(Photo courtesy of ClipArtPanda)

Recently, one of my friends came to me with a dilemma. She dripped a bit of salad dressing on one of her favorite tops. She lamented over how the oil in the dressing had practically “ruined” her top. I’ll admit: I was genuinely confused. I had spilled salad dressing, coconut oil, frying grease, and a host of other oils onto different outfits and I never considered them “ruined”. Then it occurred to me: I didn’t think those items were ruined because I knew how to get the oil stain out of them. I told her my trick, she tried it, and she raved about how well it worked. I’ll tell you all about my trick in a moment.

That conversation inspired me to write this post. So many of us invest in beautiful, long-lasting pieces, and we want those items to look as stellar as possible for a long time. So when we encounter clothing issues, like awful stains, it can be a bit frustrating. But I’m going to share some of my household go-tos, which I’ve used consistently to preserve and retain the appearance of my clothing.

My first recommendation is Dryel. This at-home dry cleaning system not only leaves your clothing look like they just came from your favorite cleaners, but the concentrated stain removal solution enclosed in the kit is amazing. I’ve used that stain remover so many times, and you only need a little bit. One bottle tends to last me quite a while, even when I find myself using it regularly.

Lingerie bags are my next favorite laundry item. I used to buy them on a nearly monthly basis, until I purchased the ones made by ATopDay. These are the most durable lingerie bags I’ve ever owned. They are made of fine mesh, so they seem to protect your clothing better than the wide mesh that is usually found in lingerie bags. The price on these have doubled since I last purchased them but, given the number of lingerie bags I’ve purchased over the years, even the doubled priced still seems to be a good value. However, there’s a good chance that you can find these at a lower price, so feel free to shop around for the best value.

About that oil stain I mentioned in the first paragraph . . . Baby powder is the cure. The trick is to apply the baby powder to the oil stain, and pat it a bit. Allow it to sit for at least an hour, though I usually let mine sit overnight, or until I wash it (which could be two or three days later). After letting it sit for a period of time, launder the item and check to see if the stain is completely gone. Sometimes, the oil is pretty persistent; in those cases, I do the baby powder treatment again. No oil stains seem to last through that second powder treatment.

(photo courtesy of StockUnlimited)

Baby wipes are another fantastic item to have around (I don’t know what it is with the baby products, but they are fabulous for laundry!). I use these to remove stains from clothing as soon as the spills occur, but I also use these to quickly remove and pretreat stains before laundering. These are good to keep in your glove compartment and in your laundry room.

My handheld steamer is my last favorite laundry item. This is great for knocking out the wrinkles that the dryer may have missed. I love using this on scarves and delicate lingerie as well: it gently removes wrinkles without too much direct heat.

The steamer I own is the Crazo Garment Steamer, pictured above.

Do you have any laundry tricks you’d like to share? Tell me in the comments below!