Stain-Fighting Solutions for the Holidays

-By Allison Beck

At your next holiday party, don’t worry about spilled red wine on your new white dress shirt, or spots of gravy falling on your white pants as you eat. The ladies at The Laundress are here to help.

As anyone who does the laundry can attest, stubborn stains are no fun to tackle. With the holiday entertaining season upon us, the number of stains battled in the laundry room rises. Whether its yellowing linens, or the spots from that Bolognese or hot fudge sauce, these stubborn stains fear some people into refraining from indulging in holiday treats all together.

This year, though, will be different. We asked Lindsey Wieber Boyd and Gwen Whiting of The Laundress to share some of their stain-fighting secrets (and a holiday gift for you—read on to find out more!), no matter the substance, so you don’t have to let fears of inconquerable stains hold you back from indulging this year…

What do do when your guest spills red wine on the table?
The Laundress: Once your table is cleared, take the tablecloth to your laundry room.
- Apply our Stain Solution directly to the affected area.
- Work the Solution into the fibers with our Stain Brush.
- Pour hot water directly on the spot, preferably from a height where it can penetrate the fibers.
- If the stain isn’t completely gone, repeat until satisfied.
- Launder as normal.

The kids are playing outside at the family holiday party, and Jane is bumped. She runs in with a bloody nose streaming down her new white party dress. How do I get the blood out?
The Laundress: Our Stain Solution again can come to the rescue! It’s specially formulated to target and break down stubborn stains, and not just red wine or blood. It also tackles grass, chocolate, coffee/tea, grease, pit stains, and more.

When treating Jane’s dress, follow the same steps as above, except that with blood stains, always use cold water, as hot water will “cook” blood or any substance that contains protein.
Also, it’s important to remember that if you get something like chocolate on your delicates—say a silk blouse or cashmere sweater—use tepid water for soaking these fabrics, and to never let them sit for more than 30 minutes.

I forgot to launder last year’s holiday clothing, and now they smell smoky and slightly mildewed. How do I get the odors out?
The Laundress: For an all-purpose stain and odor-remover, our Scented Vinegar is perfect. It effectively removes stubborn odors from your fabrics, no matter the source.
Pre-soak the affected piece with ¼ cup of the Scented Vinegar in a washing bucket or sink, then launder the piece as normal.

Over the summer, I found my grandmother’s lace tablecloth in the attic, and want to set the table with it this year—but it’s slightly yellowed over the years. Can I get the yellowing out, without using bleach?
The Laundress: Our All-Purpose Bleach Alternative is a gentle, yet effective, whitener and stain-fighter that will help remove any graying or yellowing from vintage or heirloom clothing or linens.
Pre-treat any stains on the fabrics with our Stain Solution, as above, then prepare a bucket or sink of hot water. Add 1/8 cup of our Bleach Alternative, and then the affected item, and let it soak for at least 30 minutes. Launder as usual, taking care with delicate fabrics.

As a holiday gift to you, The Daily Meal readers who shop online at The Laundress receive a 15% discount when you use the code dailymeal at checkout. But act quick--it's only good until November, 23rd!

Then, once your linens and clothes are clean, how about ironing that dress shirt… the right way?

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To view original article - click here.

We're featured in the Conran Shop's Christmas Catalog!

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The Laundress on bellaMUMMA's blog

ONE OF MY FAVE SITES, HANKER has just introduced The Laundress - an eco-chic line of specialty detergent and fabric care to take the chore out of doing laundry, extend the life of clothes, and slash dry-cleaning bills. It's created by NYC girls, Lindsey Wieber Boyd and Gwen Whiting, who were sick of paying hundreds of dollars on dry-cleaning only to have their clothes fall apart. Having previously worked at Chanel and Ralph Lauren, and with a background in textiles, they have blended the most effective ingredients with their favourite scents to create a sophisticated, efficacious, green and easy to use collection.

In the range there's the Wool & Cashmere Shampoo, the divine Le Labo Rose Scented Signature Detergent, the Delicate Wash called Lady {love it} and the super handy Travel Pack.

CLICK HERE to find out more and to start shopping.

HANKER is offering bellaMUMMA's 10% off The Laundress range until Christmas Eve {thank you}, just enter the following coupon code: R0313033D3S1 at the shopping cart.

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Original post found here.

This Week's Ask the Experts

Question:

The Laundress,

I have purchased your Machine Cleaner in the past and use it monthly in my HE front-load washing machine. At the time of my purchase there were no other products out there to clean your machines, but now there are so many options I'm overwhelmed. The inquiry I have is what are all the differences of the products out there and how do you feel about where your product stands to how well it performs to the others on the market? I want what's best for my machine to keep it clean and performing like brand new! I greatly appreciate your time and response.

-Janelle

Answer:

Hi Janelle-

Yes, when we made our product there wasn’t really anything else in the market.

I did some investigating-

The Clorox machine cleaner has a few ingredients, but primarily the active ingredient is chlorine bleach.

The Tide product from the vague information it has, has the main ingredient as oxygenated bleach - which is what we use 100% in our All-purpose Bleach Alternative.

The reviews weren’t that great on the Tide site, but I don’t think using a “pouch” is at all helpful and effective.

We also recommend wiping down the machine and “catch areas” too - see more here:
http://www.thelaundress.com/LaundryTips/machineMaintenance.asp

Our product is a very strong, naturally-derived acid, which is really tough, but safe for the environment.

I hope this is helpful and I apologize for the untimely response.

Happy Laundering!

Best-Gwen

Follow-up Response:

Thank you so much Gwen! I'm sticking with what I know works the best and that's The Laundress! Thanks again for your investigation on the similar products on the market. I love The Laundress!! :)

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If you're interested in our Machine Cleaner - click here.

The Laundress for J.Crew

Did you know that we have brand new products over at J.Crew?

Fabric Spray, Sweater Combs and more - check out our new products here.

Also, one of our favorite mom and baby blogs is Stroller Traffic and Anne Chertoff wrote about our Crewcuts Stain Bar...

"The Laundress, a fancy-cool detergent company with a serious cult following, has just come out with a line of products for J.Crew—including the Crewcuts Stain Bar, a nontoxic, biodegradable, dye- and allergen-free way to keep kids’ clothes spotless. $7 at jcrew.com."

Thanks, Anne!