Did you know that putting bay leaves in the washing machine provides benefits to your clothes? Here we explain how to give new life to our clothes.
In the past, especially in the Middle Ages, many plants were used to soothe ailments or cure certain diseases and were also used for some household tasks when hygiene products did not yet exist.
Many of these also had something magical about them and many times, plants, spices and anything else were used by wizards, witches and alchemists in literary stories where they used them until they were reduced to pulp and used for their purposes.
Laurel: This is how to use it to wash our clothes
Obviously some of these plants really have beneficial purposes and some of them have become a symbol of something very important over the centuries, just think about how the olive tree was a symbol of Athena .
This is because according to legend, the goddess gave birth to the first olive tree by sticking her spear into a rock and causing the beautiful tree to sprout, which later became her symbol.
Or again, the olive tree is also a symbol of peace , of regeneration, this is because at the end of the flood a dove appeared carrying an olive branch in its beak, signifying the reconciliation of God with men.
Another very important plant, a symbol of peace and victory, is Laurus nobilis , better known as laurel or laurel , an aromatic medicinal plant belonging to the Lauraceae family .
Laurel as recognition
Spread throughout the Mediterranean basin, it is one of the oldest plants present in ancient Greece and ancient Rome and symbolized victory both in sports competitions and in the military field.
For this reason, its branches were intertwined to create a crown that was placed on the heads of the winners of the games and on the most esteemed and grateful characters in the community.
The crown symbolized the highest honor and this tradition has remained alive throughout the centuries, even today, when a university student manages to obtain a bachelor’s degree and is crowned a doctor.
This is because, as happened to the poets who won the writing and composition competitions who became poet laureates , the name of the Degree derives precisely from this plant and from placing the laureus on the head.
popular beliefs
The bay leaf is also the protagonist of some popular beliefs, such as that if you put some bay leaves under your pillow before going to bed and falling asleep you can have prophetic dreams .
Or also having some leaves in the house would help to have well-being and prosperity since it invites you to have the protection of the sun god and it is also said that the laurel tree is never struck by lightning and therefore protects the houses built around it. that.
A symbol of immortality, the bay leaf is also widespread in the food sector, in fact it serves to season the dishes and dishes that we like the most, giving it a very captivating and unmistakable flavor.
It pairs very well with tomato sauce , chickpeas, fish and meat , but in particular together with thyme and parsley it is one of the aromatic plants most used to season roasted , stewed or boiled meats .
An infusion called canario is also obtained from the bay leaf, which is used, once the leaves are boiled, to help digestion and relieve the feeling of heaviness after a heavy meal.
How to use the laurel plant to make our clothes shine
Adopted as the logo for Fred Perry clothing , the bay leaf is also used to liven up clothing when used along with another ingredient in the washing machine during washing.
In fact, it often happens that when using products marketed by large industries to clean and disinfect our clothes, wash after wash they become duller, despite advertising saying otherwise.
For this reason, we always try to find a method that can save the bright colors of our clothes and preserve them over the years almost as if they had been purchased recently without deteriorating over time.
This is possible by simply using bay leaf. To do this, just use a little of this aromatic plant for our clothes along with a little baking soda and the clothes will be as vigorous as before.
However, there is a way to use the plant during washing, you certainly cannot put the leaves as they are in the washing machine because, in addition to having a different effect, you would also run the risk of destroying the device.
What do we need
First we need to have with us some bay leaves and some baking soda . As a rule, to prepare a balanced mixture it is advisable to use 10 bay leaves and 4 teaspoons of baking soda .
Once you have these ingredients, put a saucepan to boil and put the bay leaves and baking soda in it and bring everything to a boil after a few minutes.
In this way, during the boiling process, the baking soda will tend to dissolve slowly while the bay leaves , in addition to giving off a pleasant fragrance, will give off properties that will be useful for washing our clothes.
Once the appropriate temperature has been reached and boiled for a few minutes, we remove the mixture from the heat and drain the liquid into a container or sink, being careful not to burn ourselves.
Once this operation is done, immerse the clothes in the liquid and let them soak for a whole day without adding anything else or removing some clothes or adding others, this could cause problems for the final objective.
After the indicated time, remove the clothes and rinse them in the washing machine or by hand with a normal wash. In this way all our clothes will shine again and will have the same vigor as before, recovering the shine lost in previous washes.
Beyond the laurel
The result will be surprising and this happens because laurel has many properties, including fading and revitalizing color, and that is why this homemade method known to our grandmothers is one of the most effective.
Among others, there are also other methods that use two other completely natural products: salt and apple cider vinegar .
For salt you simply have to immerse a glass of salt in a container full of water and leave it for a whole day and proceed as explained for the use of bay leaves, and also with apple cider vinegar proceed in the same way using at least a full cup submerged in water.
Finally, black tea also seems to be a perfect ally to counteract the faded colors of our clothes. Seeing is believing.