Day 137: Refresh your Towels (fail).

Pinterest pin and website picture.

We've had the same master bath towels for years, so when my friend asked if I would try this pin on refreshing towels, I jumped at the chance.  This pin promises fresh smelling and absorbent towels, but after running them through the washer twice with hot water (once with 1 cup of vinegar and the next with 1/2 cup of baking soda) and drying them, I didn't notice any difference in the smell or absorbency of the towels.  Maybe it's time to invest in some new ones...

Before:

After:

Verdict: FAIL.

Day 102: Miracle Cleaner (partial fail / success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I was given this stained shirt, so I have a hard time saying this "miracle cleaner" doesn't work since I don't know what the stain was from or how long it's been sitting on the shirt prior to trying the stain remover  Although it didn't completely take out the stain, it's much, much lighter and I feel comfortable wearing this shirt without the stain being too noticeable!

This is what the original stain looked like:

Ingredients:
1 part Dawn dishwashing liquid (the original blue kind)
2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide

Directions:
Mix together and pour directly on the stain (or use a spray bottle if you have lots of stains to tackle).  Wait a few minutes, give the stained area a little rubbing to agitate it, and then rinse the item out.

I then threw the shirt in with a load of washing, and this is what it looked like after being in the washer / dryer.  The stain is still there, but hardly noticeable, right??

The original blogger even got stains out of a kids' fabric chair that she couldn't rinse out, so I may try this on non-clothing items too!

Verdict: PARTIAL FAIL / SUCCESS!

Day 61: DIY Oxy-Clean to Whiten Clothing (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

If I accomplish nothing else by testing a pin a day this year, I am determined to find a way to easily whiten my dingy whites!  This is what I mean by dingy -- check out my shirt (on the right) pictured next to my husband's new, crisp, white t-shirt (on the left).  Yikes!

Per the website instructions, I mixed 1 part baking soda with 3 parts hydrogen peroxide in a pan over medium-high heat.  In my case, this was 1 cup baking soda to 3 cups hydrogen peroxide.

I boiled my shirt in this mixture, stirring often to prevent the bubbles from boiling over.  It said to continue stirring until the fabric is white, but the liquid boiled away before that happened.  As you can see, my shirt ended up with a pinkish hue.

After running it through a normal cycle in my washing machine, the shirt was noticeably whiter -- but also still had that pinkish color to it, and the pit stains were still prevalent.

Verdict: fail.  I'm still on the hunt for a way to whiten my whites without bleach!

Day 3: Brightening White Laundry (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I have a few white clothing items that are embarrassingly dingy, faded, have pit stains, etc.  I love the way they fit, however, so I thought I would try a pin about removing stains / brightening whites using ingredients I already had in the house.  The pinned article said to use hydrogen peroxide, vinegar OR baking soda.  I chose baking soda because it was already in my laundry room -- and per the article instructions, I added laundry detergent, placed the machine on the hot water setting and included 1/2 cup of baking soda.  The end result was a total fail -- my before and after pictures look exactly the same, and although I'm embarrassed to admit I recently wore this sweater, I'll post the picture of the prominent pit stain taken after washing with baking soda.  What do you think -- is it worth it to try the hydrogen peroxide and vinegar treatments before tossing this sweater?

UPDATE: I tried washing the sweater two more times -- once with 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide {+ laundry detergent & hot water} and once with 1/2 cup of vinegar {+ laundry detergent & hot water}.  Both attempts failed.  I think this sweater is a lost cause!