Brighter Whites and Colors

Over time, everyone's laundry gets a bit dingy. Colors fade or run together, whites start to yellow, darks turn grey. Here are a few great tips on getting your laundry back to peak performance!

Make your whites whiter
You don't have to use bleach to get your whites bright again. In fact, for some stains, like sweat and yellowing on white sheets, bleach will make it worse!

• Soak a load with a hot water and a cup of baking soda, either for a few hours or overnight, before washing as usual.
• Vinegar is amazing for removing colors that have run together, removing extra detergent from your clothing and restoring fabric softness to new. Add a cup to the rinse cycle.
• Hydrogen peroxide can be found in liquid (first aid aisle) or in a powder (OxyClean). Add a 1/2 cup of liquid or follow directions for powdered and soak overnight before washing like normal.
• Bluing agent is a non-toxic alternative to bleach. It's an old trick but a good one. Adding a small amount of blue to your wash makes yellowed colors appear white again.
• Run an extra rinse cycle to make sure any dirty wash water is completely rinsed out. You don't need to do this every time, but once in a while it helps to keep your whites looking extra clean.

Preserve your colors

• Add 2 cups of coffee or strong tea to the rinse cycle for dark laundry. This will help restore the rich color back to black.
• Soak new clothes in salt water or vinegar when you first get them to lock in the dye. Vinegar during the wash cycle can also keep colors from running, just add to the wash cycle.
• Wash in cold water. Heat damages dye, and your clothes will get just as clean in cold water.
• Line dry your clothes. Again, heat damages dye! If you can line dry or lay your clothes flat to dry, you can avoid your clothes wearing out too quickly.
• Turn your clothes inside-out. Dye on the inside will stay more intact than the side exposed directly to the wash. This is especially helpful for jeans.

Until next time, keep it clean!

Keeping Your Clothes Like New

It's always a little bittersweet to finally part with a piece of clothing, whether it's stained, colorless, the fabric has lost its luster or it's gained a few holes along the way. Sometimes you're ready for it to go, but sometimes  there are pieces you have to repeatedly replace like socks and underwear or that favorite rock concert t-shirt that you just can't seem to let go of. You don't need fancy detergents or dry-cleaning to keep your clothes perfect. Here are a few tips to extending the life of the clothes you have, and saving a few bucks while you do it!

Fading Away
Nothing makes a piece of clothing look old like faded color. To prevent fading, wash colors on cold, avoid hanging colored pieces in the sun to dry, turn pieces inside-out during washing (especially jeans) and consider adding 1/2 a cup to 1 cup of white vinegar to your wash cycle to preserve the color. If the color has already faded, you can add new life to your clothes by dyeing similar colors. Black clothing is great place to start. You can find affordable fabric dye online or in most grocery stores in the laundry aisle.

Hard Fabric
Everyone knows the unpleasant feeling of a scratchy towel or crusty socks. For thicker fabrics, be especially sure that you're not overloading your washer with too much detergent. You can run the washer on a rinse cycle with towels, socks or sweaters and if it looks sudsy, you're using too much. Another good prevention technique is to avoid overloading the washer to begin with. Keep lighter weight clothing and heavier fabrics in separate loads, and don't put more than 5 pairs of jeans or towels in one load. Only loading the washer 3/4 full and not packing in or pushing down the clothes are good rules to remember. Make sure socks are completely unrolled when you throw them in the wash. To soften your clothes, add a big scoop of baking soda to the wash water. Using hot water for sweaty clothes like socks and workout gear and purchasing natural fabrics like cotton, bamboo or hemp help keep things softer too.

Threadbare or Stretched Out Fabric
Hot air is great for fluffing up towels and sweaters and making your clothing feel soft, but most clothing can take a beating if they're heated for too long. Try to line-dry or lay flat your more delicate clothing, anything with elastic or spandex blends and thinner fabrics like shirts. Elastic does not mesh well with heat, so be especially careful with socks, sportswear and underwear. Check the dryer periodically when drying and take out the clothes immediately when they no longer feel damp. Smaller loads, line drying before using the dryer for fluffing or splitting up large loads into smaller ones all insure less exposure to heat and a longer life for fabric and color.

Dingy Colors
In time, lighter and brighter colored clothing can get dingy, grayish or pinkish. For whites, soak in hydrogen peroxide or an oxygenated detergent overnight. Many colored fabrics can also withstand oxygenated detergent, however be sure to test an inconspicuous spot first or use an oxygenated detergent formulated for colors. Always separate your colors into like colors when washing. It can be a pain, but it's worth it.  Wash new clothing items the first few times separately or by hand to avoid the new dye mixing with your older clothes. Did a red shirt sneak in to your load of whites? The minute you notice your clothes have encountered color bleed, take out the offending odd-colored piece of clothing and re-wash the load with oxygenated detergent or bleach. If you let the clothes dry first, chances are the color will set and there's no turning back.

Follow these tips and your clothes will stay with you for years to come! Until next time, keep it clean!

Easy Pickled Okra!

   Pickling is a process of preserving foods by utilizing anaerobic fermentation. The product is placed in a brine which is usually a mixture of salt, water, and vinegar. Marinating in the brine, over time the food will become pickled resulting in a typically sour or salty taste.
  Pickling can preserve foods for up to a year, so learning to make and can these creations is a basic life skill that will no doubt benefit you in the long run. Not to mention, by making your own pickles and pickled products you can save tons of money per year! Pickling is also one of the safer canning techniques because the acidity of the brine plus the fermentation help to keep harmful microorganism at bay. This process is virtually fool-proof and perfect for beginners!
  I did a lot of research from various websites before beginning my pickled endeavor. I decided upon pickled okra because it was a childhood favorite of mine. People literally would give me jars of the stuff for my birthday and Christmases growing up! I used this website for the base of my project, however, in my typical fashion I added my own twist and variations. Here's how you can make your own! :)

You will need:

1. 1 pound okra, trimmed (or not, I am lazy and skipped this part)
2. 4 small dried red chiles (I used fresh jalapeno, sweet peppers, and red pepper flakes)
3. 2 bay leaves
4. 2 garlic cloves, halved (or more depending on your taste!)
5. 1 teaspoon dill seeds
6. 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
7. 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
8. 1 1/2 cups water
9. 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
10. 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt 
11. 2 pint sized Mason or other canning jars 
12. Large pot, kitchen towel, tongs, and a funnel

   This recipe calls for only one teaspoon of the spices between two jars. I ended up adding a whole teaspoon PER jar because I like things on the spicier, more potent side! You can do whatever you feel would best suit your flavor needs. You can also add things like onion, paprika, cayenne, curry, or ginger... Any spice you like! 

   To start the process, first add the spices, garlic, bay leaves, and peppers to the clean jars. Then, evenly distribute the okra between the jars. Now you will heat the water, vinegar, and salt together just until it reaches a boil. Then use a funnel or very carefully pour the hot mixture over the okra, up to about 1/4 inch below the top of the jar. Screw the lids on both jars tightly. 

   The next step is processing the canned pickles. This was my first experience doing the hot water bath, but it was not as intimidating as you might think. You don't even need any fancy canning equipment! I just used a regular VERY large pot, filled with boiling water. Put a clean dishtowel into the pot and use tongs to place the jars into the water, making sure both are on the towel and not on the bottom of the pot. This could take some special maneuvering on your part! Patience is the key! Once they are set, let them boil for 10 minutes. When you remove them, carefully, from the pot of hot water the lids should be sealed! How easy is that? 

   The pickled okra will be ready immediately after the hot water bath, though it may take a few hours for the jar to cool down enough for you to crack it open. The longer they sit in the brine, the better the flavor will become! These will also last a full year in the pantry, if you can keep them around that long!!! Have fun pickling and stay clean! :)