All together now..... ewwwwwww. Yeah. Not. Happy.
But I know why. It's because I air dry them in my laundry room instead
of placing them in the dryer. Hate. Shrinkage.
(image borrowed from google images)
I figured I was going to have to toss them, cause it has been my
experience that when mildew sets into a non bleachable fabric, its a gonner.
I mentioned it to hubs and he remembered reading that if you put
the mildewed item in the freezer it would kill the spores.
Hmm.. I was skeptical, but decided it absolutely could not hurt to try.
So I did. The jeans went in the freezer for about 24 hrs.
Pulled them out, and I could not smell the mildew.
I was not convinced. I've been
to thinking I had removed the smell of mildew from a item.
I had also read that you can put a cup or so of vinegar into a
bucket of warm water and let the item soak for a good long time.
That supposedly would kill the mildew.
So I did. I placed the jeans into the vinegar mixture. Let them
soak for about 24 hrs. I then ran them through the wash cycle.
I removed them from the machine and I did not smell any signs of mildew.
I was still not entirely convinced it was gone. Like I said, been there,
done that.
So.. I put them outside to dry in the HOT sun. Yeah, its been hot enough
to fry an egg. Certainly it would be hot enough to fry those spores.. right?
Brought them back in and there is absolutely NO trace of mildew
on the jeans. None, zip.
My hope is that ONE of those steps worked. Could have been a
combination of all 4. Freezer, vinegar bath, machine wash & sun dry.
Who knows. I'm just glad it worked. They are my favorite pair of
jeans. You know how you feel about your favorite pair of jeans.
Back off mildew, I'm on to you, and I'm not afraid anymore. ;O)
Mildew problems? How did / do you deal?
6 comments:
WOW! I've never heard of any of those tricks. I'll have to remember these when I'm trying to get the mildew smell out of our clothes :)
I've never heard of your little tricks. I will have to remember that. I have that problem with towels. I usually just wash them in hot water and hang them on the line for a couple days, but it never really gets it all out. Thanks for the tips!
The only musty smell I've had in the laundry is when I forget about a load of towels in the washer and leave them in there too long. Even if I put a downy sheet in the dryer it still leaves the towels with a musty smell. I usually just run them through the rinse cycle again with some fabric softener then dry them pronto. Works fine!
Although I am impressed with all the different ideas and I'm glad your jeans are as good as new!!
Great Job, never had mildew on clothes before but good to know what to do.
I will have to try that, I just had my favorite cherry dish towel ruin by mildew! I have a new website address www.cottageartshop.com. Have a great day!
I use vinegar to remove mildew anywhere and everywhere it dares to shows itself around here. Works great in the tub. I also use it for a rinse in my laundry instead of fabric softener. One more thing I keep a bottle of it in the kitchen to wipe down the counters as it is also a disinfectant.
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