Carole Nevin's Washing Instructions & Handy Hints For more hints and tips, go to the Angela Day website by CLICKING HERE. Each item has been hand painted especially for you. We have taken tremendous care to ensure that this will last a lifetime. However it is important that you take care when washing. It is preferable to wash separately so that the fabric does not pick up the rest of the wash. Kindly ensure that you do not wash your items with a large load of washing. All stains and wax must be cleaned before putting in the machine. If these instructions are not followed rather wash by hand. UVB protected: Therefore it can be exposed to sunlight without fading. I am hand painted and need gentle care please take care of me... You can wash me by hand or in the machine on a gentle cycle in warm water. Wash me on a short cycle. You can tumble dry me. Iron me on reverse side as I am 100% cotton and will crease. Do not spot clean me with harsh detergents. Placemats: If you want me forever... Dry me flat. Do not peg me if you do not want to mark me. Do not squeeze or wring me.    Carole's Nevin's Handy Hints When washing make sure the washing powder is dissolved before adding your homeware. Certain soap powders have strong bleaching agents in them. If powder is poured directly on the fabric, bleached spots may occur. It is therefor important to use a very gentle soap powder when washing your homeware in order to ensure it lasts a lifetime. Drying fabrics in the open air and sunlight keeps them fresh. Our fabric is UVB protected therefor will not fade in th sun. It is important to treat stains as soon as they occur. However, when using certain solvents, use it sparingly. Too much solvent can have an adverse effect on the fabric's colour. BEETROOT: Soak in cold water. Rub washing liquid into the mark with your fingers. If the stain still remains, proceed to soak fabric in warm water and was as normal.     CHEWING GUM: Place the stained garment in a plastic bag and freeze overnight. The gum will scrape off easily.     CHOCOLATES: Rub off gently with a blunt knife. Sponge with a warm water mixture. Rinse off with cold water.     COFFEE & TEA: Soak in a lukewarm detergent solution. Then treat with a dab of methylated spirits.     CRAYON OR WAX: Place stains between two sheets of pape towelling, go over the area with iron, replacing the paper as the crayon adheres to the towelling.     FRUIT OR FRUIT JUICES: Rub the stain with salt before washing. Rinse in cold water and soak in liquid detergent, then wash with normal detergent.     GREASE: Scrape off as much as possible with a blunt knife, sprinkle with talcum powder to absorb the grease then work in neat washing liquid with fingers. Wash immediately.     OIL: Eucalyptus oil is a fantastic oil and grease remover. Using a cotton swab, apply to the stained area and then wash as normal.     TOMATO SAUCE: Rinse in cold water and soak in liquid detergent.     WINE: Cover with salt to absorb the alcohol then soak in cold water and proceed to wash as normal. STAINS Stains usually become problematic if they have dried into the fibres so try to treat the spill as soon as possible. Do not rub; rather blot with kitchen towels and work from the outside to the centre so the stain does not spread. Solid spills must be scraped off first. Soak in cold water with mild washing-up detergent; do not use hot water as it may set the stain. If the stain remains after washing, do not dry or iron as the heat can set it; rather wash again and, if necessary, repeat until the stain disappears. - Soak fabric with coffee or tea stains in cold water - Never put salt on red wine spills - it will set the mark and create a blue stain after washing. Dab with a kitchen towel and leave to soak in soda water or white wine vinegar.