You all know how much I knit (just look at that sweater cupboard, and every one is hand knit!) but do you know I wear a hand knit almost every day? A l m o s t every day, except today; it was 95! As soon as the kids go back to school we get our hottest weather. But back to sweaters, because I wear them so often and manage to spill coffee, smear chocolate, and drip gravy with unfortunate regularity, I have to have a solid way to banish those stains!
I'll tell you my secret: Fels Naptha, that old fashioned inexpensive bar soap that was in granny's wash room. I started using the old yellow bar 35 years ago when a friend recommended it. "That old stuff?" I scoffed, but she handed me a bar and insisted I try it. She was right, you cannot beat it for removing stains, plus it lasts forever and costs less than $2. And just for fun, the packaging looks like it hasn't changed in a hundred years.
Using it couldn't be easier:
1. Wet the stain with water.
2. Wet the edge of the soap bar.
3. Put the two together and rub the soap onto the front of the stain and the back side too. Rub, rub, rub. Rub gently if you have a wool that will felt. I let it sit for a few minutes then launder as usual. If it needs hand washing I use Eucalan Wool Wash and follow the directions on the label; if I can machine wash the sweater I put it in it's own mesh bag and wash in cool water on the gentle cycle.
With this method I have been able to remove all but the most egregious stains. Even blood and grease cannot stand up to good old Fels Naptha and it works on all washable fabrics. When my husband wore white dress shirts daily, this was the only product that could remove ring-around-the-collar. When I want to get stains out of my husband's white sport socks, I put a sock on each hand, get them wet, then rub the bar between the socks and rub for a minute or so. White socks again! When the bar gets too small you can grate the remains into warm water and let it dissolve overnight, then add to your next wash. I'll bet you can find Fels Naptha in your laundry aisle, but if not, Amazon sells it too.
One more tip: Every so often I'll soak my white knits in a strong solution of OxyClean. I let them soak for a few hours then launder as usual. It really brightens them up without using bleach.
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I hope you liked my laundry tips. Do you have any tips to share?
(The sweaters pictured on the table are bottom, Martha, top right, Hourglass, and top left, Brooke.)
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