After many years of great service our mighty Maytag wash machine finally  
did its last load. I wanted to go out and find a similar replacement, but was 
 quickly overruled by the Admiral. So now we have a front loading high 
efficiency  (read-high initial cost) Samsung washer. One of the nice things with 
the front  loader is you can really pack it with items to be cleaned. I 
thought that I  might really tax the machine to death by cleaning things I 
never would have  attempted in our old Maytag. The first item I cleaned was an 
old movers blanket  which had been sitting in the garage for years with all 
the accumulated dirt and  grease. It came out clean and as good as new. Today 
I'm cleaning the cabin  cushions and I'm happy to report that it had 
removed 24 years worth of blood,  sweat and tears......and a little rum thrown in 
for good measure. I used Tide's  HE laundry detergent and chose the hand 
wash/delicate cycle on the heaviest dirt  cycle. I was half expecting them to 
come out in pieces because of their age, but  they actually came out clean 
and in good condition. I also used the  liquid fabric softener dispenser and 
just a couple of drops of bleach. I  figure I saved a ton of money by not 
having to send them out to the dry  cleaners. 
In past years I simply cleaned the cushions with our Hoover steam and vac,  
but this was much easier and they came out cleaner.
 
Rummy