Let’s not pretend it doesn’t apply to us. The clothes that we take out of the washing machine unintentionally stained are not something that we cannot wait for even with all caution. And at such a moment, any advice is useful.
You put light-colored clothes in the washing machine, you carefully check each piece, but despite the care with which you devote yourself to this activity, a red sock ends up in the washing machine. No one knows how she got there, but in the end it doesn’t matter at all. The point is that everything that used to be white, cream, or maybe light gray now has a pink tint to it. So we definitely don’t want that. Fortunately, despite all the seeming desperation of the situation, there is a relatively easy solution.
Where else do you use bay leaves? Get inspired by the youtube video in Herblinkopedia:
Source: Youtube
The remedy is not complicated
Instead of accepting the new look of your clothes, simply put enough water (about four liters) in a larger pot and pour in a classic smaller bag of bay leaves. You can then easily prepare a decoction of this spice by bringing the water with the spices to a boil and turning off the stove after bubbling for twenty minutes. The auxiliary liquid is ready, now it just needs to cool down for a while.
Soak the laundry thoroughly
At the moment when the water cools down to the extent that it is not dangerous to soak the “affected” piece of laundry in it, you can put the clothes directly into the pot. It should not be too much, so that there is enough space for the liquid to penetrate well. During the subsequent one-hour bath, you can move each piece several times so that the decoction reaches the place where an unwanted air bubble may have formed earlier.
Wash – and it will be done
After the set time (i.e. at least an hour), remove the clothes, wring them out slightly and put them in the washing machine to wash on a normal cycle. As soon as the drum of the washing machine stops, you can go to inspect the situation. The clothing should return to its original color. But if it was a big change, it may happen that the whole bleaching process has to be repeated. Even in such a case, don’t despair, the second time it will surely come out perfectly.
Prevention is key
Of course, prevention is always better than solving a problem. As part of it, you can add napkins commonly available in drugstores to the washing machine, which will deal with any loose color and prevent changes to other items of clothing. It is also important to try on newly purchased clothes before the first wash, so that at the end of the washing cycle, we do not needlessly wonder what kind of damage a single item has caused. To fix the color of new clothes for sure, you can soak them in a stronger solution of salt or vinegar and then wash them separately. The colors will last and the clothes will be safe for the rest of the wardrobe.
Sources: adbz.cz, www.dumazahrada.cz, www.aazdravi.cz
