Yesterday’s post on lessening laundry conjured a few hints about keeping between-load clothes looking and feeling fresher. Courtesy of Granny, a French roommate and the corner liquor store...
GET NAKED—remove clothes immediately upon returning home, slip into something more comfortable and allow it to become more pheromone-rich.
VODKA—Old costumer’s trick: Turn clothes inside out, hang, and spritz with any plain vodka or a 50/50 vodka-water solution.
AIR IT OUT—Turn clothes inside out and hang outside, in a porch, in front of window.
VINEGAR STEAM—Add a few tablespoons of vinegar to a steamer to de-odor as you de-rumple.
SHOWER—Green the old college/motel trick works by hanging before everyone in the house showers (and sleep in).
SCENTED WASHCLOTH—a damp cloth with a few drops of essential oils can freshen clothes and gently ease out wrinkles.
CLOSET AJAR—Air flow keeps clothes and closets breathing.
GAL PAL—these foam pads erase deodorant marks, and reportedly random debris, from clothes.
DIY SACHET—wrap dried lavender from a health or craft store in a vintage handkerchief, sheer scarf or muslin bag, tie with ribbon and change often.
STARCH—try it sans dry cleaner.
TIDE SWASH—test marketed to laundry-hating college students, these funk-fighters are repackaged and equally chemically versions of standard P&G shortcuts like Dryel, stain pens and Febreze. What could it do? Begin to challenge America’s wash-and-odor obsession and bring a wider social acceptance of the less-washed masses over time.
Tina Wilson's Striking Style 
30 DIY Projects for the 3-Day Weekend
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Dunes & Duchess Can...
20 Scrumptious Brunch Recipes 
Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More
Comments (11)
I'm not accepting any unwashed masses anytime soon.
This will go over well in France, but here... not so much.
What does the vodka trick do? Kill germs? Remove odors? Just curious...
When my kids were small and I needed to work form home, I worked as a 'counselor' to Au Pair families, but mostly the Au Pairs; there was a big issue with especially with the German and French girls; and the less urban the girl, the "worse" the problem was. I had to have quite a few "How American are different from many cultures" talks. But the really ironic thing was that while the whole bathing/clothes washing thing was an issue with Americans, most of the girls from almost anywhere in Europe and Scandinavia had major issues with how messy and sometimes dirty American homes were(and how big); there was more than one girl who requested a "rematch" b/c the American household that they were in was too disorganized and messy for them to bear.
Don't think my co-workers would appreciate me coming into work smelling like Vodka.
Heehee, KTG :)
Just because your clothes are unwashed doesn't mean you have to be! I support extending the time between doing laundry (and admit it, even those who are pro-wash-everytime don't wash their jeans or sweaters between every wear) but you won't get very many wears out of anything if you don't bathe regularly! Your clothes will smell good if you do!
Of course, everything in moderation. I try to wear some of my shirts and tops at least twice before throwing it in the laundry basket. It helps that I often wear a thin undershirt, esp. on week days. It helps keep me warm (and not so "nipply") in overly air-conditioned offices.
It helps extend the life of my clothing between trips to the laundromat. Furthermore, it helps save water and is therefore better for the environment in the long run.
Of course, if I've spent a day walking around the city in the hot sun, that shirt goes into the wash basket immediately.
This can be easier for women than men who can sweat a lot more.
People are so tied into these hard and fast rules...
Having lived in Europe, I have to agree that on the average, Europeans have tidier, more organized and generally, more aesthetically pleasing homes. Americans tend to be more materialistic and consumerist. They fill their homes with lots of objects and gadgets that are often not used well or at all.
I think thinks are improving though. Must be with the obsession with cleaning, organization, decluttering, and simplifying in the magazines and HGTV shows.
"SHOWER—Green the old college/motel trick works by hanging before everyone in the house showers (and sleep in)."
huh???
Ok, this is a, 'back in the old days,' comment with a point. I grew up on the farm in the 50-60's and we were clean but not obsessed with washing everything that had touch our skin every time it touched. On the farm and today I ALWAYS remove work/good clothes and wear casual clothes at home, I have pets and don't want fur-balls on my professional clothing. Obviously soiled garments are placed in the laundry otherwise re hung to air out. Major sweat out = to the laundry. I don't dry clean often because it is just too hard on the clothing to be repeatedly processed. An accomplished sewer, I make much of my clothing and always pre-launder so I can wash the final garment. Tailored jackets and fully lined trousers are the exception to the prewash it rule but don't need frequent dry cleaning unless I do something stupid like dribble food. I want quality garments and I want them to last for several years so I make the effort to care for them in a way which extends their useful life. I believe my attitude is good for the environment and my pocketbook. We all win.
@Adelia: yea, it's messed up. But I think they mean you hang your stuff in the bathroom early, then it gets steamed while everyone else takes their showers (and you sleep in & get up late to, um, damp unwrinkled clothes). Presumably you wear something else, but that straightens out yesterday's duds. Not sure why they phrased it so oddly - maybe wanted it to fit in a tweet? "Green" was either some spell-checker mistake or is missing punctuation & meant to suggest that this is an eco-friendly tip.