Old-time Laundry Boosters--opinions?
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:39 pm
I love using old-fashioned simple cleaning products whenever I can, largely because they are so much cheaper (not to mention less toxic) than the 'new improved' brand-name ones. I've always bought Arm&Hammer baking soda in the big boxes (bags nowadays) for a laundry additive. I'm glad to see that more supermarkets are carrying real 'Washing Soda' now. By the way, the only place I've been able to find 20-Mule-Team Borax, another favorite, is Wal-Mart. I ordered a case of Fels Naptha Soap online --not even Vermont Country Store had it (by the way, you use it for poison ivy of which I have plenty).
When I read the ingredients on one of those 'stain remover' sprays & found that the active ingredient was hydrogen peroxide, I kept using the spray bottle but made my own peroxide-water dilution.
Recently I bought an inexpensive 'spot & stain remover' solution (don't they all say they'll work when others won't!?) made, I read, with ammonia. So... reused the plastic bottle with ammonia + water.
Problem is, I can't see any difference in getting my laundry cleaner between soda, the Borax, or pretreating with diluted Hperoxide, and that 'greatest stain remover ever' ammonia mix didn't seem to do a darn thing. I stay away from chlorine 'cause I have burned spots in too many clothes with it. The main problem is my work shirts-- I get men's all-cotton long-sleeved dress shirts at the Salvation Army (I got one that is from NORDSTROM'S La di da, never had anything from there before ) : roomy, cool, keep the bugs away, but OH those stains! Anyone ever do an unscientific comparison between these old standbys? I'm interested in people's impressions & experiences.
(By the way, I actually used cloth diapers when my kids were babes, and a friend's recipe for a Godzilla-meets-Terminator presoak involved mixing powdered dishwasher detergent, baking soda, and powdered non-chlorine bleach. I'm leery of using that on my clothes, though... it's a bit caustic & the kids went through the diapers quicker than I get rid of my clothes )
Jocelyn the Farm Lady
When I read the ingredients on one of those 'stain remover' sprays & found that the active ingredient was hydrogen peroxide, I kept using the spray bottle but made my own peroxide-water dilution.
Recently I bought an inexpensive 'spot & stain remover' solution (don't they all say they'll work when others won't!?) made, I read, with ammonia. So... reused the plastic bottle with ammonia + water.
Problem is, I can't see any difference in getting my laundry cleaner between soda, the Borax, or pretreating with diluted Hperoxide, and that 'greatest stain remover ever' ammonia mix didn't seem to do a darn thing. I stay away from chlorine 'cause I have burned spots in too many clothes with it. The main problem is my work shirts-- I get men's all-cotton long-sleeved dress shirts at the Salvation Army (I got one that is from NORDSTROM'S La di da, never had anything from there before ) : roomy, cool, keep the bugs away, but OH those stains! Anyone ever do an unscientific comparison between these old standbys? I'm interested in people's impressions & experiences.
(By the way, I actually used cloth diapers when my kids were babes, and a friend's recipe for a Godzilla-meets-Terminator presoak involved mixing powdered dishwasher detergent, baking soda, and powdered non-chlorine bleach. I'm leery of using that on my clothes, though... it's a bit caustic & the kids went through the diapers quicker than I get rid of my clothes )
Jocelyn the Farm Lady