Laundry Tricks

     Awhile back I tried out this laundry trick I found via Pinterest, so I thought I'd share how it worked for me.  The original pin I found linked to a blog post about whitening pillows, and I used the special soak instructions to do just that, with a twist.  First, here's my t-shirt test rag with set-in stains to show how well the soak works, though the photos of the original poster's pillows are prettier.

     So the problem was, I can't stand pillows that have been washed, because I have never found a way to dry them without the fluff bunching up inside so that they are lumpy.  Maybe the tennis ball / dryer ball trick works, but I personally was not willing to try it because I'm picky.  Still, my pillows have gotten dingy and gross, so what's a girl to do?  Well, if you sew, like me, you get creative!  I decided it would be better to take the case of the pillow itself off, wash it, and replace it.  To do that, I added zippers to the pillows (which also makes it easy to wash them again later!).  I know that probably sounds like too much work to some people, but for me it wasn't too much hassle, and I got to practice sewing on zippers (actually I think these may have been my first ever). Ta da!

      Lately I've purchased several used baby items, and was looking for a way to wash them effectively.  When I saw this, it motivated me to thoroughly wash everything we've bought for our baby, just because stuff is bound to get gross through years of use.  

     Unfortunately, this blogger was using cleaning supplies I don't have on hand, so I ruled that out.  I found myself coming back to the laundry trick from above, and just adjusting to colors instead of whites.  Several commenters on that post had said that you could substitute color-safe bleach, but I didn't have that on hand so I just skipped the bleach and used everything else.  

     Today, I washed all the pieces on our stroller, the bassinet attachment for it, and our pack and play.  I think I fell in love with our stroller all over again because of how easy it was for all the fabric pieces to come off and how wash-friendly they all are!  For the record, UppaBaby recommends spot-cleaning for the most part (check your manual), but I took a chance and it turned out fine.  When we bought our UppaBaby Vista used, it had some stains and scuff marks, and now it looks brand new!  I was kicking myself for not taking before and after photos, or I could show you. 

     The pack and play was a little trickier.  I knew from comments that the mattress part of it had some kind of cardboard piece as the base, so that was not going to wash as well.  I decided to do the same trick as I did with my pillows, and just cut the boards (actually a pressboard type wood) out.  I'm planning to add zippers to each little section, which, while it's probably more work than I want to do, will let me wash it again as needed.  I really recommend against washing the mattress with the boards inside; I doubt the wood would ever dry fully, and I think it's likely the stain of the wood would color the mattress fabric.  Check out the dirty water from the pack and play!

     Gross. Look what was left when the water drained -- this is why I washed it in the first place!!

     Overall, the pack and play came out of the soak pretty well.  The railings look less dingy (but not obviously different enough to show up in pictures), and the mattress, sans boards, also went through the washing machine and came out beautifully.  Whatever you do, just let it dry all the way, which could take awhile.