Thursday, August 02, 2012

Frigidaire Adventures in Clean

This post is part of a One2One Network Campaign.  By participating, I have a chance to win one of 10 $50 gift cards.  All opinions are mine.

Laundry - it's a never-ending task, and I'm sure we'd all like to get out of the laundry room and on with life as soon as we possibly can.  Frigidaire, makers of the Frigidaire Affinity® front load washing machine, and laundry expert Tara Aronson have shared some laundry and stain fighting tips to help us do just that.  Here are a few I especially liked:
  1. To keep snags and lint to a minimum, zip zippers, button buttons, empty pockets, and brush away lint before tossing duds in the hamper.
  2. Before washing stained garments, pretreat or prewash the spot using the Affinity’s Rinse & Spin cycle. If at first you don’t succeed, wash, wash again.
  3. Check wet garments for remaining stains, and re-treat as needed before drying. Heat will set stains.

Those don't actually sound like time-saving tips, but they will definitely save you a lot of frustration.  There's nothing so irritating as lint all over your load of laundry from a tissue left in a pocket or finding a stain after the laundry has been already been washed, dried, and you're ready to fold it.  Better to spend a little time treating stains or preventing snags and lint than spend a lot of time afterwards trying to clean off the lint or get rid of a set-in stain.

Tara Aronson also shared expert tips on treating the five most common summer stains:
  1. Crayon -  Scrape off as much of the colorful surface as possible using a plastic picnic knife. Apply laundry detergent directly on the stained area. Gently rub the detergent into the fabric then let sit several minutes. Launder using the hottest water the fabric can handle - or the Sanitize setting of your Frigidaire Affinity washer. Dry as usual.
  2. Iced coffee - Sponge the stained area with cold water. Apply a pretreater to the blight. Wash as usual and air dry.
  3. Grass - Prewash the garment in warm water in your washing machine –the Rinse & Spin cycle on your Affinity washer – and a laundry detergent containing enzymes. Launder as usual (normal setting) with detergent and chlorine bleach if safe for the fabric. If the garment’s care label instructions advise against it, use oxygen (color safe) bleach instead. Dry as usual.
  4. Juice - Soak for a minute or so in cold water. Remove excess water, and then apply a pretreater directly on the stained area. Wash with detergent as usual. Air dry. Do not place in the dryer until the blight is completely gone – otherwise the stain is likely to set.
  5. Chocolate (or chocolate ice cream) - Prewash the garment in warm water with a laundry detergent that contains enzymes using the Affinity’s Rinse & spin setting. Launder as usual, using the washing machine’s Normal setting. Dry as usual.
If you've got kids, chances are you've faced a few of those stains!


For a chance to win a new Frigidaire Affinity® washer and dryer, head on over to the Frigidaire Facebook page and share your Adventures in Clean.  Simply upload a photo and the online app will turn it into your very own movie poster.  (Frigidaire is doing this in conjunction with the upcoming Disney film, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, starring Jennifer Garner. She plays a mother who embarks on the ultimate adventure in clean when a son magically springs to life in her garden. At this moment, her character understands what every mother knows: life is full of messy adventures.) everyone who participates will be entered for a chance to win a new Frigidaire Affinity® washer and dryer featuring Ready Steam™, and Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children, as part of its $750,000 commitment to the cause.