The Best Laundry Tip
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Okay, y’all. I have the very best laundry tip to share that you are not going to believe the difference it makes in your laundry.
I’ve been using this method for my laundry for a little over a year and can not believe the difference it has made.
I never, ever, ever want to go back.
Like ever.
Are you ready for the tip?
Vinegar.
Plain ol distilled white vinegar is a huge life saver, or should I say, laundry saver.
When we built our house, we bought a new washer and dryer set for our laundry room. I was beyond thrilled with this “new and improved” design and just knew that it was the best thing since sliced bread in the laundry department.
Well, after a little while I started noticing a musty smell in our laundry.
The towels seemed to be the worst.
It was horrible!
If you’ve ever had that same problem, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
I tried everything from using less detergent, cleaning out the seals of my washing machine at least once a month, buying washing machine cleaner, to calling a repairman. Then, in a conversation one day while talking to my Mama about my Grandmother hanging clothes on a drying line and ironing my Granddaddy’s overalls until they could stand up by themselves, Mama mentioned that my Grandmother was a firm believer in using white vinegar in her laundry.
Why in the world had I forgotten that little fact.
When I began using it in my laundry, I noticed no more mildew smell from my front-load washing machine, my towels seemed fluffier, and whites whiter. As a bonus during the fall and winter when we’ve been outside around our firepit, there was no more residual smell of smoke on our clothes afterward.
Using Vinegar in Laundry
I simply add 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar into each load of laundry.
For sheets, towels, and stained linens, I pour distilled white vinegar into the fabric softener dispenser of my washing machine.
As with any change in your laundry routine, I suggest you read your machine’s manual to make sure there are no issues with using vinegar in your washing machine.
Also leave your lid up (or open if a front loader) ALL THE TIME. This will guarantee no residual smells in the laundry. We had an old Maytag top loader that was the best washer ever. BUT it always smelt until we started using vinegar. However even after the use of the vinegar it would still get the odd residual smell. ANSWER Leave the lid open all the time (obviously not while washing). Problem solved.
I put vinegar in my laundry all the time. I have a front loader and I use power cause they say that’s is the best to use in the machine so I put the vinegar where liquid goes and it dose fine.when I used to have the old type washing machine I just poured it in with the clothes in it did fine so I don’t think it matters how you put the vinegar in it personally.but I use it for all my laundry if it needs it needs it, bedding regular clothes I use vinegar for cleaning my house it works for everything I run it through my dishwasher clean my kitchen counters my bathrooms everything.
I use vinegar to help with stinky athletic wear. I dump in about a cup into “small load” amount of water in top load washer and let it soak until I remember to go add soap and maybe more water and shut the lid to let the washer start. Has extended the life of many of the clothes that were getting very bad smelling.
Such a great tip! I use vinegar to clean the minerals from my coffee pot and I’m sure my washer would benefit from this too! My front load washer gets so stinky!
Hello Sandra,
Do you do both a 1/4 cup of vinegar at the beginning and another 1/4 cup in the rinse cycle?
Sorry! I meant Robyn 🙂
Laundry has been always my task since I was with my parents house and I love doing it. Now I am 32 years old and married. For regular laundry or dark coloured clothes, I use 50/50 laundry soap and baking soda then put on last rinse a mixture of 40/60 water and vinegar plus 1.5 table spoon of scented oil. That’s basically my fabric softener. Cold water on dark colours. The container for my fabric conditioner mix is the heinz bottle 32FL.
For whites, using cold water on quick cycle, I pre-treat it with 50/50 dishwashing liquid and Zonrox pink (hydrogen peroxide) to take away grimes or any oil and add pure distilled white vinegar to last rinse. Once the cycle is finished, I wash it again, now using warm water (30-40c for normal or delicate clothes and 60c to towels, pillow cases and bedsheets), I use the same soap and fabric softener combination as above.
I do not use dryer if it’s sunny. I hang clothes outside. Sun gives that fresh scent and kills dust mites (Icky little creatures). I also do not spin most of the clothes except towels and sheets (the one’s that is hard to wring using hands). I notice the garters of the clothes last and the clothes do not get damaged easily. I have clothes that I own since I was in high school and (luckily) still fits me and I can still wear it at home. We just hang clothes to dry.
Hope it helps!
I use both baking soda and vinegar – no need for fabric softener anymore. I immediately noticed the squeaky clean feeling when transferring from washer to dryer. Clothes come out smelling so clean – as if they were line dried.
I had the same problem with my front loaders and have done this for a few years now. I forgot a load of laundry in the washer for a couple of days and couldn’t get the mildew stench out of it. I ran through a load of whites with bleach, then I started adding a half a cup of vinegar to each washer load. I just pour it in over the clothes when I put them in the washer. Problem solved. No more stink.
My mother used to use vinegar as she said it was a natural fabric softener (it changes the PH of the water), gets clothes cleaner, sets colors so they don’t fade as quickly, and makes the fibers last longer. It removes the stink from sweaty clothes really well too.
My Grandma swears by Ammonia. 1/2 a cup in every load – gets out all manner of stains as well.
I like to put vinegar in my dishwasher along with the tablet. The dishes come out perfect and my dishwasher insides sparkle. I’m going to now put in my laundry.