Laundry Lifesaver

So, I grew up in a house where laundry was pretty much an art form.

When it came to doing the wash, there were rules that had to be followed. And the women in my family, well, they took laundry very seriously.

The cardinal rule: Always sort your loads according to color and/or type of fabric -- whites, pastel colors, primary colors and fragiles.

That rule has pretty much stuck with me.

Except that after a while, I get lazy.

That's when I start throwing everything in together. Just so I can finally be done with the laundry.

So, that's exactly what I was doing the other night when I threw my daughter's white school uniform blouse in with a pair of red shorts. The shorts had been washed a bazillion times before. I had never had a problem with the red color "running" over other articles of clothing.

Until that night.

In fact, I was in such a rush to finish laundry duty, that it was only after I took the blouse out of the dryer that I noticed the pink splotches.

Great. There goes $30, down the tubes.

But, a moment later I recalled a conversation I had with a friend about laundry mishaps and she heartily recommended this:

My friend had washed a pair of white pants with a rust colored shirt and claimed that Carbona Color Run Remover worked miracles. It contains no bleach, formaldehyde or phosphates -- but claims to be effective, even on previous color run accidents where the streaks or dyes were set in the dryer.

I dissolved the powder in a bucket of water and emersed the shirt. Within seconds, the stains were gone.

Whew! Now if I could only find a spot remover that was as instantly effective.

For more helpful tips, head on over to Works for Me Wednesday!