Keeping it Clean with the #ACEforSchoolChallenge

School is back in full swing. This means muddy P.E. kits and paint splattered polo shirts have become regulars in my steadily growing laundry pile. Given the price that we paid in September, to have our children togged out in their smart school uniforms, maintaining the cleanliness and the quality of their clothing is pretty important. I don't want to have to re-buy uniform every term, it costs enough buying it as a one off for the new school year. Having that embroidered school logo quadruples the price of the garments, so I will do what I can to keep them as pristine as possible for as long as possible!

One way of keeping the kids' clothes lasting for longer is to use suitable laundry products that will help keep colours bright and fresh and will tackle germs, grease and stubborn stains.  ACE for Colours and ACE Stain Remover Spray keep clothes robust and clean, helping them to last longer, while being gentle enough to use everyday. So those grass stained knees, lunchtime dribbles and arty rainbow splashes can be tackled with ease.

I've been testing the ACE products for the #ACEforSchoolChallenge and have been grateful for a helping hand with the weekly washing. 

Freddy is in Year 5 of primary school and over the years we have had a considerable amount of stains to contend with. Whether it's something dropped down his front in the dinner hall (such as some tomato pasta, which is one of his favourite things to spill - why do they never spill nice, white mashed potato?!) or smudgy, charcoal fingerprints caused by messing around with his mates during art lessons (I swear there was more charcoal on Freddy than there was on his picture of the Egyptian God Anubis) there is always a laundry challenge for me to deal with.

It's not just my youngest son that has pushed my weekly washing endeavours into epic battles. My daughter once came home from school looking like a real life, walking, talking Jackson Pollock painting. When asked how she had got into such a state, she stated matter-of-factly that a boy in her class had decided to paint on her instead of on his paper. This is the kind of thing that we have to contend with as parents on a weekly basis.  I just thank my lucky stars that I live in a time of washing machines, detergents and products such as ACE. How my own mum coped living in the pre- automatic washing machine era, washing stuff by hand in the sink, I will never know! I sometimes feel a bit guilty that things are made so easy for us nowadays, but I soon get over my feelings of guilt and enjoy the ease and convenience of modern living, as I relax with a coffee while listening to the hum of the washing machine doing the job for me.

One thing that really matters to me is trying to reduce my impact on the environment where possible. Laundry is a necessity that I have to do, but I make sure I do full loads, use a faster washing time and a lower temperature setting. With products like ACE, the laundry process is really optimised helping get rid of stains and germs with ease. So I can reduce the energy and water I use, without compromising on the results. With school age kids this is invaluable. The ACE Stain Remover Spray can be used to target stubborn stains making sure the paint, tomato sauce or grass stains are tackled directly and efficiently within the wash. The ACE for Colours is gentle on clothes and helps prevent colours from bleeding or running, as well as helping shift dingy trapped dirt, grease and odours from fabrics. Whites look brighter and colours look more vibrant, even at low temperatures. My children can rock up at the school gates looking clean and smart every morning - but I can't promise they'll look so smart when they come home at 3 o'clock!

Here's a little photo collage of my littlest two in their school uniforms over the years - please note that there is not a stain in sight!

“This post is an entry for the BritMums #ACEforSchool Challenge, sponsored by ACE. Get help for all kinds of stains with the ACE Stain Helper. http://www.acecleanuk.co.uk/ or to buy head to your local Tesco’s, Morrison’s, Waitrose or Sainsbury’s.” 

Vanish Gold for Whites - three shades whiter whites

Crisp, dazzlingly white washing hanging on the line, blowing gently in the breeze is an evocative image of laundry perfection.  Unfortunately, the reality is often very different. Greying, dingy whites, often peppered with stand out food stains are more likely to be found in my laundry pile.  Kezia's white shirts started off so crisp and white, but over time the brilliant whiteness has given way to dull discolouration.  It's the same for white school socks and Freddy's vests.

Thankfully, I have joined the Vanish Blogger's Club in celebration of the launch of their latest innovation - Vanish Gold for Whites.  It can help get dingy whites up to three shades whiter and can remove stains in just 30 seconds.  No longer the bane of the laundry pile, my whites will soon be dazzling again!

Over the next couple of months, I'll be celebrating my whites and finding out how the Vanish Gold for Whites can reverse the process of greying.  I'll also be discovering how it can help keep whites looking as good as new for longer in the Bed Linen Challenge.  I'm very excited to test this product and hopefully it will revolutionise my washing experience and help keep my family looking smarter in their whites!

I'll be blogging all about it, here Inside the Wendy House!

Let's hope I get Kezia's white school shirts as sparkling as her smiles!

Why I Love My Washing Machine

Back in the late 1950's, when my parents were newly weds they moved in to a caravan to begin their married life together.  A few years later they became parents for the first time - long before disposable nappies were readily available. Terry nappies needed to be soaked and boil washed everyday in a pan on the stove.  My dad had his new post-army civvy job and needed his shirts to be freshly laundered. Clothing was hand washed and mangled before being hung on the line to dry, a feat in itself with a young baby to look after.  My mum coped, because it was the way things were done.

By the seventies, my mum had three daughters, of which I was the youngest.  The laundry demands of  a 70's housewife with three girls and a husband still in need of crisp white shirts was huge.  The old twin tub, which was kept in a full length cupboard and pulled out into the tiny kitchen when the washing needed doing, was a small help.  I still remember my mum with her apron and headscarf on, sweating profusely at the exertion of filling and emptying the twin tub, scrubbing stains by hand and hanging the clothes outside in the backyard on the line that was suspended between the drain pipe and our nut tree.  It took up so much of her time and was labour intensive, as she battled with the noisy, inefficient, juddering second hand machine to get through her mountain of dirty washing.

Fast forward another thirty years and into the world of high tech, convenience and efficient white goods.   I wonder how on earth families survived in a pre-washing machine era.  We are spoilt by the ease in which jobs such as laundry can be carried out today.  We throw in our 8 kg load, add detergent and softener, turn a dial and press a button and as if by magic, technology does the job for us.  We might complain at having to unload the machine and sort out the clothes not suitable for tumble drying, but when I think of what women went through back in the olden days, I know that I am so much luckier than them with my easy care fabrics, stain removers and A rated appliances.

It's easy to take our appliances for granted, that is until something goes wrong and we find ourselves bereft of the convenience and efficiency of modern day living.  I know this through experience - bitter experience!

Back in the days when my dirty washing basket contents were generated by one messy toddler, a fashion conscious teenager, a sporty footballer and a schoolgirl, the unthinkable happened.  The washing machine broke down. First thing to alert us to this disaster was the noise.  The machine had been getting more and more noisy over the weeks beforehand but I simply tried to ignore it and pretend that this was just a normal part of the cycle, rather than the battle cries of a harbinger of impending doom.   This day though, the noise was something else!  Not even turning the radio up to drown out the noise could allow me the delusion of everything being OK.  It sounded like an aeroplane was trying to take off in our utility room.  The house felt like it was shaking in time to the out of control, violently vibrating, movements of the washing machine. Pulling out the wet washing, I found the clothes were smeared with greasy dirt and were peppered with little holes caused by them being pinched between the seals and the wobbling drum. The dirty water hadn't drained properly and spilled out as I tried to salvage my misshapen laundry from my monstrous machine's gaping maw.  The washing machine which had been one of my best friends in the world was now a vicious clothes destroying, stinking water spitting enemy.  It had turned on me.  Whereas I usually sniffed my freshly laundered, floral scented, warm washing as I pulled it from the drum, smiling sweetly at my domestic goddess prowess, I found myself sat in a puddle of dirty water with a pile of soppy wet, holey garments on my lap and crying!

Apparently the bearings had gone.  A common problem with overworked, old and tired washing machines. Thankfully we got a brand, new shiny washing machine to replace the old one which arrived a few days later. The relief of not having to 'wash by hand' was palpable.

When we first used our new washing machine, it was so quiet that we had to check if it was actually working!  We had grown accustomed to our progressively noisier and noisier machine that we had forgotten what a real washing machine should sound like!

Nowadays my BEKO washing machine quietly and efficiently gets on with the job at hand, leaving me free to sit here on my laptop feeling virtuous as I am by all accounts 'doing the laundry' - multi-tasking at its very best!

I feel such admiration for the women that have come before me who have managed to keep on top of their housework, cooking, cleaning, laundering and sweeping, without the benefit of the modern appliances that we take so for granted these days.  We really shouldn't ever complain about doing our daily chores.

Thankfully Ian is far more on the ball now when things look like they might go wrong.  We've learned from our mistakes!  He's there changing bulbs in fridges, fitting drive bands in our vacuum cleaner and replacing seals in our oven door, keeping our appliances working well and extending their useful lives.  Great for the environment and for our pocket!  So hopefully he'll keep our washing machine in good working order for as long as possible, allowing me to take full credit for keeping on top of our mountain of laundry and keeping the family looking smart and well turned out, with minimal effort on my part!

This blog post is my  entry into the Tots100/PartSelect ’Love Your Appliance’ competition.

Harmful Bacteria Found on 1 in 4 Items of Washed Clothes!!

With so many of us using cool wash programs for our laundry, it is a disgusting fact that a quarter of our washed laundry items contain bacteria related to faeces!  Germs are just being swished around in the washing machine creating a bacteria soup that is soaking into our washing.  Ewww!  This means that our 'clean' clothes are often harbouring  potentially dangerous bugs.

Washing clothing in a hot wash is expensive, environmentally unfriendly and damaging to some fabrics, so what is the solution?  How can we kill the germs?

Dettol has a new anti-bacterial Laundry Cleanser which kills 99.9% of bacteria, even at low temperatures.

Putting two capfuls into your fabric softener drawer ensures that the bacteria is killed, even at low temperatures, keeping our families clothing hygienically clean, avoiding contamination and possible infection.  I have been sent a bottle to try out.  It has a Fresh Cotton  fragrance, which is a pleasant and light scent making the laundry smell fresh.  It's easy to use (although you must avoid contact with skin when in it's neat form as it's an irritant) and if we get into the habit of popping it in a wash, we can be confident that we are not transferring germs through the laundry process.  It's really useful when washing towels, underwear, bedding and heavily soiled garments. When using the cool wash economy settings on the washing machine for the family's laundry, I think it's better to be safe than sorry!

                            

A 1.5 litre bottle costs around £4.00 from good supermarkets.

Crazy Soap For Stocking Fillers

Crazy Soap Foam, Goo and Body Paint - Making Bath Time Fun!!

If you are looking for a great stocking filler for the kids this year, why not buy them some Crazy Soap?  They'll have fun as they get clean with the three varieties of soap that turn bath time into play time.  With three varieties to choose from: Bath Time Body Paint, Bath Goo and Foam Soap, Crazy Soap is gentle, moisturising, pH balanced and paraben free.  Bath time doesn't have to be a chore or a battle of wills ever again!  We were sent a bundle to enjoy.

We love their products.  The mouldable, shapable, bouncable foam soap is just brilliant fun.  You can model with the pliable, fruity scented soap foam and then use it to wash.  The goo is thick and gloopy and kids love to scoop it in their hands.  It makes loads of fruity bubbles in the tub.  The body paint applies easily to the skin from the special tube and rinses away with water.  Even 10 year old Kizzy loves using this is the shower.  All the products are so tactile and perfect for sensory play activities with little ones.

I love how these products encourage children to express themselves and get creative - while at the same time getting them clean and encouraging good personal hygiene and an enjoyment of bath time.  I always put toiletries in the children's Christmas stockings and Crazy Soap is perfect for this as it is such a fun range.

Soapy Snowball Fight Anyone??

I've seen it for sale at Morrison's and Tesco and online from Amazon, priced from £2 - £3.

Crazy Soap have a really nice website with fun and games for little ones to enjoy at www.crazyforkids.co.uk

Dizolve Washing Sheets - Revolutionising Laundry!

It is not often that a product comes along which makes me really wonder why on earth it hasn't been invented before!  New Dizolve Washing Sheets have made me do just that.  

This new laundry product has revolutionized the way we can wash our clothes.  No more heavy bottles of liquid and no more bulky and cumbersome boxes of  powder, tablets or liquitabs need to be bought, lugged home and stored.  Dizolve are super concentrated washing sheets that come in a super light and compact pack.  The impact of this design is beneficial to both my cupboard space and to the environment.  Up to 80% less packaging is used and the transportation requirements for the product are massively reduced meaning less lorries on the road.  

Each Dizolve sheet has the concentrated washing power to tackle a load of laundry.  The sheet pops straight  into the drum on top of the dirty washing and dissolves into the water during the washing cycle.  They smell really fresh and dissolve fully into the wash leaving no residue.  They are quick and easy to use, are mess free and work really well.  They are effective in both hot and cold water.  I use a 30 degree wash and they work perfectly at that temperature, making them kinder to the environment and to my pocket.

Dizolve are suitable for all types of machine.  They are powerful, consisting of 90% detergent concentrated into every convenient sheet.  The non-biological formula is kind to skin and to clothes.  They really are a trouble-free solution to laundry and a great alternative to traditional style detergents.

They are available in selected supermarkets or can be ordered online at the website www.dizolve.co.uk where you can also win a year's supply!

Disolve 12 pack is £2.99 and a 24 pack is £5.49 RRP.
Available in Unscented, Fresh Linen or Lavender varieties.