Gaby
New Cleaning Products. In recent years, the cleaning industry has introduced some highly effective products, such as the powder “Novost” and the liquid OP-7. These products are used for washing items made from silk, nylon, capron, perlon, viscose, and wool. They are also suitable for washing fabrics with delicate fibers and gentle colors.
When using “Novost” powder, there’s no need to scrub or wring the items vigorously; simply dampen them and then squeeze out the excess water. To remove greasy stains, mix “Novost” with warm water to create a paste, which you then rub into the stain before rinsing the area with water.
The OP-7 liquid is used for the same fabrics as “Novost,” but it is especially recommended for washing various colored items and linens.
To soften water during washing, sodium hexametaphosphate has become a popular choice. Just add one tablespoon of hexametaphosphate to a bucket of water (when soaking, washing, or boiling linens) to make soap lather better and enhance its cleaning effect. To ensure the hexametaphosphate dissolves well, add a tablespoon of washing soda to the water. (Hexametaphosphate is available at hardware stores.)
For whitening linens, a powder called “Persol” has been released.
Storing Dirty Laundry. Dirty laundry should be kept in a dry, well-ventilated area. If the storage space lacks airflow, the laundry can yellow and develop an unpleasant odor.
Before storing, damp laundry should be dried; otherwise, it may develop mold stains. It is recommended to store dirty laundry in baskets or boxes made from slats, leaving small gaps between them for ventilation.
Laundry should be sorted before washing. Bed linens, children’s clothes, tablecloths, towels, white cotton and linen items, and handkerchiefs should be boiled. Colored, woolen, silk, viscose, and capron items, as well as stockings, should not be boiled.
Soaking laundry is an important process. Colorful items should be soaked separately from whites in warm water for 8-10 hours. For every bucket of water, add a tablespoon of washing soda or its substitute. Before soaking, laundry should be soaped up, paying special attention to heavily soiled areas like collars and cuffs.
Use ten times more water for soaking than the weight of the laundry. It is recommended to stir the soaked laundry a few times, squeeze it out before washing, and rinse heavily soiled items again.
Preparing the Washing Solution. For white cotton and linen laundry, the washing solution is made from soap and soda or its substitute. For every bucket of solution, about 50g of soap and 3 tablespoons of washing soda or its substitute are needed. The detergent is added to hot water and stirred; the soap is grated and dissolved in hot water with the soda.
Boiling Laundry. The same washing solution used for washing is applied for boiling; the ratio of laundry weight to water is 1:10. After the solution boils, the laundry is boiled for about 30-50 minutes, then squeezed out and rinsed first in hot water, then in warm, and finally in cold.
Whitening Laundry. To achieve a bright white color, laundry is treated with blueing. The best blueing agent is ultramarine.
The ultramarine powder is tied in a cloth and submerged in water, after which the laundry is rinsed and squeezed. Delicate and fragile items should be squeezed carefully.
Removing Yellow Stains from Laundry. Many housewives believe that bleaching agents ruin laundry. This is a misconception. If the bleaching solution is prepared according to the guidelines and used correctly, it will not damage the laundry.
Traditional bleaching agents include calcium hypochlorite (bleach), while hydrogen peroxide is better for more delicate fabrics. However, the best bleaching agent is “Persol.” This product actively whitens yellowed laundry and removes stains from red wine, coffee, and cocoa. With special treatment, it can also eliminate stains from ink, grass, and berries, and it lightens dyed fabrics without damaging the fibers.
When using calcium hypochlorite for bleaching, prepare the following solution: dissolve three tablespoons of calcium hypochlorite in 2 liters of cold water, stir, and then add three tablespoons of washing soda, mixing again. Let it sit for a few hours. Once the liquid has settled, pour it off and strain it through a cloth or cotton.
To prepare a working solution from this concentrate, mix one cup of it with a bucket of water heated to 95°F (35°C). Submerge the washed, rinsed, and squeezed laundry in this solution for 20-30 minutes, then rinse, squeeze, and place it in a solution of hyposulfite (two tablespoons per bucket of water). Leave the laundry in this solution for about half an hour, then squeeze and rinse. Hyposulfite completely neutralizes the action of bleach. Laundry whitened this way does not get damaged. Hyposulfite is a readily available substance; it is widely used in photography as a fixer and can be found in photography supply stores.
Hydrogen peroxide is also effective for whitening. Dissolve three tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide in a bucket of hot water and soak yellowed laundry in this solution for half an hour, then rinse, squeeze, and dry in the sun.
When using the new bleaching agent “Persol,” dissolve the contents of the packet in a bucket of cold water. Submerge the laundry to be bleached in this solution and heat it until it boils. After boiling for half an hour, squeeze the laundry, rinse, blue it, and hang it up to dry.
Stain Removal from Laundry. Laundry often has stains from rust, mold, blood, or wine. Rust stains can be easily removed with oxalic or lemon acid. Dissolve a few crystals of either acid in a teaspoon of hot water and apply this solution to the stains, which will disappear quickly. Afterward, sprinkle a little baking soda on the cleaned area to neutralize the acid. After removing the stains, wash the item or rinse the affected areas with warm water. Lemon juice can be used instead of lemon acid.
To remove mold stains, dampen them with ammonia and hold the stained item over a vessel of boiling water. The ammonia vapors produced will help to bleach the mold. After the stains are removed, rinse the fabric with warm water.
Red wine stains can be treated by moistening them with a purple solution of potassium permanganate, and after a few minutes, applying a solution of hydrogen peroxide (one teaspoon per cup of warm water). The brown stain left by the permanganate can also be bleached with a solution of acid fixer salt, which is used as a photographic fixer (one teaspoon of fixer salt per cup of warm water). After the stain is removed, rinse the fabric with warm water.
Instead of hydrogen peroxide, you can use hydroperite, dissolving one tablet in a cup of warm water. The method of application is the same.
Fresh blood stains can be easily washed out with warm soapy water. For older stains, dampen them with ammonia. After bleaching the stain, rinse it with warm water. If the stain does not completely bleach out, treat it with a solution of hydrogen peroxide (one teaspoon per cup of warm water).
Herb stains can be removed with hydrogen peroxide mixed with ammonia in equal parts. Rinse the cleaned area with warm water.
Developer stains can be removed with a photographic reducer solution. Dissolve one cartridge of reducer in a cup of warm water. After removing the stains, rinse the fabric.
Hair dye stains can be removed with hydrogen peroxide mixed with an equal amount of ammonia.
Coffee, cocoa, and chocolate stains can be treated with a solution of hydrogen peroxide (one teaspoon per cup of warm water) with a small amount of ammonia added.
Ink stains can be removed with hot vinegar essence, after which the fabric is sprinkled with baking soda and rinsed with warm water. Faded ink stains can be treated with the same methods used for red wine. Ink stains on colored fabrics can be removed with hot glycerin.
Washing Embroidered Items. Before washing, check if the threads used for embroidery bleed. To do this, dampen a small area of the embroidery with water and rub it against a white fabric. If the white fabric gets stained, wash the item first in warm water with salt, and for subsequent washes, use a solution of “Novost” powder. For this, use one teaspoon of powder and one teaspoon of vinegar per liter of warm water. Wash the item, squeeze it out without wringing, then rinse and roll it in some fabric. Air dry the item in the shade.
Washing Bleeding Fabrics. Fabrics that bleed should be washed in a warm solution of the OP-7 detergent (one tablespoon per liter of water). Each item should be washed separately and squeezed without wringing. To prevent colors from bleeding into each other, roll the item in clean old fabric. Before washing a bleeding item, soak it in a solution of table salt (2 cups of salt per bucket of warm water).
Washing Stockings and Socks. Simple stockings are washed in warm soapy water. Thin stockings should not be scrubbed. Stockings made from viscose, capron, nylon, or perlon are washed in a solution of “Novost” or OP-7, using half a tablespoon of either substance dissolved in 1 liter of warm water, along with a tablespoon of vinegar.
Washing Lace. Before washing lace, inspect it and mend any weak spots. After that, roll the lace into a spiral on a wooden rolling pin and secure the ends with white thread. Wash the lace in warm soapy water using a soft brush, rinse with warm water, and dry on the same rolling pin. After washing, lightly blue the lace, starch it, and iron it with a warm iron.
Washing Tulle Curtains. Before washing, check for pins and needles in the curtains, carefully mend any torn areas, and soak the curtains in warm soapy water without soda. Instead of soap, you can add a tablespoon of OP-7 or “Novost” powder to a bucket of warm water. Wash in either a warm soapy solution or a solution of the same detergents. Do not scrub the tulle; gently squeeze it by hand several times during washing. After thorough rinsing, lightly squeeze the tulle, blue it, and starch it, then spread it out to dry, rolling it in clean white fabric. To achieve a cream color for the curtains, lightly tint them with a weak strained coffee brew or a weak solution of brown dye for cotton fabric. Boiling tulle is not recommended.
Washing Oily Work Clothes. To facilitate washing, dissolve half a bar of laundry soap in 1 liter of boiling water; for quicker dissolution, grate the soap. Slightly cool the solution and, while stirring, add a cup of kerosene. Before washing, shake out the work clothes well and apply a soap-kerosene paste to the front side. It’s best to rub the paste in with a brush. Leave the soiled clothing for a few hours, then wash it with soda and soap in hot water, adding a cup of kerosene per bucket of water. Rinse the washed work clothes in hot water, then in warm water, squeezing well each time.
Semi-Stiff Starching of Laundry. Starch-treated laundry looks more attractive than untreated laundry; moreover, it gets less dirty and is easier to wash.
To prepare a starch solution for semi-stiff starching, mix half a cup of starch in three cups of cold water. Gradually pour the resulting starch milk into half a bucket of boiling water while stirring. To give the laundry a shine, add a tablespoon of borax to this solution. Soak the laundry in this solution, squeeze it out, and iron it while still damp.
Stiff Starching of Laundry. Collars, cuffs, and the front of some men’s shirts are heavily starched to give them stiffness and shine. For this, dissolve a full tablespoon of borax in 1 liter of boiling water; after cooling, add half a cup of starch to this solution and mix until a paste forms. Treat the semi-dry laundry with this paste and iron it with a hot iron on a firm surface. To enhance the shine, dampen the laundry with a borax solution (one tablespoon per liter of water).
Drying Laundry. Laundry dries better outdoors than indoors. It becomes whiter and fresher this way. It is recommended to hang laundry along the warp threads rather than the weft. Laundry frozen in the cold can break. It should not be folded until it thaws or dries.
Ironing Laundry. Electric irons with adjustable heat settings are the most convenient for ironing; those with steam humidifiers are considered the best. Each type of fiber used in fabric requires a specific ironing temperature. Linen fabrics can be ironed at 482°F (250°C); cotton at 392°F (200°C); wool at 302°F (150°C); and synthetic silk fabrics at no more than 212°F (100°C). Irons with temperature regulators can be set to any temperature; if the temperature exceeds the set level, the iron automatically shuts off. The working surface of the iron should be smooth and free of corrosion marks. If the iron has not been used for a long time, it should be lightly wiped with paraffin before ironing, heated, and then used to press a cloth. It is best to iron on a special board. The ironing board or the surface where you will be ironing should be covered with thick, dense cloth, and on top of that, a dense fabric, preferably linen.
