household tips |

The other day I was ironing my husband’s shirts and discovered a BAD case of ring around the collar! It seems I should have noticed this well before now, but it just snuck up on me. I did a little research then got creative and came up with a VERY easy and EFFECTIVE way to get the stain out. This works whether the shirt has been worn (and not laundered), or even freshly washed, dried AND ironed. (Yes, really!)

Supplies needed: One old toothbrush, a small bowl of water, a little dish detergent that is a good grease fighter, and one dirty collar.

Lay the shirt so the collar lays open and flat. The shirt can be dry…no need to wet it down first.

Dirty shirt collar

Put a little bit of dish detergent on your toothbrush and scrub the dirt line along the collar.

Scrub collar with dish detergent and toothbrush

After you’ve done a little scrubbing and worked the detergent into the fabric, wet the toothbrush and scrub the dirt line some more, working up some suds.

Wet the toothbrush

Work up some suds

After you’ve scrubbed the dirt line to your satisfaction, the shirt can be laundered immediately in your usual laundry detergent in whatever water temperature you normally use. IF the shirt was exceptionally dirty and you feel your dish detergent is not a great grease fighter, it may help to allow your shirt to sit for a while (up to 1 hour) before laundering it. Note that the collar does not need to be rinsed out before placing it in the washing machine. IF you feel you used a LOT of dish detergent and need to rinse some of it out, go ahead and rinse.

Washed, wet shirt…See how clean!

After it comes out of the washer, take a quick look to be sure all the ring was scrubbed out. If not, repeat the process. If so, dry it as usual.

Dried shirt…good as new!

This is a fast and easy process that makes shirts look good as new! The real benefit is that you don’t need to buy extra chemicals to do the job. You should already have what you need on hand!

To see my video on this process, click below. Enjoy! Judi

So who’s not interested in saving money on expenses?? We have fixed expenses and discretionary ones. We don’t have a lot of flexibility in those fixed expenses, but we have many choices in our discretionary options, like what we buy at the grocery store. Honestly, if you look at what you spend in a month, most people spend the majority of their discretionary money at the grocery store. It really adds up, so I look for any way I can cut that back.

So, why not make reusable dryer sheets? That not only saves money on buying them over and over, but also helps reduce what goes into our landfills. All you need are two old T-shirts that are a medium-weight fabric (one light colored and one dark colored), a pair of scissors, and your favorite fabric softener. (In another write-up, I’ll share how to make your own fabric softener).

Simply cut a 6-inch square of fabric from each T-shirt. When you’re ready to use it, moisten the cloth with a little of your favorite fabric softener and toss it in the dryer with your wet clothes. Use the light colored cloth with your light laundry, and the dark colored cloth with your dark clothes. Simple! They can be reused over and over again! How easy is THAT?

Check out my video on making these cloths. Enjoy! Judi