laundry tips

Can you use the washing machine’s delicate cycle for hand-washable clothing?

In caring for your clothing, it is good practice to follow the manufacturer’s label on the garment, especially when it is one of your favorite pieces of clothing and it happens to be quite delicate. So when the label says that it is “hand wash only,” you might want to follow it in order to

Dry cleaning kills bed bugs

Bed bugs have grown to be a problem in many parts of the country. Boston is no exception. A recent report ranks Boston as the 10th most bed bug-infested cities in 2019. Bedbugs are small nuisance insects that feed both on human and animal blood. In favorable conditions, they flourish and multiply quickly within a

Can you reverse shrinkage in clothing?

Depending on the fabric, it is sometimes possible to unshrink garments.  For washable fabrics like cotton, you can try soaking the garment in white vinegar for an hour and then wash it in hot water. If that doesn't work, try stretching the wet garment by hand until it is the original size. Then hold it

Treating Lice-Infested Clothing

Does an infestation of lice mean a cleaning nightmare? Not necessarily. Head lice are adapted for living on a human scalp and nowhere else. Although they can spread as long as the lice or eggs remain alive on the affected person or clothing, they can only survive for 48 hours off the body. The most

How to clean tree skirts before and after Christmas

Christmas tree skirts are often valuable and treasured holiday items. Some tree skirts are very costly, while others may be family heirlooms. Regardless of their original or sentimental value, tree skirts should be handled with great care. In most cases, tree skirts cannot be safely laundered or dry cleaned, because they are adorned with beads,