WASH-DAY DISASTERS

Colour runs – whites

Check the label… white fabrics may be able to withstand bleach.

If so, add a cup of bleach to your regular liquid or powder detergent and rewash your clothes in the machine at as high a temperature as you can.

Give it a soak… If it’s a really stubborn colour run, soak your whites in a bowl using bleach (onepart bleach to nine-parts water) and soak for 30 minutes. Rinse, then wash in the washing machine. Bleach averse… If you can’t use bleach, try adding a cup of white vinegar or a spoonful of Vanish Gold Oxi Action to your wash to help return the fabric to white.

Colour runs – colours

Rewash… if colours have transferred from one garment to the other, simply separate the items and wash again. Add a colour-catcher sheet to the wash to soak up excess dye.

Rescuing a shrunken garment

Fill your sink with cool water, add around 50ml of hair conditioner and mix well. Lay the garment flat in the solution for 15 minutes. Soak it in clean, cool water until all the conditioner is all rinsed out.

Lay the garment on a towel before gently stretching it out lengthways, working left to right until you’ve achieved the desired size. Leave to air dry on a towel.

Tissue residue

It’s very frustrating to discover small pieces of tissue in your clothes when you get them out of the washing machine! If you accidentally leave a tissue in your pocket, pop everything straight back in the machine and add four aspirin tablets to the drum. The aspirin instantly dissolves facial tissues and won’t harm your clothing.

Three ways to banish a stubborn stain

1 Use a bar of laundry soap

(try Astonish Stain Bar/£1) and cold water to rub the stain and scrub the fabric together.

2 Add meat tenderiser powder to water to make a paste and cover the stain for five minutes before rinsing. The active enzymes in the powder will help break down the stain.

3 Saturate the stain in plain white vinegar before rubbing the area with a paste made from one part soda and one part white vinegar. Rinse well.