Soapbox

We're pleased to unveil our new OM Grangers Care section with step-by-step advice on cleaning, reproofing and caring for just about everything. See the article linked above for the full monty.

Very useful. Now all we need to do is get manufacturers to read it and amend their care labels...

> Granger’s products are developed in partnership with Gore

And we all know how good Gore's fabric care advice is... ("use a soft detergent")

> you should always, always, always read the care label before cleaning

Which will (wrongly) tell you to use detergent...

> If in doubt, contact the manufacturer

Most of whom will (wrongly) tell you to use detergent...

;-)

LOL - I guess I've just filtered out most of it through experience. I generally just check what wash temperature is suggested and whether it's safe to tumble dry or iron :-(

I still can't get rid of stubborn robert marks. Any ideas?

We get a lot of "stubborn Robert marks" in our house...

Anyway, great article, JD, just what do peeps do if they don't have a cat.....?
"Stroke the cat and put the kettle on" seems to be a necessary part of the process lol

I spent a soggy evening "doing what needs must" last night in the sink with soap flakes and then TX-10 (again). I feel like an old-fashioned laundry-maid on these occasions.

I now officially have newspaper under several radiators; it being rainy outside and all.

I'm a bit concerned about the essential part of the tumble-drying bit seeing as I don't have one nor any access to one. I have ironed stuff in the past but not everything is particularly ironable. And I'm not sure if I've ironed them enough either, after hearing that 30 minutes of tumble-drying is optimal. Not sure if I can face up to all that ironing....
I don't fancy knife-edge creases in my outdoor kit, either, and after a good seeing-to with an iron it would be hard to avoid that 'Sta-prest' look.

Eeeek, I hate ironing. In my next house I want room for a tumbler...in the customised drying room, of course.

With TX.10 heat isn't essential.

I use soap flakes in the washing machine without problem. I just use half the volume I would with detergent.

I can't take total responsibility for the care centre btw. It was my idea, but without huge input from Grangers and 'the other Maria' who wrote most of the copy, it wouldn't exist.

Fwiw, I dissolve soap flakes in very hot water and use them as a solution rather than just sticking them in the washing machine in soapflake form.

I couldn't be mithered to clean out the washing machine for 3 things though.

Nice one Jon!

It answers lots of question that we see here all the time - hopefully folk will read it before they post a "How do I care for my jacket/boots/cat" type of question....


Though probably not if exerience is anything to go by!!

Whilst on the subject, I use "Grannies Soap Flakes", available from the Inverurie branch of Tesco's.

The instruction on the box say that it is unsuitable for front loading automatics so I heave all the clothing into the bath along with a mug full of flakes and leave to soak for an hour or so before agitating and rinsing it all out.

It seems to have worked out ok so far, though I might try Chris' idea of half the amount of soap in the washing machine to see what happens - hopefully not a case of bubbles every where ;-)