The communal washing machines in my apartment building are worthless. They don't remove any sort of stain or spill, regardless of solubility or severity. When I remove the wet clothes from the washer, nasty stripes and splotches of lint cover my clothes (especially obvious on darks). Is there a specific complaint I can make to my landlord, or should I just give up and go to a laundromat? [more inside]
posted on May 9, 2008 - 18 answers

I want a rotary clothesline for my back yard. But the area in which I want to put it has concrete laid down already, so I'd like the clothesline to be freestanding rather than slotted into concrete as such clothesline usually are. Where can I find a freestanding rotary clothesline? I need to be able to either buy it in Toronto or have it shipped there.
posted on Apr 28, 2008 - 11 answers

I have this white/cream dress made out of a viscose lace. I just discovered a faint stain of what I think is coffee or tea or something. [more inside]
posted on Apr 27, 2008 - 7 answers

Why did someone steal my socks? [more inside]
posted on Mar 26, 2008 - 14 answers

Help me find an honest, reliable person to come to my apartment and iron my clothes. I'm in Manhattan, Upper East. [more inside]
posted on Mar 6, 2008 - 7 answers

Why do T-shirts become wider and shorter over time, and not the reverse? And is there any minimal-effort way to avoid this? [more inside]
posted on Mar 5, 2008 - 16 answers

Proud mavens: help me find a new washer and dryer! [more inside]
posted on Feb 28, 2008 - 24 answers

I recently bought a beautiful burgundy sweater coat. Unfortunately, I failed to notice the wash & care instructions, which state "Hand wash cold/separately." How exactly does one go about hand washing a large piece of clothing? The tag says "93% acrylic, 5% polyester, 2% wool." Is there any other way I can get this garment cleaned? Would Woolite be an option? Dry cleaning?
posted on Feb 26, 2008 - 13 answers

Must I really wash my sweat-resistant 'technical' athletic clothing in cold water and then line dry as instructed on the label? If I put it in with the rest of my stuff that gets washed warm and machine-dried, will I ruin it?
posted on Feb 16, 2008 - 13 answers

How have you successfully removed old grease stains from shirts using common household items, rather than specialty products I'd have to go out and purchase? [more inside]
posted on Feb 10, 2008 - 16 answers

I've come to realize that I am not paying as much attention to detail as I should when I drop off shirts at my dry cleaners. It seems like I end up losing 3 or 4 shirts a year to the ebb and flow of having my shirts laundered. Is this truly because of my lack of attention or do others have the same problem? How common it is for shirts to be lost at the dry cleaners? Beyond a greater attention to the checkin and checkout of shirts, does anybody have any advice on stemming the tide of lost shirts?
posted on Jan 31, 2008 - 9 answers

Looking for a central Long Island (Nassau County) drop off/pick up laudromat. Not looking exactly for cheap (though that's nice) but value. Tired of wasting hours waiting for machines to finish. [more inside]
posted on Jan 31, 2008 - 4 answers

Can I do laundry with just ammonia alone? [more inside]
posted on Jan 29, 2008 - 18 answers

How do I de-stink the armpits of my sweaters? [more inside]
posted on Jan 29, 2008 - 12 answers

why are my blue sheets fading to grey? [more inside]
posted on Jan 11, 2008 - 14 answers

Grownup has never washed a nice sweater. Help. [more inside]
posted on Jan 2, 2008 - 22 answers

My dogs destroyed the house while I was shopping, how long do I have for damage control? Football filter of all things. [more inside]
posted on Dec 31, 2007 - 9 answers

Laundry hacking for someone whose skin is hypersensitive to detergent residue. [more inside]
posted on Dec 30, 2007 - 19 answers

What are some creative ways to give rolled coins as a gift? [more inside]
posted on Dec 21, 2007 - 21 answers

I don't normally wash my clothes after each wearing. I'm lazy/cheap and I hate wastefulness. But I also don't like to fold them up and put them back in the drawer, because even a little smell or dust will negatively effect the surrounding clean clothes. Both my boyfriend and I do this, and we do not have a good place to put these limbo clothes in our apartment. Where/how do we store our not clean, not dirty clothes?
posted on Dec 17, 2007 - 42 answers

I have a short sleeve shirt that consistently comes out of the drier "bumpy" all over. There is a very repetitive pattern on the shirt like a checkerboard. The pattern alternates bumps and depressions. I can easily get the bumps out by ironing the shirt, but I'm lazy and would much rather just dry the shirt. Is there anything I can do to avoid the pattern? Or, should I just give up and relegate the shirt to my "do not wear because it's too hard to clean" bin? The shirt is 81% polynosic rayon and 19% polyester.
posted on Nov 27, 2007 - 10 answers

Will dry-cleaning cause my comforter cover to be colorfast? [more inside]
posted on Nov 26, 2007 - 4 answers

Two part laundromat question - transportation and getting ripped off. [more inside]
posted on Nov 16, 2007 - 27 answers

How much is it worth to you to have a washer/dryer in your building? [more inside]
posted on Oct 19, 2007 - 34 answers

How does hotel laundry work? [more inside]
posted on Oct 2, 2007 - 14 answers

Person A forgets to empty pockets of his/her jeans before laundry day. Person B forgets to check pockets of clothes before washing them. Item C in Person A's pockets is ruined. Who's at fault? [more inside]
posted on Sep 30, 2007 - 62 answers

Laundry Filter: often when shopping for clothes the dealbreaker is something about the washing instructions such as dryclean only, hand wash, lay flat to dry, etc. But I know that sometimes these recommendations can be ignored. The question is, how do I know when? [more inside]
posted on Sep 24, 2007 - 9 answers

Say you're doing a production of Merry Wives of Windsor and you've gotten to Act III, Scene 3. Now ask yourself, where are you going to find a buck basket? [more inside]
posted on Sep 8, 2007 - 8 answers

Has anyone had any success with removing sweat / antiperspirant combo stains? [more inside]
posted on Sep 8, 2007 - 17 answers

Can anyone reccomend a fluff 'n fold north of Culver City in Los Angeles. [more inside]
posted on Aug 13, 2007 - 3 answers

I dried a load of laundry without the lint filter. What have I done to my dryer? [more inside]
posted on Aug 9, 2007 - 17 answers

Detergent for front-loading washing machine - is there some available that's as innocuous as Cheer Free? [more inside]
posted on Aug 8, 2007 - 17 answers

Sometime during the last hour or so, half of my clothes have disappeared from my building's communal laundry facilities. What do I do? [more inside]
posted on Aug 7, 2007 - 13 answers

Laundry Renovation (filter): My wife and I have sold a kidney and are renovating our laundry. The choice of clothes dryers is overwhelming. Can anyone provide me with personal experiences with condenser dryers versus tumble dryers? [more inside]
posted on Jul 29, 2007 - 10 answers

I just poured a cupful of dark blue liquid detergent and purple liquid stain remover over a load of white towels. Setting aside the admonition that I should have poured the detergent in BEFORE the clothes: why doesn't dark blue detergent turn white towels blue? I mean it obviously doesn't. But it seems counterintuitive. What kind of coloring is added to detergent that allows it to be blue and pretty but wash right away?
posted on Jul 28, 2007 - 7 answers

How can I de-funkify stinky towels & clothing items? [more inside]
posted on Jul 28, 2007 - 26 answers

Does anyone know of a good full service laundromat in Quincy or Milton in Massachusetts? [more inside]
posted on Jul 25, 2007 - 0 answers

How do you take care of bras so that they stay in the best shape for the longest?
posted on Jul 2, 2007 - 25 answers

Laundry filter: A lot of my clothing comes out of the washing machine with white blotches. [more inside]
posted on Jun 18, 2007 - 10 answers

How do I get dry erase marker stains out of rags/towels? [more inside]
posted on Jun 7, 2007 - 5 answers

Does anything get old silly string out of, say, my favorite shirt? [more inside]
posted on May 31, 2007 - 5 answers

What's the most permanent marker pen in the universe? [more inside]
posted on May 30, 2007 - 13 answers

This shirt is a black hole for lint. Please help. [more inside]
posted on May 25, 2007 - 3 answers

Advice on removing a stain from my canvas bag? [more inside]
posted on Apr 11, 2007 - 6 answers

Have you seen illustrated decals that embellish laundry stains and turn them into "creatures"? [more inside]
posted on Apr 10, 2007 - 3 answers

How can I get that fresh pressed look for my clothes without breaking the bank? [more inside]
posted on Apr 4, 2007 - 10 answers

What can I do to keep my workout pants from getting so stinky so fast? [more inside]
posted on Mar 15, 2007 - 28 answers

I recently bought new jeans, but they turn anything that rubs against them blue -- including my legs and hands! I've already washed them, to no avail. What can I do? [more inside]
posted on Mar 5, 2007 - 18 answers

What small indulgences or habits do you have that make your life so much easier? [more inside]
posted on Dec 29, 2006 - 62 answers

How can I prevent/elminate static cling without dryer sheets? [more inside]
posted on Dec 27, 2006 - 13 answers