This post was written in partnership with Persil Powergems.

Laundry. It is, without doubt, my least favourite household chore. Gone are the days when Mr H and I could get all our clothes clean over the weekend. I now feel that our laundry pile reaches up to the sky and never gets any smaller. The stack of washing is never ending and I sometimes wonder if the bottom of the laundry basket truly exists. I can’t remember the last time I saw it. But I believe that it’s there and I have faith that one of these days I will see it again – that will be a day of great celebration!

Thanks to Persil Powergems, that day may be sooner than I thought. We’ve teamed up with Persil to trial their innovative laundry detergent. And in honour of the revolutionary gem format of Persil Powergems and its triple powers of stain removal, care and freshness, I’m going to be sharing some of my own laundry gems with you. And they are going to be threefold. Read on to find out more.

Sharing My Laundry Gems With Persil Powergems

My Three Laundry Woes

1. The task of washing clothes is not as simple as just washing clothes. It also involves separating those clothes into darks, colours and lights; loading the washing machine; unloading the washing machine; hanging the clothes up to dry; ironing and then putting the clothes away. And no sooner have you done that with one load of washing then the laundry basket is overflowing once more.

2. Our laundry woes have become worse since Little Miss H started school, as we have to make sure that she has a clean school uniform every day. I still have no idea how one little girl can get covered in paint, pen, chalk, mud and goodness knows what else EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. She is a mess magnet.

Although, I’m probably to blame for this. I’ve always encouraged them to get messy and enjoy themselves. They both love jumping in muddy puddles and making mud pies. And I love this. I want them to be kids and have fun. I don’t want them to be precious about the clothes they are wearing.

3. I often have mini assistants who want to help out when I’m doing my household chores. Little Mister H is fascinated by the washing machine and he loves to press all the buttons. There have been many times when he has managed to change the cycle on the washing machine or put the load on again. This ended in disaster once as some of my favourite jumpers were being washed at 60° for over an hour before I realised what had happened. Needless to say, the jumpers were never the same again.

My Three Laundry Hacks

Okay, that’s enough moaning about the state of my washing basket. Although the laundry of a family of four can seem formidable, over the past few years I have learnt some tricks that can make the whole process easier.

1. Look after your washing machine. When it comes to doing laundry, your washing machine is the star of the show and does all the hard work for you. But you need to look after your washing machine. If you treat it with the care that it deserves then it will serve you loyally for many years to come. Here are three simple ways that you can give your washing machine some TLC:

• Don’t overfill it. Your washing machine will work much more efficiently if the drum is only half full.

• Clean it regularly. Once a month I like to put some white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda in my washing machine and put it on a 30° cycle. This gets rid of any soap scum that might be clogging up your machine and it also gets rid of any nasty smells.

• Turn your washing machine off when not in use. As much as Little Mister H loves to press all the buttons on our washing machine, our washing machine does not like him doing this. Thankfully our new machine has a key lock which we can press on once the machine has started. This allows our mini menace to press all the buttons he wants without changing the cycle or damaging our machine. So we always make sure that our washing machine is turned off at the plug when not in use. 

2. Treat stains immediately. The trick to getting rid of stains is to catch them immediately. Don’t rub at the stain as this will only work it further into the fabric. Instead, blot away any excess. Then wash immediately with Persil Powergems – but remember to check the care label first!

3. Use a laundry detergent that is tough on stains and works hard for your family. I’ve been so impressed with Persil Powergems. They have left all our clothes remarkably clean and fresh smelling. Even on a 30° wash. 

My Three Laundry Successes

When you’re a parent, it is the little victories in life that can make you feel the proudest. Like finding a nappy cream that soothes your baby’s nappy rash, or having a plaster in your bag when your daughter falls over or managing to get two loads of washing done during nap time. And I have to admit that since using Persil Powergems, my laundry woes have been decreasing and I’ve managed to score some laundry gems. Here are three of my recent laundry successes:

1. Little Miss H has been dressed in clean and fresh-smelling school uniform each day. This is a huge achievement. When the laundry pile is never ending, being able to send my daughter to school looking presentable and wearing a uniform that looks as good as new is a parenting win. And it is all thanks to the amazing stain removal powers of Persil Powergems, which seem to be able to tackle all the baked beans, paint, glitter and mud that Little Miss H likes to get all over her school uniform.

2. Our washing pile is smaller than it has been for a long time. Okay, I may not have glimpsed the bottom of the laundry basket. Yet! But the heap of dirty clothes in no longer reaching into the sky. I’m taking that as a laundry gem. Persil Powergems make the task of laundry so straightforward, that you might be able to finally discover the hidden world at the bottom of that mountain of dirty washing.

3. I can still wear my favourite new white top. I recently bought a gorgeous new white top. On the first day wearing it, someone tipped tea on the sleeve. I almost cried and thought it was ruined. But I blotted the stain and then and washed it with Persil Powergems and the tea stain is no more. The triple powers of those carefully crafted gems really did work.

If you would like to find out more about Persil Powergems or try them for yourself, then you can visit Persil.co.uk or you can follow Persil UK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If you have any laundry gems that you would like to share then I would love to hear them in the comments. Have you got any awesome laundry hacks that you need to tell the world? If so, then you can share them on social media using the hashtag #laundrygems.

Hugs

Lucy

xxxx

 

Disclosure:

This post was written in partnership with Persil Powergems and their #laundrygems campaign.