Laundry Shortcuts From Bounce, Tide, Downy, and Dryel: A Review

Laundry. Like it or not, we all have to do it. I recently received a selection of complimentary laundry samples which aim to make life that much easier. So how did they fare when I put them to the test? Let’s find out!

I must admit, I don’t iron frequently. That must make me sound slovenly, but most of the fabrics I wear don’t require pressing, and it takes so much time that I usually don’t bother unless I have a finicky outfit that needs it. So when I received a bottle of Bounce Ironing Spray, I was curious to try it out and see if it would make the task more efficient.

The day I planned on testing it out, I saw Jai spritzing one of his shirts with a water/deodorizer mixture. He was moistening it so that he could toss it back into the dryer to relax some wrinkles in the shirt. I told him, “Stop! Let me iron it so I can test out this new spray!”. Here’s how it looked before ironing – you can see there are some wet spots on the shirt from where he sprayed it with the deodorizer mixture:

To use this product, you spray it over the fabric and then iron. The idea is that it crisps your fabric without using starch, as well as acting as a moistening agent for the iron. The biggest lesson I learned while using it is that you have to be very sparing. The nozzle accidentally got switched to “Stream” instead of “Spray”, so my first spritz of this product saturated the shirt. When you spray too much of this product on, it leaves a residue on the fabric. Even when I put it on the right setting and tried to spritz on less, it still seemed to leave the fabric damp after ironing. On the plus side, they’re not kidding about the starching effect – it really does stiffen the fabric, which is nice. It also has the same fantastic smell as other Bounce products, which Jai and I both liked.

Here it is after ironing. I didn’t do a very good job – I’m still recovering from a knee injury and it hurts to be on my feet for too long, so I ran out of steam (no pun intended) and had to finish the job quickly because I needed to get off my knees. Since the shirt was damp in spots from the spray, I ended up tossing it into the dryer for a few minutes after taking this picture.

I think Bounce spray could be useful to those who do a lot of ironing. I’ve added it to my laundry shelf and will try it again the next time I need to iron something.

The next product I received, Downy Wrinkle Releaser, was more up our alley. This is a spray which asserts that it can remove wrinkles without ironing. I’m all ears! I asked Jai for another shirt that needed ironing, so that I could put this no-iron spray to the test. Here is the shirt before using the product:

Using this product couldn’t be easier. You simply spray it over the item of clothing, tug and smooth the fabric, and hang it to dry. Here is the shirt hanging up after applying the spray:

Here is the shirt after it dried:

I’m really impressed with how well this worked – what a great product! I think this will work a lot better for Jai than spritzing his clothes with deodorizer and tossing them in the dryer. 😀

Downy Wrinkle Releaser also comes in a 3 oz. version! This would be absolutely ideal for traveling – there’s been many instances where I’ve arrived at my destination with wrinkly clothes, and ironing just isn’t a possibility. This doesn’t just happen while traveling by air, but on long car rides as well. If you have a formal celebration or business event to go to, this can be frustrating; even if it’s just a vacation, clothes tend to wrinkle up in your suitcase. This spray would be perfect to bring along – and since it’s 3 ounces, it meets FAA standards to take in your carry-on luggage.

Another travel-themed item that I received was a Tide Odor-Absorbing Travel Bag which you can tuck inside your suitcase to avoid airing your dirty laundry. In addition to keeping your dirty clothes separate from your clean outfits, this bag is also supposed to be odor absorbing. According to the packaging, “The Tide Odor Absorbing Travel Laundry Bag is a great way to keep smelly clothes away from your clean clothes when you are on the go! It stops odors before they spread! The fabric is infused with special technology which traps and eliminates odors commonly found in your laundry. The technology delivers a layer of anti-bacterial protection that inhibits the growth of bacteria and mold caused by wet or deeply soiled laundry.” Is that ingenious or what?! Normally when I travel, I wrap my dirty laundry in several plastic bags before packing it in my suitcase. I’m looking forward to replacing those plastic bags with Tide Travel Laundry Bag next time I go anywhere!

Another travel item I received was a Bounce Lint & Freshness Roller. Lint rollers are so useful for everything from dusting off your clothes to your furniture. I can see how having a miniature one on hand could be really useful – and what makes this lint roller unique is that the sticky lint rolling sheets also have a refreshing scent. It even coordinates with the scent of the Bounce Ironing Spray. Love it!

And last but not least, we have the Dryel On the Go Stain Pen. This pen is meant to spot treat stains anytime, without washing the item. I had a chance to test this out the other day, when I dropped a ballpoint pen and got an ink stain on my pajama pants. I figured I’d give the Dryel Pen a try, but I did not expect that it would make any difference – ink stains are so difficult to get out, and I didn’t think that this type of product would be effective. Here’s a picture of my pants before I used the pen – I had a hard time picking up the stain in the photo, but it was a noticeable ballpoint pen streak.

The instructions said to place a napkin behind the clothing before using the pen – I didn’t have any paper napkins handy, so I used a coffee filter instead. You squeeze the pen to release the stain removing liquid, and then use the scrubber-shaped head to work the product into the fabric and work the stain out of the fibers. To my surprise, the ink stain vanished right away – I was so impressed by this, because ink is so difficult to get out of fabric! Here’s the “After” picture – I actually had a hard time locating the area to photograph, because the stain was gone completely and I had to try to remember where it had even been to begin with!

This is perfect for emergencies on the go – you can continue wearing the item of clothing after applying the product, because the stain remover dries fairly quickly. Hats off to Dryel!