July 31, 2020

Well, sometimes I can outsmart myself!  I love some of the new tech stuff that happens, but unfortunately it can get a lot more complicated and then I get all consumed with the complicated stuff and forget the basics.  For the month of July there has been no link to the featured product, and I don't think that's fair, so I'm going to continue the feature WITH THE LINK for August, then feature a new product for September.  Sorry about that.

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Onward to this weeks subject - cleaning.  Yeah, I know boring, but here's the thing, how many times have you pulled something out of the stash pile to see that it's discolored or otherwise dirty.  Since we've all been "shoping" in our stashes this spring and summer, I'm sure more than one of you has pulled out an item that had some dirt stains or simply just dirty on the edges of the fold. 

This wouldn't probably be much of a problem, however with today's new HE (high efficiency) washing machines, dirt  can be a bit more stubborn than in the older regular washing machines.  The problem is that when those old ones break, there's only the HE option and that's it.

After decades of refreshing debutante dresses (our city has 2 deb balls, and some of the gals do both, and need to have the dress freshened up for the second ball), with such normal things like red wine, colored alcohol, food and worst of all asphalt on the hem, I've learned a few things about how to keep a white garment white and even how to get a colored garment clean and thought I would share these with you.

 

List of HE Machine Features To Look For

I recommend a top-loading machine.  Even if it's HE you can soak things in it and that goes a long way toward cleaning garments. 

For another, make sure there's a pause or stop cycle that does not drain the machine so that you can run a load of water and then pause it to let the load soak.

Lasty it's great if you can find a machine that has a "full load" or "bulky load" setting that uses a full tub of water. 

Finally a double rinse is always a great setting.


With those features in mind, you can now get a pretty clean wash with some more helpers.

 

Detergents and Aids and Home Made Mixtures

So the truth is that the HE washing detergents are okay, but they really don't do much cleaning at all.  They might be okay for small loads or loads not that aren't that dirty, but they really don't get normal dirt out of loads without some help. 


Laundry Soap Recipe
You can see this recipe all over the internet, but this helps you understand why each of the components are in there. 

• Two Bars Zote Shredded (or you can get it flakes - if you can't find Zote bars, use three bars of Fels-Naptha soap shredded in the food processor). This helps cut the grease in the laundry.
• Four bottles of Lavender Purex Crystals. For the aroma. 
• One 4 lb. Twenty Mule Team Borax. Borax helps kill the mold and mildew that can accumulate in the washing machine.
• One 4 lb. box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. This is added to make colored clothes brighter and your whites whiter.  It's a natural deodeorizer and cleanser and softens the water.
• One 3 lb. box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda.  Baking soda and washing soda are two entirely different things.  The washing soda is also a natural cleaner and powerful water softener with a very basic pH of 11 (that's the opposite of acidic and very alkaline)  This means that water gets most of the impurities out of your laundry but the metals (iron - like in dirt) and other metals will combine with the basic-ness of the washing soda and get your laundry clean.  That is a very quick and dirty explanation of washing soda so don't go talking to a chemist and think you know everything.  There is a lot more to it than that, additionally this sort of does the job that phosphates used to do which are now banned because they are a nutrition pollutant.    
• Four lbs. of OxiClean.  This is a laundry booster to make your mix of detergent more effective.  NOTE:  OxiClean comes in either 3.5 lb container or a 5 lb. container.  Usually I purchase the larger size, cause I use OxiClean for other stuff and that way I have a little extra. 

Whew!  That was a mouthful, but this laundry mix is not only naturally powerful, it also makes your laundry (and therefore laundry room) smell like a million bucks!  But the other good news about this mix is that it has pretty good environmental ratings which makes it nice too. 
  Fels Naptha Bar
I love this bar, and one of the things I discovered about it, is that it can remove asphalt off the hem of those deb dresses and make them look like new.  The mom's were so thrilled they were in awe of me.  I included that service as a complementary service if you had me design and make the dress.  It was a real selling point. 

But Naptha is a natural grease breaker-downer, and has a very high surfactant rate.   Surfactants help break down the grease and remove it from the garment and wash out with the water.  It's pretty amazing stuff and I not only use it on my asphalt stains (which I don't personally get a lot of), but also on any weird greasy stain that Walt gets into in his garage-shop.  Heaven only knows what goes on out there, and I don't think I really want to know!!!!  But Fels, gets it out. 
  Clorox or Chlorine
OK - you have to be very careful with this one.  Mostly this works with plant based fabrics and not animal based fabrics.  As a matter of fact one of the ways you can test for fabric content is with Clorox.  Put a piece of silk in Clorox and it will disintegrate - that's right it will disappear.  It usually takes up to 6 hours or more, but when you look back in the glass of Clorox the fabric will be gone.

And of course this precludes colors.  It will fade and totally distort printed fabrics or any color fabrics.   But if your fabric is white and a linen or cotton, this can work wonders where nothing else will work.  My grandmother used to say that the dirt is still there, it's just be bleached white!  She was probably right. 
  Synthrapol
Even though Clorox will kill silk, that doesn't mean you can't wash it.  When your silk garments (except the tailored ones with shoulder pads or other elements of structure in them), are dirty and need to be fully cleaned, washing is one of the greatest ways to freshen up a silk garment.  I had no problem washing my beautifully handmade silk blouses and they came out so well without that dry cleaning smell, but with a fresh much cleaner smell.  I would launder them in a very gentle cycle with lots of water and not dry them.  I would take them out of the machine and press them and they came out crisp and beautifully fresh like the day I made them. 

One thing I like to use in my colored silk garments is Synthrapol.  This can be had at most arts and crafts stores, but do a Google search and it's available about everywhere.  Silk does not hold dye well, and that means that if you have a darkly-dyed garment, it has mostly likely been over-dyed.  When you wash it a lot of that dye will come out in the water.   A capful of Synthrapol in the wash will help prevent re-dyeing in the wash which will keep the garment from looking like it's been streaked when it comes out of the wash. 

Another technique to use with Synthrapol, is if you want to take a very shiny silk like Dupionni or taffeta or shantung and was it with Synthrapol - either light-colored or dark-colored - it will give it a sueded look.  When I make Walt's silk camp shirts, I take Dupionni and wash it in Synthrapol and this takes a lot of the shine out of it, but none of the elegance.  The shirts turn out like a sueded fabric, with a very interesting and elegant nap.  They are also divinely comfortable and breathe well.  And there's nothing like wearing a silk shirt to make a person feel special, but without all the folderal or formality of the shiny silk. 

  Dawn-Baking Soda Mix
Another great grease breaker-upper is this Dawn Soap and Baking Soda mix.  Walt's complexion is a little on the greasy side, and his pillows and sheets get a little greasy.  However, once a week dousing of this formula and it takes out the grease beautifully.  This is excellent on strong fabrics like cotton, linen and even some with a man-made blend (with cotton and/or linen). This is perfect for any sofa pillow cases that have become soiled with wear due to the residue of skin.

Instructions for using this are

• 1 part Dawn soap (dishwashing kind is fine)
• 4 parts Baking Soda
  mix this up in a zip lock bag so that you can mush it around a lot to get it mixed. 
• Wet or at least moisten the soiled area with water and then spread the soap mixture onto the greasy area. 

• I fill the machine with hot or warm water (depending upon the color - colors are warm while whites are hot), and then pause or stop the cycle. 
• Put the pre-moistened and soaped-up material in the tub and make sure that the whole fabric is soaked in the water. 
• Close the lid and let it soak for 24 hours or at least over night.  
• Start the cycle again and run as normal....and just like that the grease spot is out.  

This works every week for me on my sheets, but also any other spot soiled by heavy skin touching like furniture or pillows.  This mixture is also great on my cottons or linens in my stash.  You know those folds that get dusty or grimey with whatever after years of storage?  This is the perfect soap to clean that with. 

Water Soak
Most all spots, greasy, enzyme or stains respond really well to water immediately after the stain has occurred.  That isn't always possible, but when possible treat it immediately.  Even blood responds beautifully to water - it's almost scary.  But then this is the old French Seamstresses Blood Removal Secret - using a little saliva to moisten the area, the blood stain can be blotted right out.

This is one of my favorites for those delicate, who-knows-what-the-content-is type fabrics.  Silk will ring.  That means the border between the wet and the dry will have a ring on it.  So what you have to do on silk is brush it out along the borders so that it fades in and out and there's no definitive dry/wet line.  I do this with a cloth and then use either a hair dryer or steam iron to gently work the outside so that there remains no clear wet/dry line until the whole piece has dried. 

And yes, this is a harder technique and takes a lot of bravery to do this.  At the same time, I've seen it do wonders on spots and stains that happened with immediately treating with water.  With linens, cottons, wools there's no ringing, but still have to be careful and you are more blotting than rubbing out the stain.  The whole idea is to flood the area, then blot out the whole wet area with a dry absorbent material and keeping wetting and blotting to remove the spot. 


It's good to have more than one method to get out stubborn spots and these include grease based, petroleum-based, enzyme-based and simple plain dirt (with iron in the dirt) spots, so one of these should work well for the different stains or spots. 

I think my favorite is the Dawn and baking soda mixture.  It's simple and effective and it doesn't damage the fabric like some rough and stronger substance might.  Clorox is particularly damaging over time and can weaken fibers and eventually eat away at the fabric. 

The amazing thing is that most of the time in my own made clothing, I don't wear this clothing to cook or work in the yard or do dirty  jobs.  This means that usually a good airing out and hanging to hang out the wrinkles is all that's required.  Of course, after so long a time, a stain or spot may appear (from heaven knows where?????!!!). And spotting or treating a spot on a garment is a lot more gentle and kind to the garment than washing the whole garment. 

Washing and dry cleaning your garments is the hardest and most hurtful thing you can do to your garments.  That's why I recommend that you hang them and let them air out and don't wear them for tough or dirty work.  There's no need to garden in your beautifully tailored blouse by you.  And there's certainly no need to do any dirty work in your newly tailored wool jacket.  Collect those old pieces that have either worn out or have stained or ripped and those are the pieces that you can do your dirty work in.  
 

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July's August's Feature Resource
Well, sometimes I outsmart myself, and a very kind subscriber pointed out that there was no link to the Core Patterns, so I'm going to keep this up for another month, with the special price, for those of you who tried to click something that wasn't there!

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•   Core Patterns are a great way to get to simplifying not only your sewing but also the selection process that you go through in selecting projects. 

I personally keep a list of visual ideas on Pinterest (which is so perfect for this) so that when I'm perusing the net, I simply add photos or pictures to my Pinterest page, and make a little note like "Neckline," "Lapel," "Scarf," and on like that to draw my attention to that part that I like.  Sometimes it's color or color combinations, sometimes it's a simple way that a collar rolls.   Sometimes it's the whole dang thing. 

Then when I get those, "I need a new red top," or "I don't have a good red top to go with all the red bottoms I have," or any other harebrained idea, I can simply check out my Pinterest page of ideas and boom I'm off and running.

Then there's finding the pattern, or even worse having to draft the whole thing up from scratch.  But lately I've been turning more and more to my core patterns and with a little manipulation of those patterns, I have a pattern that fits, that's flattering, that's comfy and that is fairly time-efficient to make up.  
Now how do you pick out a core pattern?  What makes a good core pattern?  What are some ideas for variations?  How do you avoid pitfalls in fabric selections for blocks or different sections on a core pattern? 

And this resource also includes another bonus - how to better choose fabrics for your patterns and how to better purchase online fabrics that will work with your projects.    


As usual this resource is 15% for the month of August - click here to see more.
 

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