With three children, laundry is always a challenge. First there is the hunting through the house for stray socks, finding wet towels wherever they land, and digging through the bottom of the hall closet for dusty jackets and sweatshirts that fell from the hangers.
After the laundry is gathered and sorted, anything with a stain needs to be addressed, which probably accounts for at least a third of the children’s clothing in any given week. I have my arsenal of tools. The stain pre-treaters, the better powdered detergent I swear by, the utility sink for soaking.
One tool that works great and usually never lets me down is my trusty oxygen cleaner (Oxy Clean). Once on vacation, my daughter sat on some spilled and cooled hot chocolate in her new white shorts, spent the day in them in the hot sun (we were already in the park so just layered a t-shirt over them), and balled them up in a dirty laundry bag where they sat there for the rest of the week until we returned home, and I could do the laundry. Two long soaks in the oxygen cleaner, and they were as good as new.
Of course, since we use so much of the stuff, I had to find a way to bring the cost down. Coupons and sales help, but not quite enough. Now, I simply make my own, which works just as well, but costs a lot less.
The homemade version won’t bleach or harm fabric the way that bleach does, but just like any tough cleaner, you will want to test your fabric before using it. One of the nice things about this formula is that you don’t have to make up a big batch of it. Just quickly mix it together as needed, per load.
Ingredients:
1 cup of hot water
1/2 cup of baking soda
1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide
Mix all of the ingredients together in the sink or bucket, add your clothing items, and soak them for 20 minutes. Rinse and launder as usual.