What you can do to make laundry day more effective

If you want to get the most out of your clothes, it's necessary to know how to clean them. Here are important tips about doing the laundry.

• Liquid fabric conditioners can be pricey, so consider a natural softener: add 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) of salt to the last rinse.
• Another natural fabric softener: pour 250 millilitres (one cup) of vinegar into the last rinse cycle.

Follow these tips to ensure proper care of colours:

• Prevent new coloured fabrics from running by adding a dash of vinegar to the wash water.
• Add sugar to the rinse water to ensure coloured laundry comes out bright.
• Never hang coloured laundry to dry in bright sunlight — otherwise, the colours will fade.
• Protect jeans from wear before washing them: soak them first in a salt solution (15 millilitres/one tablespoon of salt in one litre/quart of water).
• Do not starch coloured laundry when it is still hot, or the colours may run.

• Sweat odour disappears when you moisten two cloths with a water and ammonia solution, place the article of clothing between them and steam it with the iron.
• Soak yellowed, undyed wool overnight in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and cold water (1:8). Then rinse out and wash.
• Shampoo is an excellent cleanser for wool, whether in the machine or the sink. It's gentle on the woven fabric, so the wool doesn't become matted as it would with other, harsher detergents.
• To soften a scratchy sweater, dissolve 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) of hair conditioner in a sink filled with water and swish around the item for two minutes. Rinse and dry.
• Wool items lose their shape when spun dry. Instead, roll them gently into a dry towel, squeeze the excess water out with your hands, then hang on a clothes rack to dry.

Laundry comes out whiter when you add a tightly closed laundry bag containing some eggshells or lemon slices to the load. Wash in hot water.

• Add 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) of baking soda to the main wash cycle. You'll get whiter whites and a nice, fresh smell.
• Soak discoloured white laundry in fresh milk until it turns sour. Then rinse and wash as usual.
• One of the other time-proven methods is to use dishwasher detergent in your laundry loads instead of laundry soap. Beware that this can be hard on clothes and should be used only on heavy-duty clothing, sheets and towels.