Hodge Podge Day: Kitchen & Laundry Tips

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. ~George Santayana

I live in south Louisiana and have had a huge problem with drain flies {some people call them fruit flies}. I don't care what they're called, they are VERY annoying. I've had a problem for months and months now. First time I've ever seen such a creature. Anyway, I had them by the dozens and could NOT get rid of them. I tried all the remedies I could find after researching the Internet, talking to people, etc. Everything, that is, short of taking my drain apart and putting it back together again as one helpful Internet site recommended. I finally found something that seems to work. I read an advertisement selling a book on the wonders of hydrogen peroxide. An idea hit me! Peroxide kills germs and cleans wounds, etc., why not try it on the flies. If it cleans drains, could it possibly kill those pesky creatures living in my drain? Well, I tried it and it did!! The first time, I put about a third of a bottle in every drain in the house - only one time. After that first time, I just put a "dribble" drain twice a day. I put it down the drain in the AM before I leave for work and in the PM as part of my bedtime chores. Yea! No more drain flies. ~Fran

To remove oil dripping from concrete plain old laundry detergent can be sprinkled on the oil enough to cover the dripping - wait overnight and the oil is absorbed from the concrete by the powder. ~R. Schnell

I carry a gallon handled container in my car during the winter filled with Oil Ease, (grit for cleaning up the oil messes on the garage floor) Sometimes, I find that Kitty Litter is too slick. When I get shopping and step out of my car I sprinkle it by my car and when I come back out, it is all melted and I can get back into my car without slipping! Sometimes when it is icy, I sprinkle my way right into the store!! I also carry a child's shovel which comes in handy when they don't clear the parking spaces in our town, it is sometimes impossible to get over the snow pile. I am 70 and would not want to fall. Spring is coming! ~Ginny

Our appliance repairman told us to use only a couple of tablespoons of liquid detergent in our front loader and he was right. The clothes still get clean if I put extra soap on any stains and use the presoak cycle. He also told me that detergent that doesn't rinse out of clothes can cause an allergic type of itching and he was right again. The smaller amount of detergent helped and saved us lots of money, too. ~Lynn

On OFL you'll find tips on cleaning your frig coils:
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/refrigerator.html

~Brenda

What To Do About Smelly Towels

May we make wise choices in how and what we harvest,
may earth's weather turn kinder,
may there be enough food for all creatures,
may the diminishing light in our daytime skies
be met by an increasing compassion and tolerance
in our hearts. ~Kathleen Jenks

Today I have a question from a reader on towels that smell "wet", plus the comments I received from other readers.

I was wondering if any of your readers might have a suggestion on how to handle a laundry problem. When I wash my towels and face cloths, now using Tide, (has happened with other brands) after they are dried in the dryer, using no dryer sheets, they seem to have a "damp wet towel smell". I can't get ride of this smell! I've used vinegar in the wash, and also have put baking soda in. I've not used bleach because of the colored towels. I've even boiled the washcloths on the stove top to get out any soap...and believe it or not there is some still in. I have a front load washer and you use less than the normal amount of detergent. ~Carol

From what I've researched you probably have bacteria on the towels, which isn't going away, so they still smell. Try running your washer empty on hot with 1 cup of vinegar, then run again but with 1 cup bleach this time. You can do this on the smallest load setting, but use hot water. After doing this, try washing the towels with the addition of vinegar again and see if it improves. It's also important to not overload the washer and dryer, they really need enough room to circulate properly. I'm guilty of doing this, especially if I'm in a hurry!

If the vinegar and bleach method (don't mix them) doesn't do the trick, check with a plumbing store or hardware and they have products you can run through your washer to get rid of bacteria as well.

Readers' Tips
Carol, the lady with the smelly towels, should let her towels hang outside for a day in the sunshine. If she doesn't have a clothes line she can hang them over a rail of a porch or deck, or over the back of a chair. I had some bathroom rugs that had the worst smell
after I washed them. I tried everything I could think of, and then finally left them out on my deck (over the rail) for a day. They smell wonderful now! ~Linda C., in middle GA

We had the problem of smelly towels and we found the dryer vent line was "full" of lint. We cleaned it out and haven't had a problem since then. ~Gloria

We too have that same problem with our bath towels smelling musty and damp..What I have found is that kids (and adults) toss the towels into the clothes hamper (on the floor) while they are still damp. Thus the damp moldy smell which is just gross and we cant wash it out. The only way I have been able to fix this problem is to hang the towels out on the line and not dry in the dyer. Our other problem is our towels are just getting too old and used for so many years and should be for the rag bag. The rest of our regular laundry doesn't have this problem nor do the newer towels. ~Mary

I moved from Colorado. to Southern Mexico-2 hours from the Guatemalan border. I use an spin agitator washer and centrifuge to do laundry. I've found that when I use a little less soap. Even though I rinse by hand in a huge soapstone tub, I can get the soap out fine, that really helps. Then hang outside on the roof,or inside on the lines strung in the hallway. The open windows let the breeze dry things fairly quickly. If it's too cold for open windows, they air dry fine-usually overnight for my towels. There is no heat here. Even with high humidity, which keeps it cold when the fog insulates us from the sun, things dry. Note: I just did my laundry and realized the other important tip I would pass on is that we only use cold water to wash and rinse. It works for me and costs less than using heated water! ~Charlene, Missionary Gramma

Whenever my towels start to smell musty and every time I wash dish clothes, I pour white vinegar into the wash water with the soap. The vinegar kills the mildew and the vinegar smell rinses out with the rinse cycle. This way I can dry in the drier, especially in the cold winter when hanging on the line is useless. If the mildew is bad, I use hot water and add extra vinegar. ~Anna

I found and have been using a product called ODO-Ban. It's a multi-purpose cleaner, Air freshener and fabric freshener. I had some blankets and a car that had a mildew smell to them. This stuff works- I know that you don't normally tell readers about products and tell of natural ways to remove odors and such but believe me when I say this stuff works. I have bought it at WalMart and at Sam's Club. ~Karen

On OFL we also have tips that we collected on keeping towels soft AND absorbent: http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/towels.html

~Brenda

Sharing Some Common Sense

September fattens on vines. Roses flake from
the wall. The smoke of harmless fires drifts to
my eyes. This is plenty. This is more than
enough. ~Geoffrey Hill


A few years ago one of my readers sent me a reprint by Oxmoor House of Common Sense in the Household by Marion Harland. It was first published in 1871 and is a fascinating read. I wanted to share a few of her tips today.

Boil a double handful of hay or grass in a new iron pot, before attempting to cook with it; scrub out with soap and sand; then set on full of fair water, and let it boil half an hour. After this, you may use it without fear.

To wash White Lace Edging: Have a quart bottle covered with linen, stitched smoothly to fit the shape. Begin at the bottom and wind the lace about it, basting fast at both edges, even the minutest point to the linen. Wash on the bottle, soaping it well, rinse by plunging in a pail of fair water, and boil as you would a white handkerchief, bottle and all. Set in the hot sun to dry. When quite dry, clip the basting-threads, and use the lace without ironing. If neatly basted on, it will look nearly as well as new-if not quite.

Dry ink stains can be removed from white cloth by lemon-juice and salt.

If china is rough to the touch, it is dirty. Hot, clean suds, a dry, clean towel, and quick wiping leave it bright and shining.

Glasses: Roll your glasses around in the water, filling them as soon as they touch it, and you need never crack one. A lady did once explain the dinginess of her goblets to me by saying that she was "afraid to put them in hot water. It ROTS glass and makes it so tender! I prefer to have them a little cloudy." Certainly not that a year's soak in hot water could make glass tender!

This is a fascinating article on OFL on doing laundry in the 1920's: http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/laundry.html

~Brenda