This morning, the talk continued. The children strategized at breakfast, guessing that since there were 'treasures' in each of the three holes, if they connected them, they might find a real pirate treasure! "Mom," they said, "we'll split the treasure since we did the work... but don't worry. We'll give you and Dad two gold pieces."

We went outside and back to work they went. There was much digging, but less finding. After at least 40 minutes, they started to get discouraged. No mom can bear to hear her children losing faith. I suggested that they go have a pirate voyage on the swingset in the back yard. They grabbed their nerf swords and ran. I told them I planned to continue weeding the garden.

What followed were approximately 67 seconds during which my whereabouts remain unknown.

Soon the pirate voyage was over, and here came the bunch hurrying up the driveway. "I'm the captain and this is my first mate," my son said, indicating his brother. Turning to his sister, he continued, "And this is my other first mate. We're ready to dig!"

I waited, continuing to weed (or pretending to). What followed was a wild series of whoops and hollers that could only mean...

"Treasure! Mom, we found it! We really found it!"

During the next half hour, 42 cents in all were discovered. My oldest divided it evenly among the crew. Big D said, "Sorry Mom, you can't have any because we did all the digging. Besides, you have a ton of money already."

That's alright. I think that was the best 42 cents I've ever spent.

Midwest Mom