LivSimpl » Clothing

5 tricks to simplifying laundry

LivSimpl — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:18:58 +0000

Of all the mundane chores out there, laundry has to rank near the top. Just look at that woman’s face. She is NOT a happy camper. Here are five ways to expedite this soul-draining chore so you can spend your time doing more cheerful and pleasant things.

Pre-Sort Darks and Whites. This works best if you have a horizontal hamper (see pic below). When you put your clothes in, put the whites on one side and the darks on the other. It doesn’t take any additional effort (just a well-placed jumpshot) and not having to sort through the laundry before putting it in the washing machine will save a lot of time.

Avoid the Sticky Measuring Cup. If you use liquid laundry detergent, you know it can be very easy for the measuring cup/lid to become a sticky mess. Instead of putting it back on the bottle right away, put the cup in with the clothes. Pull the cup out when you transfer your clothes from washer to dryer and you’ll have a perfectly clean, non-gunky lid to put on your perfectly clean, non-gunky bottle.

Quickly Fold. Fold laundry right out of the dryer. If you’re quick, you can prevent most wrinkles from showing up with a swipe or two of the hand. No, you don’t have that nice, sharp look but I think it would look kinda weird to wear a creased t-shirt anyway.

Delegate Sock Responsibility. If you’re doing laundry for a family turning inside-out socks right-side out, matching and folding can be extremely time consuming. You can eliminate that first step by making a rule that “you’ll get your socks back the way you gave them .”

Stop turning socks right-side out for people. If you find socks that are inside-out while doing laundry, match them, fold them and put them away inside-out. If your family members don’t like it, they can put them in the hamper the right way to begin with. It’s much easier for each person in the family to take off their socks “properly” than have one person turn everyone’s socks right-side-out.

For Food Stains Use Food Soap. If you get a food stain on your clothes instead of just soaking it in water or using hand soap, try dabbing on a bit of liquid dish soap. It can help prevent oily/grease stains from setting in. Of course, be careful and use judgement based on the type of fabric you’re cleaning.

Do you have additional ideas on how to simplify the laundry process? Leave word in the comments!

LivSimpl

P.S. A couple of these points appeared in earlier posts, but I thought it would be appropriate to use them again.

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How to give purpose to your spring cleaning

LivSimpl — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:00:00 +0000

The seasons are changing! Or at least they are where I live (today should be a balmy 44 degrees). That means it’s about time to consider packing up the winter gear, be it clothing or lingering winter decorations.

Generally, I find the process of packing and unpacking seasonal gear to be somewhat annoying – just something else cluttering my to-do list. Until relatively recently, I was all about shoving it in a huge tupperware bin and sticking it in storage.

Now, I take a little extra time to go through all my winter stuff and ask myself these questions:

Did I wear or use this item this winter?

If so, did I wear or use it enough to justify keeping it another year?

If not, when was the last time I actually used it?

If I’m honest with myself, and get over the weird nostalgia I have for some of my lesser-used items, I can collect a nice pile of stuff that would be better served going to a second hand store or donation center rather than a storage closet. Check for organizations in your area who take winter clothing (or any kind of clothing) such as women’s shelters and homeless shelters. If you can’t find one, or don’t know how to find one, a local Boy Scout troop would most likely be more than happy to assist.

Going through this exercise biannually (I wrote about this idea about six months ago in less detail) has a number of benefits:

It helps keep your clutter under control. Less “stuff” is always preferred, especially when it’s not being used! It’s such a wonderful feeling knowing you’ve trimmed the unnecessary from your life/home/environment. I’m enough of a geek about this that I get a bit giddy when I can easily close a dresser drawer that was once overly-packed with clothes I rarely wore.

You’re doing it at a convenient time. You don’t have to make a special event out of decluttering. You’re pulling out your stuff anyway, so you might as well make the most of the opportunity.

Less to deal with. Well, you’ll have less to deal with next Fall. :)

Serve those less fortunate. By donating your used items to charity, you’re helping someone else stay warm (or, in the case of festive decor, enjoy the holidays a bit more). In some cases your donation may be tax deductible too. Check with the individual donation center to find out for sure.

While it may take a bit more time to make the transition from winter to spring, the benefits of sorting through your stuff and asking yourself those three questions are well worth it.

LivSimpl

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A simple way to avoid ring around the collar and other clothing stains

LivSimpl — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:35:00 +0000

Sure, stain sticks and sprays can be used to get stains out of clothes, but they can also be used to keep ring-around-the-collar-type stains from appearing in the first place.

Use a stain stick or spray on your collar as soon as your take your shirt off, each and every time. Don’t wait until it’s time to do laundry! It’s much more time-efficient to do it when you remove the shirt and you won’t be giving the stain time to set in between loads.

You can do the same thing to help prevent pit stains which are far more noticeable then ring around the collar and can quickly make a shirt look aged and worn. (I know this from spending a couple of very hot summers walking around New Mexico in a shirt and tie.)

To help yourself get in the habit, put the container of stain remover either where you change clothes or perhaps on top of the hamper so it serves as a reminder. A few quick swipes or sprays is all it takes to keep your clothes looking new.

Of course, the inevitable drip of spaghetti sauce or other food stain will eventually come along. Should you be caught without a stain stick-type solution, or if you don’t want a huge wet spot on your clothes for the rest of the day, try putting a dab of dish soap (not hand soap) on the spot to help prevent it from setting.

While not the most appetizing of topics (or visuals, for that matter), helping your clothes last longer can save you money as well as the time you’d have to carve out to go buy them.

LivSimpl

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11 non-lame, last-minute Christmas gifts generic enough for anyone, for under $30

LivSimpl — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:27:00 +0000

Christmas is fast approaching. Here are 11 simple, last-minute gifts that could work for just about anybody.

Moleskine journal/notebook
I’m a huge fan of these and would recommend one to anybody as they come in various formats from sketch pages to lined and grid to blank sheet music to daily planners. A bit more “romantic” than a standard notebook, these are supposedly the choice of Chatwin, Van Gogh, Hemingway and Picasso.

Purchase here, or your local bookstore.

Far Side desk calendar
One reason Mondays are bearable is because I get to come in and look at three day’s worth of Far Sides. The way Gary Larson fits so much brilliance into a a little 2.5″ x 3″ box is amazing.

Date-in-a-box
Movie passes, restaurant gift card, gift certificate for flowers, etc. You can also do a “Stay In” date-in-a-box but include Blockbuster/Hollywood video gift card, microwave popcorn, some candles, etc. If you’re presenting the gift to a couple with children, you may even want to throw in a gift certificate for a night of babysitting.

Slippers
Nobody likes cold feet. I got a pair of sheepskin slippers last year and absolutely love them. The first things I do when I get home from work are kiss my wife, kiss my son, take of my shoes and put on my slippers. Note: The sheepskin variety can run a little more than $30.

Gorillapod
Gorillapods allow the photographer in your life to mount their camera on just about anything without having to haul around a full-sized tripod. Starting at $22.

Audio book subscription
Perfect for long-commuters, Audbile.com is the answer to books on tape and offers over 40,000 titles for your iPod or MP3 player. You can even burn them to a CD if that’s your preference. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about it and if you sign up now and you can give 3 months for $7.95 with a free download each month.

The Office
Probably my favorite show on TV, you can get your friends in on the groundworks of “Dinkin flicka”, “That’s what she said” and what it takes to be “The assistant (to the) regional manager”. Season One is available for about $20, or you can splurge and get seasons two or three for about $33, respectively.

Nalgene Bottle
For those of us who cringe at throwing away water bottles, yet know we need to drink more water, a Nalgene Bottle is a great gift. I keep mine on my desk at work and try to down two bottles per day.

The Sushi Box
Sushi has become quite popular and this little box includes, “A maki-su, mat, miniature chopsticks, a soy sauce bowl, plastic grass, and a 32-page book chock-full of sushi tidbits.” You can pick it up at Barnes & Noble for about $6.

Subscription to a niche magazine
You can find publications dedicated to just about any hobby or profession nowadays. Pick up the current copy off the newsstand and wrap it with a note explaining the subscription, how many issues they can expect, etc.

A night in a museum
Expose your friends and family to a little culture. Buy tickets to a local museum or art gallery and spend an evening looking at the exhibits. Take your time as you make your way through and make a point to think about what you’re looking at. Maybe even take some notes to research a particular item in more depth when you get home. Of course, the price of entry will vary by venue.

That does it for the 11 simple, non-lame*, last-minute Christmas gifts for less than $30. I hope you found them helpful. Have any additional ideas for gifts? Leave word in the comments or e-mail me at LivSimpl at gmail.

Merry Christmas!

LivSimpl

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*Of course “non-lame” is subjective. But if you don’t like these gifts there’s something wrong with you. (I kid, I kid.)

How to: spend less time doing laundry

LivSimpl — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 06:37:00 +0000

Sort your laundry as you put clothes in the hamper. Nothing fancy, just toss darks on one side and whites on the other. It doesn’t take much effort and when laundry day rolls around things will go much faster if you don’t have to separate your clothes before putting them in the washer.

Of course, this only works for horizontal hampers. Any suggestions for hampers of the vertical variety?

LivSimpl

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Tie up the loose ends of summer with Fall Cleaning

LivSimpl — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:43:00 +0000

Fall is fast approaching. As you start to put away summer clothes, it’s the perfect time to do a quick check and see if there’s anything you can get rid of.

I usually don’t throw stuff out because there’s always this nagging voice in the back of my head that says, “But I might need this later.” More often I let that voice convince me because it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?

Wrong. I have t-shirts I haven’t worn in 10 years because I let that voice talk me into keeping them. (Pathetic, I know.)

That’s why Fall Cleaning is so effective: if you haven’t worn/used something all summer it’s much easier to tell that voice in your head to put a sock in it and then donate the item in question.

Give it a try. Donate your used items, free up some storage space and, hey, less laundry to do next summer.

LivSimpl

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LivSimpl Tip: Rewear

LivSimpl — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 02:41:00 +0000

Wear things more than once before washing them. Don’t be gross about it (change your underwear daily), be smart about it. Is there really a reason you need to wash a pair of jeans after sitting around in them for a day at work? They’re not even stretched out and comfortable yet from the last wash!

Wearing clothes more than once saves time and money from doing laundry as often. It’s also better for the environment because you’re using less detergent, water, and less energy.

LivSimpl

LivSimpl Tip: Save your closet

LivSimpl — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:28:00 +0000

Before you buy something new (and by “new” I mean “new to you” – shop at thrift stores!), get rid of something. It will keep your closet/dresser/bedroom from becoming even more out of control than it already is.

Be ruthless. Show no mercy. If the phrase, “But I might…” creeps into your head toss the item in the donate bin right away, because “You won’t.”

It’s also worth noting, that if you aren’t willing to get rid of something old, it stands to reason that it is working for you and that you don’t need anything new.

LivSimpl