Speed Cleaning Secret #9 Mastering the Laundry

Laundry! It’s one of the universal elements of housework we all seem to avoid like the plague. And with good reason. It just never seems to end. It seems that no sooner than you put your clothes into the washer than you have to transfer them to the dryer. Then you have to hurry to get them out of the dryer (or God forbid they’ll wrinkle!). And then once you take them out of the dryer, your family actually expects to find them in dresser drawers and closets again. Then there’s the ultimate insult: ironing the clothes. I always feel betrayed when I have to iron. You see, I took the phrase “permanent press” literally! Silly me! But there are several tricks you can try before you get desperate enough to reach for that iron and ironing board. If it’s lightweight clothing or linens and sheets you’re ironing, try throwing (or sticking as we say in my house) in the dryer with a damp towel before you perform the ultimate dreaded task of ironing! Sometimes this works to take any wrinkles out! Another way to remove wrinkles from clothes without ironing is to mist them with some water (not too much!) and hang them in the bathroom. This may help to work the wrinkles out. If bad comes to worse, you’ll have to iron! In the next – and final secret of speed cleaning – I’ll talk about one of the banes of cleaning: the daily mail.