Due to current events, today we are dedicating our TUBIE Ironer and Shirt Ironer Blog to the topic of mould, or more precisely mouldy clothing. As many people know, I have been on the road as a digital nomad for our TUBIE shirt and blouse ironing team for quite some time and spent the last 6 weeks in India, which was also very nice and informative. However, it was the rainy season there and it was very rainy and humid everywhere - even in the rooms. In Kerala, where I stayed for 4 weeks, I unfortunately found that my clothes got damp due to the high humidity in the room and smelled mouldy. Even my backpack got mould stains. Not good, considering that my whole life is currently in my backpack. Of course, I had to get rid of the mould as quickly and effectively as possible, so I asked other backpackers and our shirt ironing team how to get rid of the disgusting mould as quickly as possible.
Detergent
If you can only smell the mould, it is usually enough to wash the clothes a few times with detergent. But since I lived in an ashram in India and we had to wash our clothes ourselves in the old school way with a bucket and detergent, this didn't seem like a very good solution.
Chlorine or detergent additive
If you are not in an Indian village and can find chlorine, soak mouldy clothes in a chlorine solution before washing them. Chlorine kills mould spores and the smell also disappears. But be careful. Chlorine is strongly bleaching and should only be used on white or light-coloured clothes. Be sure to read the care instructions, because not all clothes tolerate chlorine. For coloured clothes, you should avoid it and use special detergent additives from the drugstore.
Lemon juice or vinegar
Since I could not find chlorine or special mould removers in my Indian village, I had to resort to good old home remedies, which is actually always my favourite anyway. Two people from my ashram gave me the tip to try vinegar, which I did successfully. Just put vinegar on the mould stain and then sprinkle it with salt. Then simply place your treated clothes in the sun to dry. The clothes will smell a bit like vinegar, but the mould will be gone. Then wash as usual and you're done. You can also use lemon juice instead of vinegar, as one of my shirt ironers and ironing machine colleagues told me. It also smells nicer.
Baking powder
My TUBIE ironing doll team also gave me the tip to try baking soda. If you have mould stains in clothes, you can moisten them and put baking soda on them and then let it work for about 1 hour. Then wash the clothes as usual and you're done.
Good luck trying it out, your TUBIE Shirt and Blouse Iron Team
Photo: Pixabay