Real Simple

I really enjoy the Real Simple website - the magazine is pretty cool, too (and if I could get a great deal on a subscription, I'd subscribe in a heartbeat). They have a lot of good ideas for organizing, decorating, makeup, clothes - you name it, it's on there.

The other day, I was reading one of their articles online - 25 New Clothing-Care Uses for Old Things. I've seen articles like this before and they just tell you the same ol' stuff, so I didn't expect to see anything new. For instance, the first one was "put vanilla, mint, or jasmine tea bags in your drawers to lightly scent clothing"; and the second one was "stuff newspaper into wet shoes to help them keep their shape & dry more quickly". Nothing new there. But the third one made me stop & think. It was so simple - and yet I'd never thought of it before. Get this - use small pieces of velcro in between buttons on a blouse to keep it from pulling/gaping. Huh. How easy is that? I almost always have this problem with shirts that button - and I sew - so why didn't I ever think of this?

Some other suggestions that were new to me:

• put dryer sheets inside shoes to combat odor
• run a threaded needle through a dryer sheet right before you begin sewing to prevent the thread from tangling
• brush the long side of a wire hanger over your skirt or dress, and between your clothing and tights or slip to get rid of static
• use a straightening iron to get between buttons, where a regular iron won’t fit; try it on collar creases and minor wrinkles, too
• to prevent sweat stains on white shirts, sprinkle a little baby powder on underarms and collar, then iron; this forms a barrier that keeps oil and grime from seeping into the threads
• place necklaces and earrings on a length of bubble wrap, roll tightly, and tape closed to keep jewelry tangle-free while traveling (I love this one!)
• use a baby wipe to get rid of hard-to-remove white deodorant marks on your clothing (because a washcloth sure doesn't work, LOL)
• to smooth out delicate fabrics that can’t take heat directly: place a piece of aluminum foil on your ironing board - lay the garment flat over it. Holding down the steam button, pass the iron over the fabric several times, keeping it three to four inches above the garment - wet heat radiating from the foil will zap wrinkles (I guess this is an alternative to hanging it in the bathroom & turning the hot water on in the shower)

There were several other ideas, but they were ones that weren't new to me. You can read the entire article at the link I provided above. You can also subscribe to Real Simple's emails - most of them are pretty interesting - and if nothing else, they remind me to go to the site to see what's new.

Do you have any tips not listed? I'd love to hear them!