“Mommy! Let’s go to the park and play make believe! Will you spend time with meeeeeee?!” I looked down on the bridge of our two-story stairway to see Juliana’s big brown puppy dog eyes staring straight into mine. Juliana and Jude love playing outdoors at every chance they get. And when Juliana or Jude ask to go outside and play…you. will. play.
Call it mom guilt or wanting to spend every moment living in the present with my children, but I love it when they ask me to spend time with them. Albeit the timing of trying to finish urgent projects and meeting deadlines – it can all wait when it comes to my children. They have such innocence and joy that I need more of in my life while adulting. And outdoor adventures are quite adventurous – you’ll find them (and me) rolling around the grass, stomping all over the playground made of sand and rocks to play tag, picking flowers and identifying what they are, and teaching what little I remember of tennis at our master planned community’s tennis courts. There is never a dull moment when it comes to play time, and play time increases significantly during the fall and spring months here in Las Vegas when our weather is at it’s peak of perfection.
Kids will be kids – except when it comes to smelly laundry and stains! I cringe at the thought of temperatures warming up here in Las Vegas, because stains AND smells are even more prevalent with the kid’s favorite clothes (and most especially their basic cotton t-shirts). But I’ve learned to embrace the consistency and do something about it!
I can attest to the morning fights with my little ones getting dressed. I’ve caught them on several occasions trying to re-wear the same clothes they’ve worn the day before…and the day before that! They try to be subtle and nonchalant about it, but once you get a whiff of them nearby and it is apparent that their outfits are dirty. The biggest offender is my youngest daughter, Juliana! She loves all things fashion, style, and definitely has her own unique sense of style. Once she finds cotton t-shirts that she loves, she doesn’t care how dirty or smelly they get, she will wear them over and over and over AND OVER again!!!
With Clorox® Bleach and cotton, I know I can keep my whole family’s favorite white clothes fresh and clean, even when culprits like Juliana and Jude (and Noah and Jasmine – heck and even my husband, George – what can I say, he loves those skinny white pants haha!) are wearing theirs on repeat. And with Clorox and Cotton Incorporated as the perfect pairing, together they keep clothes fresh and looking newer for longer. You see, Clorox® Regular-Bleach2 has a legacy of fighting stains.
But did you know that Clorox® Regular-Bleach2 also fights odor and sanitizes every load of your bleachable laundry?! Clorox® Bleach is best at killing bacteria in clothes that cause odor. Be sure to use it in every load of bleachable whites for odor-free laundry. And for those of you who have High-Efficiency (HE) washing machines – Clorox® Regular-Bleach2 also cleans and removes odor causing bacteria from your HE laundry machine at the same time you are cleaning your clothes.
And cotton has a legacy of being a favorite fabric because it’s soft, durable and easy to care for. Juliana and I are people of texture – meaning we love the feel of textures equally to the smell (and taste if we’re talking food). Juliana loves being comfortable as much as she loves her own sense of seven year-old style, and cottons have never been turned away from her royal highness, Princess Ana! She loves the feel and texture of cotton (as do I). From the towels in our bathroom, to the clothes we wear throughout the day, to the sheets we snuggle into each night, cotton is the fabric of our lives for a reason and in every season.
Oh, and it’s also the best choice to fight odors because cotton has less odor retention than other fabrics. Odors are more effectively removed from cotton than polyester fibers during washing. Odors adhere more strongly to polyester fibers and polyester typically repels water, in contrast to cotton, which means cotton tends to retain less odor. Since cotton is a natural fabric, cotton apparel tends to be wearable longer, and biodegrades more readily than many synthetics.
Can I get an “Amen!”?!
Here’s some fun science I know you’ll find interesting as a parent who does laundry for yourself and your family – “how odor build-up occurs in fabric”:
1. Odor build-up in fabric, the reason favorite t-shirts begin to smell, happens. When the transfer of bacteria and sweat to fabrics such as cotton occurs, odor generates within the fabric itself. Then, the transfer of “odorous” mixtures produced by a person’s body is absorbed by the fabric. Ewwwwww!
2. By choosing non-synthetic fibers like cotton, which tend to produce and trap fewer odors in the first place and release odors more easily during washing, users have less odor retention. Ahhhhhh!
Additionally, adding Clorox® Regular-Bleach2 not only removes tough stains and keep whites brighter longer, but sanitizes laundry to kill 99.9% of bacteria, which causes odor. Here are some Laundry 101 basics when it comes time to do your next load of laundry with Clorox® Regular-Bleach2.
Laundry Time 101*:
*For laundry use on cotton or bleachable fabrics (avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, spandex and non-fast colors), for whitening and/or stain removal.
Step One: Sort laundry by color
Step Two: Add detergent
Step Three: Fill bleach to maximum line or level in dispenser OR add measured amount of bleach to dispenser or wash water
Step Four: Measured amount:
• 1/2 cup/4 oz. for standard machine or high-efficiency machine wash
OR
• 1 cup/8 oz. for extra-large washer or heavy stains or soiled load of laundry
Step Five: Add clothes and start wash
And ta-da! Your solution to smelly and stained cotton whites (or for brightening your cotton fabrics). When Clorox approached me about partnering with them, it was a natural fit because we both have a goal in mind – to help parents! And Clorox and Cotton Incorporated want to help parents eliminate odors and keep their – and their kids’ – favorite cotton items looking brighter and smelling fresh. We created a giveaway for all of our readers: share a picture of you and your child styled in his or her favorite white, cotton clothing item for a chance to win a Clorox® Bleach prize pack, including a gift certificate to a cotton-friendly retailer. Giveaway challenge ends in one week.
Are you in or are you out like a stain on a white cotton tee??? Hehe. Be sure to leave a comment to let us know you participated!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Clorox. The opinions and text are all mine.
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