New cleaning products. In recent years the cleaning industry has introduced highly effective options like the powder “Novost” and the liquid OP-7. Use these products for items made from silk, nylon, capron, perlon, viscose, and wool. They also work well on fabrics with delicate fibers and gentle colors.
When using “Novost” powder, don’t scrub or wring items vigorously; dampen them and squeeze out the excess water. To remove greasy stains, mix “Novost” with warm water to make a paste, rub the paste into the stain, then rinse the area with water.
Use the OP-7 liquid on the same fabrics as “Novost,” and especially for washing colored items and linens.
To soften water during washing, sodium hexametaphosphate is a popular choice. Add one tablespoon of hexametaphosphate to a bucket of water when soaking, washing, or boiling linens to help soap lather better and boost cleaning power. To help the hexametaphosphate dissolve, add a tablespoon of washing soda to the water. (Hexametaphosphate is available at hardware stores.)
For whitening linens, try a powder called “Persol.”
Storing Dirty Laundry. Keep dirty laundry in a dry, well-ventilated area. If the storage lacks airflow, the laundry can yellow and develop an unpleasant odor.
Dry damp laundry before storing it; otherwise it may develop mold stains. Store dirty laundry in baskets or slatted boxes with small gaps for ventilation.
Sort laundry before washing. Boil bed linens, children’s clothes, tablecloths, towels, white cotton and linen items, and handkerchiefs. Do not boil colored, woolen, silk, viscose, capron items, or stockings.
Soaking laundry is an important step. Soak colorful items 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, lather laundry with soap and pay special attention to heavily soiled areas like collars and cuffs.
Use ten times more water for soaking than the weight of the laundry. 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, make the washing solution from soap and soda or its substitute. For each bucket of solution, use about 50 g of soap and 3 tablespoons of washing soda or its substitute. Add the detergent to hot water and stir; grate the soap and dissolve it in hot water with the soda.
Boiling laundry. Use the same washing solution for boiling; keep the ratio of laundry weight to water at 1:10. After the solution boils, boil the laundry for about 30–50 minutes, then squeeze it out and rinse first in hot water, then in warm water, and finally in cold water.
Whitening Laundry. To get a bright white, treat laundry with blueing. Ultramarine is the best blueing agent.
Tie the ultramarine powder in a cloth and submerge it in water, then rinse and squeeze the laundry. Squeeze delicate and fragile items carefully.
Removing yellow stains from laundry. Many people think bleaching agents ruin laundry. That’s a misconception. If you prepare and use the bleaching solution correctly, it will not damage the fabric.
Traditional bleaching agents include calcium hypochlorite (bleach); hydrogen peroxide is gentler and better for delicate fabrics. The best bleaching agent listed here is “Persol.” Persol whitens yellowed laundry and removes stains from red wine, coffee, and cocoa. With special treatment it can also remove ink, grass, and berry stains, and it lightens dyed fabrics without damaging the fibers.
To use calcium hypochlorite for bleaching, dissolve three tablespoons of calcium hypochlorite in 2 liters of cold water, stir, and then add three tablespoons of washing soda, mixing again. Let the mixture sit for a few hours. Once the liquid has settled, pour it off and strain it through cloth or cotton.
To prepare a working solution from this concentrate, mix one cup of the concentrate with a bucket of water heated to 95°F (35°C). Submerge washed, rinsed, and squeezed laundry in this solution for 20–30 minutes, then rinse, squeeze, and place the items in a hyposulfite solution (two tablespoons per bucket of water). Leave the laundry in this solution for about half an hour, then squeeze and rinse. Hyposulfite neutralizes the action of bleach. Laundry whitened this way will not be damaged. Hyposulfite is widely used in photography as a fixer and is available at 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 packet in a bucket of cold water. Submerge the laundry to be bleached and heat the water until it boils. After boiling for half an hour, squeeze the laundry, rinse, blue it, and hang it to dry.
Stain removal from laundry. Laundry often gets stains from rust, mold, blood, or wine. Remove rust stains with oxalic acid or citric (lemon) acid. Dissolve a few crystals of either acid in a teaspoon of hot water and apply the solution to the stains; they will disappear quickly. 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. You can use lemon juice instead of citric acid.
To remove mold stains, dampen them with ammonia and hold the stained item over a vessel of boiling water. The ammonia vapors will help bleach the mold. After the stains are removed, rinse the fabric with warm water.
Treat red wine stains by moistening them with a purple solution of potassium permanganate, wait a few minutes, then apply a hydrogen peroxide solution (one teaspoon per cup of warm water). The brown residue from the permanganate can be bleached with a fixer salt solution used in photography (one teaspoon per cup of warm water). After the stain is removed, rinse the fabric with warm water.
Instead of hydrogen peroxide, dissolve one tablet of hydroperite in a cup of warm water and use the same method.
Fresh blood stains wash out easily with warm soapy water. For older stains, dampen them with ammonia. After bleaching the stain, rinse it with warm water. If the stain doesn’t fully disappear, treat it with a hydrogen peroxide solution (one teaspoon per cup of warm water).
Remove herb stains with equal parts hydrogen peroxide and ammonia, then rinse the cleaned area with warm water.
Remove developer stains with a photographic reducer solution: dissolve one cartridge of reducer in a cup of warm water, apply it to the stain, then rinse the fabric.
Remove hair dye stains with hydrogen peroxide mixed with an equal amount of ammonia.
Treat coffee, cocoa, and chocolate stains with a hydrogen peroxide solution (one teaspoon per cup of warm water) with a small amount of ammonia added.
Remove ink stains with hot vinegar essence, then sprinkle the fabric with baking soda and rinse with warm water. Faded ink stains can be treated like red wine stains. Remove ink from colored fabrics with hot glycerin.
Washing embroidered items. Before washing, check whether the embroidery threads bleed. Dampen a small area of the embroidery with water and rub it against a white cloth. If the white cloth stains, wash the item first in warm water with salt, and use a solution of “Novost” powder for subsequent washes. For that solution, 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 clean fabric. Dry the item in the shade.
Washing bleeding fabrics. Wash bleeding fabrics in a warm solution of OP-7 detergent (one tablespoon per liter of water). Wash each item separately and squeeze without wringing. To prevent colors from transferring, roll the item in clean old fabric. Before washing a bleeding item, soak it in a table salt solution (2 cups of salt per bucket of warm water).
Washing stockings and socks. Wash simple stockings in warm soapy water. Do not scrub thin stockings. Wash stockings made from viscose, capron, nylon, or perlon in a solution of “Novost” or OP-7: dissolve half a tablespoon of either detergent in 1 liter of warm water and add a tablespoon of vinegar.
Washing lace. Inspect lace and mend weak spots before washing. 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 with a soft brush, rinse with warm water, and dry it on the same rolling pin. After washing, lightly blue the lace, starch it, and iron it with a warm iron.
Washing tulle curtains. Check for pins and needles before washing, carefully mend torn areas, and soak the curtains in warm soapy water without soda. Instead of soap, add a tablespoon of OP-7 or a little “Novost” powder to a bucket of warm water. Wash in the warm soapy solution or a solution of those 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 by rolling it in clean white fabric. To achieve a cream color, tint the curtains lightly with a weak strained coffee brew or a weak brown dye solution for cotton. Do not boil tulle.
Washing oily work clothes. Dissolve half a bar of laundry soap in 1 liter of boiling water; grate the soap to dissolve it faster. Cool the solution slightly and, while stirring, add a cup of kerosene. Shake out the work clothes, apply a soap-kerosene paste to the front side, and rub it 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 first in hot water, then in warm water, squeezing well each time.
Semi-stiff starching of laundry. Starch-treated laundry looks sharper than untreated laundry; it also stays cleaner longer 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 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 the solution, squeeze it out, and iron it while still damp.
Stiff starching of laundry. Collar, cuffs, and some men’s shirt fronts are heavily starched to give stiffness and shine. Dissolve a full tablespoon of borax in 1 liter of boiling water; after cooling, add half a cup of starch and mix until a paste forms. Treat 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 outside. Hang laundry along the warp threads rather than the weft. Do not fold laundry that is frozen; wait until it thaws or dries, because frozen laundry can break.
Ironing laundry. Electric irons with adjustable heat settings are the most convenient; irons with steam humidifiers are considered the best. Each fiber requires a specific ironing temperature: iron linen 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). Use irons with temperature regulators when possible; if the temperature exceeds the set level, the iron will automatically shut off. Keep the iron’s working surface smooth and free of corrosion marks. If the iron hasn’t been used for a long time, wipe it lightly with paraffin, heat it, and press a cloth before ironing. Iron on a proper board covered with a thick, dense cloth and, on top of that, a dense fabric, preferably linen.
