Laundry Essentials

One of my obsessions is making sure every stain is out of our clothing and that our clothes smell good. Here are a few tips that help me keep all of my laundry clean and smelling good.
*Note: I always use these in addition to my laundry detergent.

Rubbing Alcohol is a life saver in my house! My kids love to color with markers and pens and their clothes are constantly getting drawn on. Solution: Pour a little rubbing alcohol directly on the ink marks and toss in the washing machine and it comes out as good as new.

My family is frequently getting grease spots on their clothes (either from working, playing, cooking, or newborn spitup). Solution: Pour a small amount of dawn dish soap directly on the oil/grease mark and toss in the washing machine. (On occasion, if the grease is really embedded into the clothing, you made to reapply dawn and wash a second time - this is rarely the case).

I use bleach when washing all of my white towels, but I don't like to use bleach for my colored towels. Instead, I use vinegar. It cleans the towels great and they never have a nasty smell. Vinegar also works great to get the musty smell out of clothing if you have forgotten to change loads and they have been in the washing machine too long.