The Crayon in the Dryer...

Well, it finally happened... a rogue crayon in a pocket made it through a load of wash and all the way through the dryer without my knowing. I think this is a rite of passage for mothers, because it's just one of those things that seems to happen to everyone at some point. Like every mother, I check pockets, but still one slipped through.

What astounded me most was the discretion the crayon took... that particular load of laundry included some OLD towels my husband had used for a project (because they were so old I don't care about them at all), t-shirts for my youngest that were likely purchased originally at garage sales and have been worn by three children (again, they wouldn't have been a big loss), and several brand-new / now favorite outfits our oldest two were given for their birthdays or I'd just purchased for their new fall wardrobes. Somehow, not ONE towel or old t-shirt had so much as a mark, yet EVERY brand-new item of clothing was streaked in vivid hunter green. How that was even possible still baffles me. To replace all of the clothes would've been costly and my girls were very sad to see their brand-new favorites stained.... as my oldest lamented, "It was a green crayon! Not even pink or purple." Oh the tragedy!

Immediately, I raced to Google to seek out solutions and consistently read that washing the clothes in baking soda would remove the stains. I was skeptical, but I was also eager to try anything to salvage the clothes. So, I ran the load through twice and miraculously, all but one item of clothing is now perfectly clean! (The one remaining being a new play dress I had purchased on clearance at Old Navy with a small mark on the sleeve.... not too bad!).

So, I am thrilled to report that baking soda really does the trick and I have to say I love living in the modern age where a simple household dilemma can be resolved so quickly with a quick search on the internet!

And now I want to know... what household disasters have you learned to solve through great tips passed on by generations of moms over the years?