Wednesday Wash Wisdom - Soak Bucket
Ahh, summer. Refreshing swims, family picnics and a whole new crop of stains. Yesterday I took the kids black raspberry picking. We came back with enough berries for two pies and a couple of shirts spotted with dark purple juice. The boys’ shirts went directly into the soak bucket.
My soak bucket has been a constant in the stationary tub for five years. An old dishpan, I guess that’s what it’s called, that I got at the dollar store, serves as the vessel to hold all stained t-shirts, socks that are black on the bottom, and Merritt’s dirty bibs. Lots of trends, ideas and novelties wear off well before five years, but the soak bucket’s longevity is a testament to its worth. I’d rank the soak bucket up there with the Cuisinart, the DVR, and 2-in-1 face scrub and mask. Stuff that makes my life easier.
About two times a week I fill it with fresh water and a mini-scoop of Tide. Sometimes I throw in some Oxy-Clean if there are a lot of white things to soak. When laundry day comes, TaDa, stains are usually gone (Note: usually, because sometimes I screw up and forget the soak bucket or miss a stain). If they aren’t gone from their swim in the bucket, then I squirt them with something, and we are stain free. (See above Note – again!)
So my Wednesday Wash Wisdom is to make a soak bucket a mainstay in the laundry room. Save your self some scrubbing and heartache over the stain on your new t-shirt. After a while your family will even know how to throw their dirty socks in it.
9 Responses to “Wednesday Wash Wisdom - Soak Bucket”
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June 27th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Though there’s no room in my laundry room for a soak bucket, I sometimes use my kitchen sink (which is 5 feet from my laundry “room”.
I’ve never used oxy clean.. is it just for whites?
I do squirt a greasy stain with Greased Lightening then launder… works like a charm!
June 27th, 2007 at 11:21 am
I have a big, deep sink in my laundry room, but “other peopl” fill it with plants and other things that make a soak bucket impossible. That said, it’s a great idea and I wish I had thought of it first.
June 27th, 2007 at 11:22 am
people….sorry
June 27th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
I have a this plastic tub thing that my mom forced me to take home from the hospital. It’s become my “soak bucket.” I cannot believe I was actually going to leave that thing in the hospital room!
I use water & Oxyclean to soak my stains in, but it never actually occured to me to keep water & Oxyclean in the tub and just throw stuff in there as I go. Excellent idea! I guess that’s why you’re “Lessons From the Laundry” though!
June 27th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Ahhh, … the soak bucket. Does great things, but its just a pain. First you’ve got to remember to put the socks that are filthy from planting some new bushes or from cutting the grass. Then you’ve got to weave through the baskets of laundry littering the floor of the laundry room. Followed by an accurate shot into the bucket - an inaccurate requires more weaving to get closer and then to reach into the sink and redepositing the socks. The other thing about the soak bucket is that its just big enough to occupy most of the deep sink, but not so big that its not possibble to use the sink for other things - so when filling the flower watering jug its not acceptable to use the kitchen sink - and when filling the flower watering jug the soak buckets makes it just hard enough to squeese it into the sink and get the faucet to aim into the fill hole.
But if the soak bucket makes life easier for mdw, then I can live with the weaving and squeezing.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
What a good idea! I am going to be so good in the laundry department with all these tips I’m collecting from your Wednesday Wash Wisdom!
Jane, P&B Girls
June 28th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Oh this is such a good idea. We are currently house hunting and you have just added another “must” to my list: Counter space in laundry area for a soak bucket!
June 29th, 2007 at 12:42 am
I don’t have a laundry sink, so I usually use a bath sink. We get lots of stains too-especially in the summer. I have always used Clorox 2, applied directly to the stain and it almost always comes out! No soaking needed. I’ve also heard that Dish Det. helps get out food/grease stains. I guess it breaks down the grease like it does on your dishes. LOL!
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June 29th, 2007 at 9:01 am
How funny - my latest is a soak sink (no sink in basement by washer - bummer). I just found that OxyClean and a little water directly on the stain, including evil mashed banana, gets anything out. Anything. I envy your washroom sink!!!