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How to remove toothpaste stains

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

It’s easy to accidentally drip toothpaste onto your new suit or comfiest PJ’s. This is how you get that pesky stain out. 

  • White toothpaste
  • Whitening toothpaste 
  • Gel toothpaste

White toothpaste 

White toothpaste contains titanium dioxide, which is the chemical that makes it look white. If you use white toothpaste, water will not be enough to lift the stain it leaves behind.

What you’ll need

  • A blunt object, such as a spoon 
  • A clean cloth
  • Liquid laundry detergent

Begin by using your blunt object to remove excess toothpaste from your clothing. Try and use an upwards motion when doing this to avoid spreading the loose particles to other parts of your clothing. 

Once you have sufficiently removed the top layer of the stain, slightly dampen a clean cloth and blot the area. This will help loosen the stain and aid in it being lifted from your clothing. 

Next, work a small amount of liquid laundry detergent onto your toothpaste stain. Make sure that the detergent is spread over the entirety of the stain so that the whole area can be lifted. 

After you have adequately rubbed in your detergent, wash your stained item of clothing in your washing machine as usual. 

If your toothpaste stain has not been completely removed after washing, repeat the full process again. 

Image by wei zhu from Pixabay

Whitening toothpaste 

Whitening toothpaste usually contains a mild bleaching agent that works to whiten your teeth. This bleaching agent can cause discoloration on coloured and dark clothing if it is left for an extended period of time. To remove a whitening toothpaste stain you need to follow the exact process of removing a white toothpaste stain, however, you need to act as soon as you notice the stain to avoid excessive discolouration to your clothing. 

Image by Marco Verch Professional P

Gel toothpaste 

Gel toothpaste contains dye to make it a blue/green colour. This dye can discolour your white clothing if left for too long. As soon as you notice a gel toothpaste stain you need to follow the same procedure as removing a regular toothpaste stain. Once you have washed your stained item of clothing, dry your garment in direct sunlight. Sunlight has natural bleaching qualities and can help even out any discolouration. 

If you have a toothpaste stain, or any stain, that you can not get rid of, let us help you. If you tell us what items of clothing are stained we will take extra precautions to help lift the stain and deliver your clothes back to you stain-free. To book your Laundryheap service head to the Laundryheap website or download the free Laundryheap app. 


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Top tips for disinfecting clothing

Image by Marco Verch

With COVID19 restrictions being eased, it is more important than ever to make sure that your clothes are properly disinfected. These top tips for disinfecting clothing will ensure that your clothes remain clean and that you remain safe. 

  • The difference between cleaning and disinfecting 
  • Wear gloves
  • Use a bleach detergent
  • Choose a hot wash
  • Dry clothes completely 
  • Steam clean your clothes
  • Clean your machine
  • Disinfect your laundry basket
  • Use Laundryheap

The difference between cleaning and disinfecting 

It is not enough to simply clean your clothing, you need to disinfect them. Cleaning your clothes involves removing dirt and germs from the surface of the fabric. Disinfecting your clothes involves using chemicals that guarantee the removal of bacteria, preventing the spread of bacteria to other surfaces. 

Wear gloves 

Before you begin your laundry put on a pair of gloves. Your gloves will protect you from getting any of the bacteria from your clothing onto your hands, therefore limiting the risk of bacteria spreading to other surfaces. Once you have completed your laundry you are safe to remove your gloves and immediately wash your hands.

Image by Marco Verch Professional Photographer and Speaker

Use a bleach detergent 

To ensure that your clothes are adequately disinfected it’s best to use bleach detergent. The bleach will denature the protein in any bacteria lingering in your clothing, subsequently killing it. Before using bleach detergent, always check the care label on your clothing as bleach may damage you more delicate items of clothing. 

Choose a hot wash

Washing your clothes at 55-60 degrees will help ensure that your laundry comes out bacteria-free. Hot water makes many detergents more effective at tackling bacteria on clothing, plus the heat of the water aids in deactivating the bacteria. Similarly to when using bleach, always check the care label of your clothing as more delicate items of clothing may become damaged if hot washed. 

Image by Paul Hudson

Dry clothes completely  

Before you re-wear any freshly washed item of clothing you must make sure that it is completely dry. Bacteria thrive in damp environments, so wet clothing provides the perfect breeding ground for it. To make sure that your clothes are completely dry before re-wearing them, either dry them in the tumble dryer or put them in the dryer for a quick 5-minute blast. The heat from the tumble dryer will warm your clothing and kill off any of the remaining bacteria. 

Image by viZZZual.com

Steam clean your clothes

If you need to disinfect more delicate items of clothing that can’t withstand a hot wash or bleach detergent, try steam cleaning your clothes. A steam cleaner uses steam to disinfect your clothing, removing bacteria as well as odours. In addition to removing bacteria, steam cleaning also removes wrinkles from your clothes so there is no need to iron them.

Clean your machine 

After using your washing machine to disinfect your clothes it’s important that you disinfect your washing machine. If not cleaned, your washing machine could transfer lingering bacteria from a previous wash onto a fresh load of laundry, resulting in the spread of bacteria. To adequately clean your machine, either insert a dishwasher tablet or 2 cups of white cleaning vinegar into the machines detergent dispenser and set your machine to a hot wash. 

Disinfect your laundry basket 

Similarly to your washing machine, it’s important to disinfect your laundry basket once all of your dirty laundry has been removed from it. The best way to disinfect your laundry basket is to use 0.1% sodium hypochlorite to completely wipe down every surface of your basket. This will leave your laundry basket completely clean and unable to spread bacteria. 

Use Laundryheap

If you want to make sure that you laundry is completely disinfected book you Laundryheap slot now. Our hot wash service will disinfect your clothing, plus our contactless delivery will ensure that both you and our drivers are safely distanced. Book your delivery by visiting the Laundryheap website or by downloading the free Laundryheap app. 


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Powder vs liquid laundry detergent

When it comes to doing laundry, one of the biggest questions is: should I use powder or liquid detergent? The answer is, there are pros to using both. Read through some of the pros, and decide which is best for you. 

Pros for powder laundry detergent

  • Cost-effective
  • Recyclable 
  • Works well on outdoor stains

Cost-effective 

Powder detergent is more cost-effective than liquid detergent. To begin with, it costs less to manufacture because it takes less chemistry to build the product. This has resulted in packs of powder detergent often containing more detergent than its liquid counterpart. Additionally, powder detergent has a more stable cleaning agent than liquid detergent, meaning that it doesn’t lose its cleaning power over time. If you prefer to buy your detergent in bulk, powder is the way forward

Recyclable

If you’re looking to make your laundry more Eco-friendly than powder detergent is your best option. More often than not, you will find powder detergent in cardboard packaging. This is a lot easier to recycle as it is bio-degradable, therefore making it the environmentally friendly laundry detergent option. 

Image by Creativity103

Works well on outdoor stains

For those tough outdoor stains, such as mud and grass, a powder laundry detergent will work much better than its liquid alternative. The main surfactant in powder detergent is linear alkylbenzene sulfonate, which is much harsher on stains, and therefore better at ridding your clothing of deep-set outdoor stains. 

Pro’s for liquid detergent 

  • No bleach 
  • Safe for appliances 
  • Easy for stain pre-treatment

No bleach

Bleach is very effective at keeping your whites white, however it can be very damaging on your coloured clothing. Bleach is not found in liquid laundry detergents but can be found in some powder detergents. If you want to prevent your colours from fading, it’s best to wash them inside out and use a liquid detergent.

Safe for appliances 

 One of the benefits of using a liquid detergent is that it easily dissolves with the water in your washing machine. When using powder detergent, you may find chunks of undissolved, sludgy residue in your washer or your machines draw. This residue can lead to pipes being blocked and a broken washing machine. If you want to take extra precuations, without having to constantly clean your washing machine, liquid detergent is the safest option.

Easy for stain pre-treatment 

Both powder and liquid detergent can be used to pre-treat a stain, but liquid detergent is a lot easier to use. If you want to use a powder detergent to pre-treat a stain, you can add water to create a paste to rub over your stain. If you are using liquid laundry detergent, you simply have to pour a small amount of detergent over the stain and leave it for up to 5 minutes. 

Whether you prefer to use powder or laundry detergent both are effective at cleaning your clothes. If you still can’t decide which to use, why not just book your dry cleaning slot at the Laundryheap website or by downloading our free app. We are operational across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and USA.


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How to make a DIY detergent

The cost of laundry can really add up. Clothing, underwear, bed linen, towels, the list of things you need to wash is endless. Unfortunately, the laundry detergent you use is not. Constantly having to stock up on detergent is not cost effective, which is why you should save yourself the money and make your own DIY detergent. 

  • The benefits of DIY detergent 
  • What you’ll need
  • The recipe 
  • Top tips 
  • How Laundryheap can help 

The benefits of DIY detergent 

Aside from being cost effective, there are a lot of benefits of DIY detergents. Firstly, you have complete control over the ingredients that you want to include. This means, there are no harmful chemicals or added toxins that could cause skin irritation. Not to mention, the lack of harmful chemicals and toxins is much better for the environment. Additionally, through making your own detergent you are not buying unnecessary packaging and are, therefore, decreasing the use of single-use plastic. 

What you’ll need 

To make your DIY detergent you need three simple ingredients:

  • Borax
  • Washing Soda
  • A bar of natural soap

The recipe 

You can make your DIY detergent in three easy steps:

  1. Grate your bar of soap- using a food processor will make this step a lot easier, but a hand-held greater will work just fine.
  2. Add the grated soap to 250ml of washing soda and 250ml of Borax 
  3. Stir the mix well

Top Tips 

Use three level teaspoons per wash and store the rest of your detergent in a lidded container. Don’t forget to label your container so people know what’s inside- for extra safety add a list of ingredients to your label.

If you want to make your DIY detergent last longer, make a bigger batch by doubling the amounts of each ingredient, but using the same ratios.

Photo by Aqua Mechanical

How Laundryheap can help

If you want to save your DIY detergent for clothing only, our Home and Bedding service can be used on the remainder of your washing. We will pick up, launder and deliver your items back to you within 24 hours, at no extra cost. Book your slot on our Laundryheap app. 

laundry detergent


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Are You Using The Right Laundry Detergent?

With a huge variety of laundry detergents, it may seem a little overwhelming choosing the right laundry detergent for you. Many decisions are made based on what your mothers use, and some people just go for what’s on sale. Nevertheless, your choice of detergent can really impact the cleanliness of your laundry.

One thing for sure is that ALL forms of laundry detergent will clean your clothes well. The only difference is how each type of detergent is designed specifically to clean.

Let’s take a brief look at the options:

  • Powder: For a one-size-fits-all detergent, powders are suitable for all types of fabrics. With a bleaching and optical brightness agent, they are extremely effective in removing stubborn stains and leave clothes ‘squeaky’ clean. Best for use in high temperatures and long wash cycles.

powder laundry detergent

Quick note: There are powders designed for coloured laundry that do not contain bleaching agents.

  • Liquid and gels: These versatile laundry detergents are bleach free and are great for keeping colours bright! For stain removal, they can be used as a pre-wash spot treatment. These detergents are great for washing at low temperatures, delicate cycles, quick wash cycles and hand washes.

liquid laundry detergent

  • Capsule: This compact liquid detergent comes with just the right amount of liquid for each laundry cycle, so you don’t need to worry about over or under filling your load with detergent. Great for washing at any temperature.

capsule laundry detergent

Other things to consider…

To choose the right detergent, it’s best to consider the cycle type and temperature you’ll be washing the clothes at. Don’t forget to think about the type of fabric you’re dealing with too.

Ask yourself: Is it white? Colourfast? Wool or silk? A good stain removal? What temperature and type of cycle?

We at Laundryheap can imagine the struggles you’re put through in choosing the right laundry detergent, that’s why we do the dirty work for you. Schedule your laundry with us so you don’t have to worry about a thing.