Why you should include your freezer in your laundry routine

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Tired of dragging your laundry to the laundromat or fighting for a machine with other tenants in your building? Look no further than your kitchen next time you need to do laundry: Your freezer can actually help you with five common laundry headaches. Read on to see how!

1. Get Gum Out Of Your Clothes

Getting gum on your clothes can be a sticky mess, but your freezer can help. After taking off as much as you can, put the item into the freezer. Once the gum has hardened, use a knife to scrape it off.  As a final step, use a clean toothbrush to brush away any last remnants of gum, then launder the garment as usual.

MORE: Sanitize laundry to remove more germs and bacteria

2. Stop Your Sweaters From Shedding

Putting your knits (those made from natural fibers like cashmere or merino wool) in the freezer will shrink the fibers, curtailing shedding. Just be sure to put your garment in a freezer bag, first!

stack of knit sweaters in neutral colors
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3. Remove Smells From Jeans, Shoes And Clothing

Your freezer can kill bacteria as well as odors; simply stick the item in the freezer (in a freezer bag, please!) overnight and wake up to funk-free clothing and accessories! This trick works particularly well for jeans, as you may not want to wash them frequently and risk fading.

4. Freeze The Runs In Your Tights And Nylons

Tired of your tights or nylons getting a run right when you put them on? Use your freezer to combat this irritating fashion faux pas! As with the knitwear tip above, the cold shrinks fibers and can make your dainty tights a little hardier.

MORE: 5 secret ingredients to add to your laundry

Whenever you buy a new pair, run them under water, then put them in a bag and freeze them overnight. Defrost them the next day, air dry and enjoy your new run-resistant stockings!

Young woman in black ripped tights sitting in armchair
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5. Get Rid Of Pests

Have moths, dust mites, or other bugs made holes in your clothing or bedding? Impede their infestation and prevent against future pests by popping those items in the freezer overnight.

Then, toss them in the wash to remove any final traces of pests (which are often invisible). We recommend using the hottest water possible for this task, often the “whites” setting on your washer, followed by the “sanitize” setting on your dryer.

What do you think? Will you be sticking any garments in your freezer anytime soon?

MORE: Dryer sheet alternatives: Why you may not want to toss in a dryer sheet with your next load of laundry

Cleaning & Organization, Home, Life Hacks
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About the Author
Natalia Lusinski
In addition to Simplemost, Natalia is an ongoing writer for Bustle (sex, dating, relationships, and money), HelloGiggles (pop culture and news), The Delite (feel-good stories), and Don’t Waste Your Money (yep, money issues!). You can also find her writing in the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune's RedEye, xoJane, Elite Daily, Scary Mommy, Elephant Journal, and Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, among other publications. She has a Ph.D. in couch-surfing, having spent four years sleeping on over 200 L.A.-area love seats and sectionals, all in an effort to whittle down her student loan debt. She still loves couch-surfing in other cities, too (hint, hint).

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