A lot of household items get so dirty you may be tempted to toss them out, but try tossing them in your clothes washer instead. You may be surprised what you can wash.
Your daughter or granddaughter’s stuffed animal buddies may look like sweet little softies, but most of them are tougher than they look.From Beanie Babies to Barbie clothes, the washing machine’s gentleor delicatecycle can handle many dolls. However, don’t put Barbie herself in the washer, and to keep her tiny clothes from getting snagged, slip them into a small mesh bag that zips shut.
Any absolutely precious dolls — such as Grandma’s beloved Raggedy Ann — should be washed delicately by hand.
Whether you call them tennis shoes or sneakers, we all know athletic footwear can get filthy.To wash in a machine, firsttake out the laces and zip them into a mesh lingerie bag.Toss the bag in the washer, along with your shoes and some old towels. The towels will balance the load and minimizethe annoying banging noise.
Oven mitts protect cooks’ hands from the oven’s heat, but cloth ones also soak up stains from cake batter, bubbling lasagna or anything else they accidentally touch.No fear, if you give the mitts a good wash the stains will come out. If the stains are especially bad, work on them with a small soapy brush before putting into your washer.
Since most silicone oven mitts are waterproof and stain proof, you can just wipe them off,orif you prefer, toss them in the washing machine or even the dishwasher.
Kids’ toys can get filthy and germy, too.Small toys, especially dirty plastic blocks, can be tossed into a mesh laundry bag and washed.Again, throw in some old towels to even things out and make it less noisy.Bath toys can alsobe washed this way if the suds from the tub don’t clean them.
Shower curtains and their plastic liners can get kind ofgross.However, you can toss them in a warm water cycle and let them take their own shower. The biggest headache about doing this is standing there and patiently unhooking the curtain and linerfrom all the hanging hooks, then doing it in reverse when the curtain is clean.Still, it’s worth it.
Here’s one you may not have thought about.Your family’s sports padding, such as roller-skating knee and wrist padsor soccer shin guards,can get sweaty and dirty, but thankfully such pads are often machine washable.Toss them in a mesh laundry bag or zip-up pillow case, so their straps and buckles don’t bang up inside your machine.
Fluffy and Fido may love their snuggly beds, but they can stink them up something awful.The good news is cat and dog beds can often go right into the washer.If the bed is too large for your washer, check to see if the cover is removable, and just wash that.PetMeD.com recommends that all pet bedding you launder should be washed at a high temperature to kill germs.
