Laundry is one of the most time-consuming and mundane tasks in a household. One might even say it’s downright annoying! But there are some things that you may not know about laundry, which can make your life easier. Whether you need to learn how to remove stains or what kind of detergent works best for various fabrics, we’ve got all the answers right here.
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Why Do We Need to Keep Our Clothes Clean?
The cliche “How you dress is how you are addressed” sometimes holds water. Wearing dirty clothes simply means you’re a dirty person. Keeping our clothes clean is health beneficial i.e keeping us away from germs and disease, it also gives people a better impression about us.
Here are some steps to take when doing laundry, how to remove various types of stains, what detergents are best used with certain clothes, and more.
Sort Laundry:
Make sure you sort laundry first. You will need to get one or more laundry baskets depending on how many clothes you have to lauder. Separate lights and darks clothes, as well as sorting by color or fabric type (e.g., towels). As you go, be on the lookout for stains and put any that turn up into a separate pile.
Using Stain Removers:
Make sure you use stain removers for specific types of fabrics before washing laundry. For example, spot treatments should be used on delicate fabrics like silk before laundering them in the laundry to remove tough stains or heavily soiled areas that could otherwise damage clothing.
Take a paper towel and dab the stain on it face-down. To stain, moisten with detergent or remover and gently rub. Allow sitting for a few minutes. Fill a basin with lukewarm water and either Oxy-Clean or all-fabric bleach. Soak the stained goods for 15-30 minutes, rubbing them
Hand Wash:
When laundering laundry, use the gentle cycle and wash in lukewarm water. This will help to keep clothes from shrinking or fading in color. With that said, be sure to avoid using hot water for washing laundry as it can damage delicate fabrics like silk and cause colors to fade over time; also make sure you don’t use too much laundry detergent as this can cause colors to fade.
For delicate fabrics such as silk, hand washing is the best choice. Using cold water will also help to prevent colors from fading in your clothes. Washing with warm water can set stains in so it is best to avoid this.
Wash Whites
White clothes should be washed in hot water with bleach. This helps prevent your clothes from getting stained permanently. If you’re washing laundry in a front loader, fill the washer with clothes. Then subsequently add your detergent, bleach, and softener into the detergent compartment before closing the door and selecting the wash temperature and cycle.
Wash Colors
You should wash laundry in cold water, but if you must use warm or hot make sure to add a color catcher. This will help protect colors from bleeding and getting ruined while washing laundry.
If the laundry is heavily soiled and you need to use bleach, make sure it’s color-safe and diluted before adding them into the washing machine with other laundry items. This will help prevent colors from fading over time.
Drying
Most laundry will need to be dried after washing if it is not going directly into a closet or dresser. Be sure that laundry has been taken out of the machine as soon as the cycle ends and placed in a dryer immediately. If you don’t have enough time to wash laundry, make sure you hang clothes up around the house (e.g., laundry room, bathroom). If you’re using a dryer to dry laundry make sure the temperature is on low and that your laundry doesn’t get over-dried or become overly wrinkled when hung up for drying later.
Ironing:
Iron laundry after they have been in the dryer. If you need to, hang laundry up before ironing so that it does not wrinkle when ironed later on. When doing this, make sure a press cloth is being used over your appliance and use low heat settings so colors don’t get ruined from getting pressed under high temperatures.
Wrinkle Free:
To avoid ironing clothes after they’ve been in the laundry you can hang laundry to dry. If this isn’t an option, use the lowest heat setting on your iron and put a press cloth over it before ironing laundry so that they come out wrinkle-free after laundering clothes!
Folding & Hanging:
If the laundry is still slightly damp after washing, you might consider hanging it in a laundry room or folding and placing the laundry in drawers. If laundry has been dried completely in a dryer, hang clothes up on racks around your home to prevent wrinkles from forming. You can also place folded laundry into dresser drawers if they are dry and ready to iron.
Hanger Marks:
To avoid laundry hangers leaving marks on clothes, try placing a soft cloth over the bar before hanging clothing up in your closet or dresser drawers. This will help prevent any damage from occurring when using laundry hangers to hang laundry out of the dryer!
Extra Laundry Tips
Adding Salt: Add a little salt into your laundry detergent to make it last longer and prevent any residue build-up on clothing. The added benefit of using salt is that it will also help with any odors!
Using Bleach: Be very careful when using bleach because it can ruin clothes if you use too much of it! If you’re looking for a way to brighten laundry, try adding in some color-safe bleach when laundering clothes.
Don’t use fabric softener: Don’t do it! Fabric softeners can clog up your laundry machines and prevent them from working properly. If you’re looking for a way to soften laundry then add vinegar into the wash instead of using a dryer sheet or liquid fabric softener.
Don’t use fabric softener or bleach with towels and other fabrics that are rough in texture because it could damage them over time. Fabric softeners will also make clothes less absorbent.
Using laundry hangers: If you’re looking to use laundry hangers around your home, try placing a small piece of cardboard over the bar before hanging laundry up in your closet or dresser drawers. This will help prevent any damage from occurring when using laundry hangers to hang laundry out of the dryer!