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The best laundry hacks

Most of us don’t enjoy doing the laundry. Yet that pile just keeps on getting bigger and bigger.

But a few simple tips and tricks can make your life so much easier.

Keep socks paired in a mesh laundry bag.

Those mesh bags that we use for bras and delicates are also great at keeping small items from getting lost too. Most houses definitely have a sock monster. A top tip to get in the habit of is using a mesh bag for your socks, leave it next to or hanging in your laundry hamper and then as you take your socks off toss them in. When it is full add the mesh bag straight to the wash.

Zip your zips up

Not only can the zipper itself break or damage the drum in your machine, but the sharp metal teeth of the zipper can snag on fabric or lace and ruin your delicate items. To avoid this, be sure to zip up any clothing items with a zip before adding to your washing machine.

Keep white chalk in the laundry cupboard to treat grease stains.

Why I hear you asking, chalk is ultra – absorbent, you can rub a bit on any oily or grease stain as they happen and the chalk will absorb the grease and keep the stain from setting until you wash your garment.

For more stain tips check out my stain busting guide.

Decrease your clothes with ice cubes.

If you have a tumble dryer you can quickly “iron” your clothes with the ice cube tip. Just pop in the wrinkled items no more than 3 otherwise it won’t work into the dryer with an ice cube or two, on the warmest possible setting for 10 minutes, and let the ice cube create steam in the dryer to leave your clothes looking smooth. This is perfect tip for when you need something quick for a night out, let the steam do the work whilst you are getting ready.

Put your clothes in the freezer.

It won’t kill bacteria, but an overnight stay in the freezer will help to refresh your clothes and combat odours enough to, say, wear that pair of jeans one more time before washing them. Alternatively if it is freezing cold day pop them outside for a few hours, the frozen air will do the same and if the sun is out the sun will act as a natural disinfectant.

Ditch dryer sheets for woollen dryer balls.

Dryer sheets are great for fragrance but not a lot else so instead, go for a pack of woollen dryer balls they will keep the air moving, smooth out wrinkles and speeding up your drying time. Add 3 to a small load and 6 to a larger load.

Hand-wash your clothes in a salad spinner.

Those hand-wash-only items can be a pain to clean. But small items can be thrown into a salad spinner if you have one, add a bit of laundry detergent or Castile soap with water to give them a wash, this will be more powerful than hand-massaging but gentler than the washing machine. You can also use the spinner to dry them afterwards!

Use this tip for swimwear too.

Pre-soak your Sweaty sports clothes in vinegar.

For that foul-smelling load of gym clothes, soak your clothes in a half a cup of white vinegar mixed with cold water for at least an hour before washing. This will help remove unpleasant smells and break down sweat stains.

Prevent Colour Runs

If you’re not one to separate clothes by colours or have loads that are too small then try using a colour catcher. These magical little sheets lock dye in and you can actually see the colour has been absorbed when the wash is done. You can get reusable ones that last up-to 30 washes. But I still recommend trying to keep your whites together.

Shake your clothes to make them dry faster

To help clothes dry quicker, try shaking out some of the excess water before hanging or adding to the dryer. It will open up the fabric and make them dry faster with fewer wrinkles.

Or you can also speed up drying time by throwing a dry towel into a load of wet clothes for the first 15 minutes of the drying cycle. The towel will absorb a lot of the water.

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Christmas hacks

Amazing hacks to help your Christmas run smoothly

Ironing board hack

Set up your ironing board so it is the right height for you to be comfortable then no stretching or back ache, grab your presents and wrap away.

Putting up a fake tree

Pop on a pair of rubber gloves when fluffing up your fake Christmas tree to save all the scratches on your arms.

Christmas Lights Hacks

If like most of us your Christmas lights come out all tangled and the elves get blamed for the mess, then you need this hack!

Grab yourself a coat hanger and simply hook one end of the lights to the hook on the hanger and wrap around or use the tube from your wrapping paper and wrap around. The following Christmas your lights will be tangle free.

Wrapping storage bag

If you hate your wrapping paper being everywhere and never being able to find your scissors then you need to get yourself a wrapping storage bag.

Put all the wrapping paper tubes inside along with the tags, ribbon, bows etc and you will have everything to hand.

Toilet paper tube

Keep of hold of your toilet paper tubes, cut along and then use this to keep your roll of wrapping paper in tack.

Sharpen your scissors

Kitchen foil will never sharpen your scissors, but it can certainly improve their performance, because the foil will clean the blades and remove little burs from the cutting edge. So grab a piece of foil and get them scissors performing better.

Smells like Christmas

Imagine giving your Christmas cards then scent of Christmas.

Pop your cards in an airtight container or sealed bag and add in a few cotton balls with your festive smelling essential oils such as evergreen or peppermint. Leave over night and then your cards will smell like Christmas.

Send off and the card will hang onto the smell for 2 weeks.

Glitter hack

Clean up glitter from Christmas cards and decorations by placing an old pair of tights over your vacuum nozzle. 

Or

Try the balloon trick. Blow it up, rub it on the carpet (or your hair!) to create some static electricity.

Roll the balloon over the leftover glitter and you’ll be left with a sparkle covered sphere!

The Dreaded Pine Needles

As beautiful as real Christmas trees are, if you have carpets and have tried hoovering the needles up, you’ll know the only time they ever seem to come out of the carpet easily is when they are stuck in your feet! 

Plus who wants to get the vacuum out for a few stray needles 

Duct tape is the answer! 

Simply wrap around your hand a two or three times, sticky side out, and use to remove them quickly and easily.

Polish up your silverware for Christmas dining

Don’t spoil a delicious Christmas dinners with tarnished silverware. 

Make your cutlery shine with a bicarbonate of soda and salt.

Lay your silver wear in a bowl of warm water and sprinkle in a good helping of both

Leave soaking for 15 minutes.

Dry and buff using a lint free cloth. 

Christmas dirty dishes

Who has time for scrubbing dirty bunt pans over the Christmas period.

You can rescue them quickly and save yourself lots of scrubbing time by adding in a used tea bags. 

Wet the marked area with warm water and pop in your used tea bag.

Enjoy your dinner.

Then once finished easting simply pour away and the burnt bits will disappear before your eyes.

Wrap wine bottles with socks

Grab a pair of festive fluffy socks, pop the bottle of wine into one of the socks, fold the other other and tie around the neck to look like a scarf, this makes a great pressie and they get two lovely presents in one.

demo here

Label gifts with family photos

Use family photos instead of gifts tags, adds a nice little touch plus when you are out and about delivering makes it easy to recognise whose is who.

Christmas day box

Keep your essentials handy for Christmas day, add in batteries, screw driver, bin bags and anything else you may need to access quickly to keep the kids happy when opening the presents.

Dinner table

Collect wine corks to use as place settings. Simply slit along the long side of the cork and slide in a name card for a quick and easy place setting.