An early Easter Egg – LR’s Guide to Removing Chocolate Stains!

Easter is here, LaundryRevolutionaries! Chocolate bunnies abound, Easter eggs are all round, and the Lindt chocolate rabbit will be there with bells on.

Chocolate child

She looks cute now, but wait til she’s polished off that basket…

But picture the scene: You’re enjoying a chocolatey feast on Easter Sunday, but you look over at the little ones and – Disaster! In the time it took you to savour a dark chocolate praline, your precious cherubs have smeared chocolate all over their clothes!

So how do you get chocolate stains out of fabric? Never fear – here at LaundryRepublic, we’ve got the skinny (although it might not stay skinny for long…).

To remove chocolate stains:

First, scrape off as much as you can with a spoon or a blunt knife, being careful not to spread it The faster you can get at the stain, the better, as the stain will set quite rapidly.

Rinse the stain from the over side of the fabric with cold running water, to flush out as much chocolate as possible (don’t use hot water, as heat will set the stain).

Chocolate stains

Oh dear…

Resist the temptation to scrub at the stain! Again, this can set it more permanently in the fibres of the stained material. Instead, put a little laundry detergent in a bucket of water, and gently rub the detergent into the affected area. Let it sit for 5 minutes, rub it again, then let it sit for another 15 minutes. If the stain persists, rinse and repeat!

Make sure you’ve fully removed the stain before you put the item in for a warm wash in the machine, and especially before tumble drying or ironing it. If any traces of the stain remain, ironing will set them permanently.

And remember, if your clothes are delicate or dry clean only, send them to us, and our experienced professionals will take care of it for you.

So there it is. All that’s left is to wish all our LaundryRevolutionaries a very Happy Easter!

That chocolate is MINE!

That chocolate is MINE!

Photo credits: USACE, ShellyS, Jonathan Oakley

Guide to Washing Symbols (so you can do your mum’s laundry for a change!)

Gallery

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Mothering Sunday is this weekend, LaundryRevolutionaries! Originally an important event in the Christian calendar, now it’s become a day for honouring our mothers and showing them how much we love them. And if you’re anything like us, your mother may … Continue reading

Holi Moly! Dealing with Paint Stains

White tshirts holi

Get ready to paint the town red, LaundryRevolutionaries!

And also blue, green, yellow and all the other colours of the rainbow, because this week, powdered paint will be flying all over London. Across the capital, events are taking place to celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi, building up to the day of Holi itself on Monday 17th.

holi painting

Originating in Northern India, Holi is traditionally a festival that celebrates the end of Winter and the arrival of Spring.

It’s a festival of love, colour and togetherness, and it’s celebrated by the Play of Colour – a mad free-for-all of paint throwing, water spraying and general festivities!

dad and son holi cropped

Celebrated by rich and poor, young and old, men and women alike, Holi brings everyone together in a celebration of Spring’s return.

Everybody has a riotously good time covering each other head-to-foot in brightly coloured paint – but what do you do when the festivities end and your clothes are completely covered in paint stains?

Luckily, you needn’t worry – here’s LaundryRepublic’s handy guide to removing paint stains from clothing.

Paint stains can be water-based or oil-based. The good news is, Holi usually involves throwing Gulal powder paint and water, which is a little easier to deal with than oil-based paint.

girl tshirt holiThe most important thing is to rinse the stain as quickly as possible. Brush off any dry powder paint before you begin, then flush the stain from the other side of the fabric with a forceful stream of warm water. Next, dissolve a little laundry detergent in some water, and work it into the stain, soaping and rinsing until the stain has gone.

You might need to repeat this a few times – if any patches are particularly resistant, put a little nail-polish on an absorbent cloth and dab on the offending area.

Don’t forget, if the stain has dried into the fabric, or if any of your clothes are delicate or dry-clean only, just send them to LaundryRepublic for a speedy, professional service!

Image credits:

rudresh_callsgreeno777Alam Singh

How to Clean Embellished Clothing

oscars

The 2014 Academy Awards are just four days away! But if this Awards Season has taken its toll on your sequin-adorned, rhinestone-studded, bejewelled and bedazzling party dresses, you’ll need a quick fix if you’re going to have them ready in time your Oscars party.

With a lot of embellished clothing, professional dry cleaning is the first port of call – just send it to LaundryRepublic, and our experienced team will take care of it for you!

But you could always try handwashing at home. Washing embellished clothing at home can seem daunting, particularly if your custom or designer clothing doesn’t come with detailed care labels.

Luckily, we at LaundryRepublic can walk you through how to wash your embellished dresses without losing all the beautiful detailing.

Firstly: make sure you know what you’re dealing with! Identify the material – some fabrics need to be dealt with a little differently. For example, if you’re dealing with a knit rather than woven fabric, make sure you don’t wring, stretch or hang-dry it – you’ll risk losing the shape. If you’re not sure about the material, check the label!

sequins

You’ll also want to check how the embellishments have been attached. Methods can include glue, sewing, rivets or pronged ring settings – often you can tell just by turning the garment inside out to see the stitching, settings or small glue dots that may not be visible on the outside of the garment. If the garment is lined, you can feel the reverse side through the lining with your fingers to determine what application method was used.

If glue has been used, be very careful not to use hot water for washing, as many adhesives can melt. With sewn embellishments, take particular care not to twist or wring the garment, as the tiny threads used to sew beads on could break, which could ruin the design!

The safest way to wash embellished dresses at home, even if they say they’re safe to machine wash, is by hand.

Wash the dress inside out in your kitchen sink, using warm water (remember, not too warm for knits!) and a small amount of mild liquid detergent. Another reason to avoid using hot water is that it can shrink your fabric or soften adhesives, and can ruin the finish on beads.

Rooting for a Brit flick win for 2014!

Rooting for a Brit flick win for 2014!

Don’t soak for more than a few minutes – again, you don’t want to damage the finish on your beads. Gently knead and swirl the garment in the soapy sink water to remove light soiling. For larger garments, you may want to use a bathtub to make rinsing easier!


When your dress is clean, drain the water and press down on the garment with your hands to press most of the water out. There will still be a lot of water in it, but you can cut down the drying time by popping the washed garment into an empty washing machine and use the gentle spin cycle to remove excess water. Don’t do this with velvet, though – it can cause permanent creases in the pile.

Woven fabrics that won’t stretch can then by dried by hanging, somewhere dry or outdoors, away from direct sunlight. For knits and other stretchy materials, lay them out on a flat clean surface, out of direct sun.

If your dress feels a bit stiff after air drying, just put it in a pillowcase and fluff it quickly in the dryer – but make sure you use a low heat, and no more than 5 minutes!

Be very careful when ironing your embellished clothing, and make sure the iron never comes into direct contact with any of your sequins or beads. Professionals use a press cloth to iron embellished clothing, but at home you can just cut a square out of an old t-shirt, and put this between the iron and the clothing. Make sure to select an appropriate heat setting – not too hot for fine silk and polyester. Don’t let the fabric get too hot, or embellishments could soften or crack, and adhesives could melt. If your embellishments are attached with glue, give the garment a couple of minutes to cool after ironing before you move it.

"Thanks to LR's top tips, our pearls have never been pearlier!"

“Thanks to LR’s top tips, our pearls have never been pearlier!”

Now you’re ready to party!

Flickr Photo credits:

nikoretroLiz WestKent CaptureEbbAndFlow

Shoe Care Tips

Hello Laundry Revolu-shoe-naries!

Polished shoes

That’s right, today we’re talking all about how to take care of your shoes. With a few crucial bits of equipment and our simple care tips, you can double the lifetime of a good pair of shoes. We might even be able to save your soles…

Firstly, invest in a good shoe tree. Don’t be tempted by the shiny varnished versions. They might look great, but only an unvarnished wood (ideally cedar) will draw out all the moisture from your shoes, helping them contract and dry out to their ideal shape.

No, not that kind of... Oh, never mind

No, not that kind of… Oh, never mind

Try to keep your shoes on the shoe tree for the first couple of hours after you take them off your feet – that’s really all the time your shoes need to return to their natural shape. The best shoe trees have a split toe and a fully shaped heel to ensure a really close fit between shoe and tree – highly recommended.

Using an unvarnished cedar shoe tree can also help prevent smelly shoes, as it absorbs the moisture from the shoe. But if you’re still having odour issues, try replacing the insoles.

If your shoes get really wet, stuff them with newspaper, and avoid the temptation to put them near a direct heat source. Heating too quickly can cause the leather to crack, which can permanently damage your shoes.

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Stainless beetroot set to conquer UK

Say goodbye to stubborn beetroot stains!

Don't follow the crowd, our Yellow Cylindrical friend. Bee-troot to yourself!

Don’t follow the crowd, our Yellow Cylindrical friend. Bee-troot to yourself!

A new, yellow variety of beetroot has arrived in the UK, and may be set to take over, according to the Daily Mail. The Devon-based suppliers of the “Yellow Cylindrical” are claiming that it’s tastier, easier to chop, and most importantly, unlike its infamous red cousin, it doesn’t leave tough stains!

If you fancy growing your own stain-free crop, the seeds (which are imported from Poland) should be planted between March and June, and harvested until December.But if you face a purple disaster in the meantime, just follow our beetroot-beating stain-removal tips, in three easy steps!

How to fold fitted sheets

So simple, even a baby could do it! Well, he's trying.

So simple, even a baby could do it! Well, he’s trying.

Hello, Laundry Revolutionaries! If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to start keeping things a bit more tidy – well, we hope you’re doing well so far! But even the most committed neat freak can have their resolve tested by the humble fitted sheet. With its weird shapes and raggly edges, it cries out to be bundled up and chucked in the closet – but don’t give in! We at LaundryRepublic have the answer.

First, find one of the short edges, and with the sheet inside out, put one of your hands into each of its corners, like a glove.

Then bring your right hand to your left, and fold the corner in your right hand over the corner in your left. Any lefties should swap all the directions around, as from this point, your right hand will do most of the work while the left does the holding.

With your right hand, reach down and pick up the corner that is now hanging in front. Pull that up, and fold that over both corners – and if the corner that’s showing is inside out, you’re doing it right!

If wriggling occurs, check for stowaways.

If wriggling occurs, check for stowaways.

Next, pick up the final corner with your right hand, and fold it over the others. You’ve got all the corners! Don’t drop them, even if they wriggle.

You can then lay the folded sheet on a flat surface. Straighten it out so the edges are straight, folding in two edges so that all of the elastic is hidden. With a well-earned sense of triumph, fold the sheet into a rectangle, and keep going until it’s the size you want!

So, there’s no need to give up on a neat and tidy New Year just yet.

Of course, you could always just send your bedding to us for cleaning, and our team will make sure it comes back to you beautifully folded!

 

Photos from Flickr: by Tofslie and FairerDingo

How to get rid of those stubborn rings inside shirt collars

One of our Laundry Revolutionaries wanted to know how to get rid of those stubborn rings which form inside shirt collars. So, we thought we should share our tips!

For all of these tips, an old toothbrush will really help you out – if you’ve got one that’s been sitting around for a while that you might be happy to replace, they’re very handy for really getting your home-made stain removers deep into the fabric!

Ok, not that old

OK, not that old

There are a good few ways to get rid of these pesky stains, but it does depend whether your shirts are white (ooh, classy) or coloured (stylin’!).

For white shirts, make your own stain remover by mixing 1 part white vinegar with 1 part water. Let your shirt sit in the solution for a few hours or overnight, then pop in the washing machine as normal.

 

When life gives you lemons, make home-made stain remover!

When life gives you lemons, make home-made stain remover!

If you don’t have any white vinegar, try direcly applying lemon juice, which can rival heavy duty cleaners for cleaning power. Or, if you need a quicker fix, get a little of your dish washing detergent and mix it with water to make a paste. Apply that to the stained area and let it sit for half an hour or so before laundering in the machine.

(Gross tip – the rings around the collar are formed by the natural oils from your neck, so as well as dish washing detergent, you can use any cleaning agent labelled as a “degreaser”.)

CAREFUL THOUGH! The above methods can all bleach dyed clothing, and for your colours, you’ll need something a bit more gentle.

Don't forget to take the shampoo out of the shower first...

Don’t forget to take the shampoo out of the shower first…

Firstly, try a bit of shampoo – it is designed to remove body oils, after all! Doesn’t matter what kind you use, so this is your chance to get rid of the awful bubblegum shampoo you accidentally bought, or that caustic hotel stuff that slipped into your washbag. Use an old toothbrush to rub a little shampoo directly into the stain, let it sit for 15-30 minutes, then wash as normal.

Alternatively, if you have some lanolin-based handwash, apply some to the stains on your shirt (fine with whites or colours), let it sit for 15 minutes, then wash. This method might take a couple of goes!

Of course, if none of these work, or if you just don’t have the time, send your shirts in to LaundryRepublic and our experienced team will be happy to take care of those nasty stains for you!

Flickr images credit: Napoleon’s toothbrush, c 1795 by Science Museum London; Lemons by Penelope Waits; Tears in rain by FailedImitator

Wire hanger craft ideas

Recycling hangers and other plastic packaging has been one of the main features of our environmental policy since we started, and we’ve now collected, and re-used, thousands from our customers.

However, if you don’t want to re-use them for their original purpose there are some amazingly innovative ways to make them into fantastic craft designs. Here are some of the best ones I’ve found:

Paper towel hanger: what about turning your wire hanger into a practical paper towel hanger like the one our friends from Instructables created?

Paper towel hanger via Instructables

Christmas wreaths:  turn our wire hangers into Christmas wreaths for your front door – you can even reuse our pins and plastic packaging! (via Eddie Ross and Ruffled blog)

Christmas wreath eddie rossChristmas wreath1 ruffled

Magazine display: I love keeping good magazine articles, but they always end up in a pile on the coffee table. A Merry Mishap Blog showed us a beautiful way to store your magazines using hangers to display them on the wall!

Stylizimo_workspace magazine display

Accessories holder: another practical way to reuse our wire hanger is as a funky scarf holder like this one(via  Boxwood Clippings), or even to hold your necklaces!

hold scarves

Decoration: If you’re feeling really creative, use hangers to decorate your living room like this one (via Family Chic), or to make these fun animal creatures for your kids (via the Thrifty Crafter)

party-animals-1011 hangersart love hanger

Any more ideas? We’d love to hear them! Drop us a comment 🙂

Dry your laundry faster and more efficiently!

I’ve heard many times that adding a dry towel to a wet load in the dryer make your clothes dry faster. The idea is that the towel absorbs the moisture from the wet clothes reducing the drying time and energy usage.

Our friends at Household Hacker have tested this trick and found out that placing a dry towel in the dryer definitely reduces the moisture in the dryer and save several minutes from the drying time. However, this stops working after 15-20 minutes when the towel starts contributing to the moisture and even extending the drying time. You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5QXi_ZdE3c

If you want to save time and energy and don’t have a clothesline (we don’t have much sun either!), try the following tips to make your dryer work more efficiently.

– Don’t overload the dryer. Smaller loads have more room to tumble freely, drying items quicker and preventing wrinkles. But don’t put only 2 -3 items, that will save you time drying but not energy!

– If you have many clothes to dry, put several loads in the dryer consecutively; the dryer will be already warmed up and will save energy.

– Separate large items from lightweight fabrics for faster and more efficient drying. Help to save energy by letting them air dry for a few hours before placing them in the dryer.

– Clean the fluff filter after each load to make the dryer work more efficiently.

I hope these tips are helpful! If you have any questions or know another tricks, please leave us a comment. And of course, if you want to save the chore of doing your laundry at home, we would be more than happy to wash, dry and fold it for you!