5 Laundry Hacks to Learn Now

Preparation is the key to success. The next time your favorite sweater shrinks or you smear sauce on your sleeve at dinner, instead of furiously Googling for a solution, you’ll remain cool, calm and collected because you committed these five in-a-pinch laundry hacks to memory.

If you use one of these 5 laundry hacks, you will always remember it when I need. Trust me! It becomes engraved in your memory, especially when the adrenaline kicks in right after you spill something on your silk blouse at dinner. The worst right?!

5 Laundry Hacks To Learn Now

Your Dryer Can Be a Steamer

No garment steamer? No problem. If your clothes are just a bit more wrinkled than you’d like them to be, don’t break out the iron, just use your dryer. Put your wrinkled clothes into the dryer with a damp hand towel or washcloth and let it spin for 10 or 15 minutes on a medium-to-low heat setting. I also keep a travel steamer around and pack it while traveling. Really saves you any hassle.

You Can Iron Clothes with a Hair Flat Iron

Did you leave your favorite top in the dryer for a little too long? Or did your fiancé decide to do laundry and not read the labels? Is that just me? Your hair straightener is already powered on in the bathroom, so use it to iron your clothes, too. It’s great for getting in between buttons on a shirt or straightening out a bendy hem. Just make sure the hair iron is totally clean and dry before you clamp it down on your clothes. Wipe it clean of any hair products before using, this is a must!

How to Un-Shrink Clothes with Hair Conditioner

The only thing worse than folding clothes is folding clothes and discovering your favorite piece has shrunk. It’s most likely fixable! Who What Wear suggests soaking the item in a mix of water and hair conditioner for five minutes, then laying it out onto a towel and gently and carefully stretching it back to its original proportions. Phew! This will save you money and disappointment.

Vodka is a Deodorizer

Want to wear that top from last night again today at brunch? Hey, it’s ok if it’s a set of new people than the day before! If there’s any lingering smells, you can deodorize your clothes by spritzing them with a bit of vodka in a spray bottle. Use this trick on smelly shoes or your dog’s bed.

White Bread is Your Stain-Treating Secret Weapon

You can Google and find a thousand stain-treating hacks, but when there’s no shaving cream or dishwasher soap around and all you have is the bread basket at the center of the table, here’s one to keep in your back pocket: Pull the crusty outside off, roll the soft bread into a ball and use it to gently blot out the stain. It’s not a total success every time, but it’s better than letting the stain set in. You still should try to get your garment in the wash ASAP.

Boiling Hot Water

This one has saved me multiple times! Has taken out berry stains, coffee, ketchup, you name it. You simple boil a kettle of water, stretch out the stained area over a sink or tub and pour the water from a good distance above onto the stain. Be careful, you don’t want to get burnt while doing so. I would try to get a friend or another family member to help you with this one.