Works for Me!

I grew up on a dairy goat farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. It was a wonderful childhood, and I could go on for hours about how amazing goats really are. Because guess what? Goats are amazing animals! They are useful, easy to care for, friendly, and full of personality. My sister and I could tell our goats apart from the sound of their cries. And we had lots of goats, so that's really quite impressive. But I digress. This blog entry is not about goats.

Because of the goats, I grew up participating in 4-H. If you don't know, the 4-H uniform consists of white pants, a white shirt, the 4-H tie or scarf, the 4-H hat, and matching belt and shoes. When in the show ring, a showman makes a statement with the condition of his clothing, particularly in the dairy field, which is very focused on cleanliness. If you were a judge, which showman would you be more drawn to? The girl in dingy, stained whites, or the girl in sparkling, fresh whites? Which presents a more professional, put-together look? Obviously it's the girl with the sparkling bright whites.

Keeping white pants and shirts sparkling and bright is extremely difficult when you are showing livestock and camping at the fairgrounds. Often, we would show for two or three days in a row. My mom was none too fond of the idea of buying fresh whites several times each year. And livestock stains can be pretty tough to remove, even if you use a lot of bleach. BUT...my brilliant mother learned a trick that can make dingy whites a whole lot brighter.

Add 1/2 cup of Cascade powdered dishwashing detergent to your load of whites. Still use laundry soap, and make sure to pre-treat stains. But the Cascade is a fantastic revival trick that I use to this day, even though my goat show days are just a memory. I no longer have show whites to keep clean. I do have my daughter's school uniform shirts, my husband's undershirts and socks, and my son's...well, everything of my son's that has white in it. So break out the Cascade! Make sure you use the powder! And also, wash your white loads in hot water. Happy laundrying! And three cheers for bright whites!

Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family is a fantastic source of information. I've gotten so many great ideas from the wonderful posts that other bloggers link in! Check it out and learn something new today!