Follow these 10 basic steps and laundry hacks for washable clothes and you’ll always have clean laundry.
Final Tips
Mistakes happen. Everyone makes them but here’s some help to save the day—or your favorite shirt.
Care of Cotton Fabrics Care of Synthetic Fabrics Care of Wool Fabrics
Place all clothes that are labeled “wash separately” or “hand wash” into separate piles. If the label says, “dry clean only,” believe it and place it in a bag to take to the dry cleaner. There’s no need to risk damaging any special fabrics by trying to save time or money and tossing them in the washer. In the future, try to avoid buying delicate items if you prefer not to deal with special laundry care.
Whites, pastels, light grays, and white background prints will go in one pile.Deep colored clothes—black, red, navy, brown, dark gray—go in another pile. Heavily soiled clothes should be washed separately.
Washing by fabric type allows you to use different water temperatures and keeps drying cycles simple. To reduce lint, never wash lint producing fabrics and lint attracting fabrics together! If there are not enough items for a full washer load of each type of fabric and you are in a hurry, you can wash all items of each color together. Just be sure to choose the washer cycle to fit the most delicate garments in the load. If your clothes have stains, pre-treat them before washing so it doesn’t set in. Simply apply a stain remover or rub in a bit of laundry detergent. Add the detergent to the washer drum or dispenser before loading it. This will prevent residue on your clothing. The exception is cotton underwear and bedsheets that need hot water to remove body oil. Bed linens and towels need to be washed at the highest recommended temperature at least every other wash to sanitize them. No matter the temperature, always rinse in cold water. You will also want to choose the best washer cycle for the fabrics in the load. The “normal” cycle will be fine for most loads, but you may also need to use “permanent press” or “delicate” for certain fabrics. “Heavy-duty” is great for articles like jeans and towels. Look for any stains and pretreat them. Certain types of stains require special techniques to remove them, while many can be handled with a spot treatment. There’s also a proper approach for mystery stains when you’re not sure what caused it. Also, check that all pockets are empty—no tissues or paper, either—to prevent disasters. Remove any accessories such as belts and jewelry. Close all zippers, VELCRO, and buttons to prevent them from catching the fabrics. To protect fabric finishes and reduce the “washed out” look, turn knitted items, corduroy, textured fabric, and dark colors inside out. There are many good reasons why you might consider line drying your laundry. Chief among those are saving energy (and money) and less damage to your clothes. Not everyone can do this, though, because of space and weather restrictions. If you are able, be sure to get a few tips for hanging clothes on the line.
Save a Shrunken Sweater Remove Dye Bleeding Save a Iron-Scorched Garment
Laundry is much less overwhelming if you do it frequently. If you let a mountain of dirty laundry accumulate, it can become scary. It may feel like a hassle to go to the laundromat, so find ways to make the trip better like using the time to read, relax, and enjoy the scent of your fresh laundry.
