- Chlorine bleaches are safe for cotton and cotton/polyester blends, but NEVER use bleach on wool or wool blends. You'll find new holes in your shirt, if there is any shirt left at all.
- To keep your colors brighter, wash all your clothes and linens on cold, unless they are pure white, and then use the hottest you can.
- Be wary of Fabric Softeners, as most add extra products to your fabrics. For instance, a lot of Fabric Softeners coat the fabric in wax to make it feel softer.
- For ball-point ink stains, soak the stain with alcohol-based hair spray and then soak up the pool with a napkin or paper towel and wash as normal.
- For some oils, rub dish-soap into the stain and let sit for a few minutes before washing as normal.
- For those lasting yellow perspiration stains, mix 1 Tablespoon white vinegar with 1/2 cup water and sponge it right on the stain. If you have a perspiration stain on a non-washable fabric, "apply a paste of 1 Tbsp. cream of tartar, 3 crushed aspirins and warm water. Leave for 20 minutes. Rinse well in warm water. Repeat if necessary. Follow this with vinegar and water to restore the colour if necessary." (from here)
