Tuesday Tip: This Move Gets Stains Out of White Clothes

With Memorial Day right around the corner, we're getting ready to bust out our summer whites, and while we're looking forward to finally sporting our freshest garments, figuring out how to keep them looking crisp is another story. So it was pretty fortuitous that we got to chat with Sean Worsley, the silks coordinator at Churchill Downs, on a behind-the-scenes tour while attending this year's Kentucky Derby. Considering he washes more than 600 jersey silks a week using a whopping 35 pounds of Tide (the detergent has been exclusively used at the racetrack for the past decade), it's safe to say he knows a thing or two about doing laundry. Turns out the jockeys are very particular about having their pants appear white and bright, and he often employs this pre-wash trick for removing mud and blood stains.

A lot of the jockeys want their pants extremely white, so I soak them for 24 hours in a bucket of cold water and ice. It shocks [the stain]—no scrubbing, don't even touch it. It's kind of like when you put ice on your body, it reduces inflammation. I think the key is also not to overload [the machine]. If you put too much in, no water penetrates and no soap gets to it. You just end up trying to wash more. Hot water really sets stains, but I do use a warm wash on saddle towels just because there's bacteria and germs. Horses carry a lot of stuff—not just jockeys."

Tuesday Tip: This Move Gets Stains Out of White Clothes

Advice straight from the head of laundry at Churchill Downs, who's tasked with keeping the jockeys' white pants pristine.