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LAUNDRY

a presoak or laundry booster alone, and require special treatment before washing. Check Appendix B: Stain Removal for detailed instructions on removing those stains. To keep socks from getting lost, place them at the bottom of the washing machine tub, wash them in a mesh bag, or use "sock savers," plastic rings designed to lock pairs of socks together. Do not overload your dryer. Always allow ample room for articles to tumble about freely. Placing too many items in a dryer can lengthen drying time and cause garments to wrinkle. Leaving clothes in the dryer's drum after tumbling has stopped can also cause wrinkling. To ensure optimum drying time, be sure to clean the dryer's lint filter after each use. For the best ways to cope with laundry, check the following sections on Bleaches, Boosters, Clothes Washers, Detergents, and Fabric Softeners. BLEACHES Liquid chlorine bleach is the old standby, having earned its place in the laundry room, bathroom, and kitchen for whitening and removing stains and mildew. But chlorine bleach has its problems, too. The telltale signs of misuse or overuse of chlorine bleach are splotches of faded color or white spots where undiluted bleach has splashed, and fabrics that have faded from vivid to dim or from blue to pink. Nonchlorine, "all-fabric" oxygen bleaches promise the benefits of chlorine bleach without the risk. However, the real story unfolds in the laundry room.