While in college, a lot of things happen to a lot of our clothes. Rather than immediately replace clothes and accessories at the first sign of wear and tear, there is a multitude of clothing hacks to help fix our wardrobe and keep it fresh. Here are five of my favorite hacks that I’ve learned and utilized during undergrad.
- White wine removes red wine stains
If you’ve ever spilled red wine on clothing or furniture, you know the initial feeling when you see the beverage take over a surface. For the first few seconds, you feel absolutely defeated until intuition suddenly kicks in, warning you that you have a few crucial minutes to make a quick decision on how to clean the damage. According to Vine Pair, white wine can help dissolve anthocyanin compounds, which is the pigment found in red wine. After putting three solutions to the test – water, store-bought stain-removal treatment, and white wine – they found that white wine is “a surprisingly effective on-the-go solution for diluting red wine stains.” Stained clothing should still be thrown into the washing machine at the end of the day.
2. Club soda removes marinara sauce off light-colored clothing
I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous. My friends were equally as skeptical. Several years ago when it was perfectly safe to eat indoors at a restaurant, one of my best friends accidentally smeared some marina sauce on her pristine white blouse. Our waitress witnessed the incident and immediately ran to the bar to grab a glass of club soda. She instructed the victim to dip the corner of a napkin into the soda, then gently dab it onto the affected area. After 20 seconds, the dime-sized crimson stain had completely disappeared. This may not be as effective for larger damage, but it was certainly mind-blowing!
3. Straws and safety pins return drawstrings to hoodies and sweats
Has a drawstring ever somehow managed to escape your hoodie after a medium drying cycle? Dorm washers and dryers seem to do crazy things. During my freshmen year, I consistently found drawstrings missing from my previously dried zip-ups and hoodies. My roommate at the time grabbed a straw and slid the drawstring inside of it. Then, she pinned a safety pin through one end of the drawstring below the knot inside the straw. Effortlessly, she worked the pin/straw combo through the hole of my hoodie and successfully put the string back where it belonged. This trick is also commonly done with a straw and stapler combo.
4. Razors and masking tape work as a lint roller
Don’t have a lint roller nearby and you’re about to go on stage all decked out in concert black? No problem! Grab a cheap razor from the Dollar Store and keep a roll of masking tape with it in your bag. Place a piece of masking tape on top of the lint-infested area (sticky side down). Then, grab the razor and shave over the masking tape. After a few swipes, pull the masking tape off and see how many pieces of hair, lint, and dust the tape actually picked up! If you don’t have a razor with you, masking tape and duct tape work well on their own. Simply create a circle out of the tape – sticky side out – and quickly dab areas of your clothing to remove hair and lint.
5. Clear nail polish stops ladder rips in tights AND keeps buttons from falling off
This one’s quite the double whammy! Now that it’s winter, a lot of us wear tights and/or pantyhose as an extra layer of warmth to protect from the cold. Unfortunately, the mesh-like material is characteristically prone to snagging and creating ladder rips, which are pesky blemishes that only rip further over time. At the very first sign of a hole, grab a bottle of clear nail polish and paint the unraveling fabric one time, let it air dry, then paint over it a second time. Similarly, if you notice a button on your shirt or jacket is starting to come loose, repeat the steps above: paint it once, let it air dry, and paint it again. This simple act immediately hardens the fibers around the area, which helps slow down the laddering or unraveling process.