Welcome to Spring Clean Your Life, your one-stop shop for gotta-try-those tips & bookmark-me inspiration to spruce up your kitchen and home this season—and well beyond.
It might be hard to muster up the excitement to do laundry week in and week out (unless, of course, you’re one of those envy-inducing, wash-loving master folders―we see you), but maybe what you need is a little shake-up in your routine.
We’ve all heard of stocking a proper pantry, including a spice cabinet, to set yourself up for cooking success in the kitchen. But what about applying that principle, somewhat, to your laundry routine? Danielle Postel-Vinay introduces us to the French art of making a home in Home Sweet Maison, where she includes a section about the methodical way French people (like her discerning mother-in-law) manage la laverie.
One particularly interesting note was the way in which the French pre-treat their stains. Instead of grabbing the nearest all-purpose stain treatment spray as I usually do, the French rely on a host of stain-specific détachants, or spot removers.
“I once opened a cabinet in her laundry area and saw a dozen small bottles standing together on a shelf, each with a different colored label, arranged together like spices in a rack,” writes Postel-Vinay of her mother-in-law’s setup. “Examining the bottles, I saw pictures of chocolate, blood, oil, rust, ketchup, and ink. These, I realized, were customized stain removers, or détachants. I was amazed.”
“When I asked my mother-in-law about her stock of products, she acted as if it were the most obvious thing in the world to treat different stains with different chemicals. And, of course, looking at it from a scientific point of view―which is precisely how the French view laundry―this makes perfect sense. Grass stains are not the same problem as ballpoint pen ink, and olive oil is utterly different on a silk blouse than coffee. How could one expect to remove all these different stains with the same chemical?”
The détachants (like the ones above shown) are inexpensive and commonplace; you can find them filling an entire wall or shelf at any French supermarket for about a Euro or two per bottle. If you won't be making it to a Carrefour or Monoprix anytime soon, you can create your own “spice rack” of spot removers here stateside; Postel-Vinay recommends brands like Carbona, which offers up stain-specific potions for everything from chocolate, grass, oils, gum, rust, and more.
How do you pre-treat your stains? Let us know below!
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Written by: Hana Asbrink
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On a separate note, I successfully removed old berry stains from my husband’s very expensive white dress shirt by soaking it in a mixture of vinegar and milk. Found the trick on the Internet. It worked amazingly well!
For berry stains I use a product called Ban-It Stain Remover that I find in a hardware store. It looks like bar soap. I follow directions but often will let the item soak in cold water until the stain appears to disappear, usually overnight. Again I air dry to ensure the item doesn’t need a second treatment. I have used this on wine stains as well.
Far from sweet flowers, you smell to me like an ancient and rancid dumpster filled with acrid, smouldering cigarette filters and stale Kool-Aid. The chemicals burn my throat, and my lungs, and gravel my voice, and give me a headache, and a fog, and sometimes chest pain and difficulty breathing. It takes very, very little to affect most of us. I carry an Epi-Pen and an inhaler because of these products.
I have to shower when I get home, and wash my clothes, and then steam them for a half-hour with water and alcohol, then wash them again... and maybe repeat. And even this routine is not reliable for synthetic fibers. Worse, my social life is trashed, because I can't afford to get these stinks on my furniture, as I can't figure a way to get any of it clean.
I meet people every day that I venture into town who report adverse sensitivities of these sorts. Believe me - if so many people are getting sick, then this stuff is not good for you either... or your kids or your pets, Or the rest of the planet. And it seems that the longer you are exposed, the more chance that you will also start reacting. And cross reacting. You really don't want this.
So please - do us all a favour, and just quit. All of us sensitives will thank you. Your life will thank you.
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