An average American household washes around 50 lbs or 7.4 loads of laundry each week. This shows how important it is to know how to do your laundry. Luckily, it’s not that hard as modern washing machines, detergents, and fabrics make the whole process easier.
If you’re curious about how to do laundry, then here are some tips for you:
Read the Garment Labels
You need to read the labels on your clothes, linens, and other fabrics before washing them. This lets you know if they can be washed in the washing machine or not. Moreover, fabrics have various properties that will inform you how it responds to cleaning solutions, water, and heat.
You can separate the ones that are labeled “hand wash only” or “wash separately.” For labels that say “dry clean only,” you should not attempt washing them on your own and bring them to the cleaners instead.
Sort Your Laundry by Color
You put white, white with prints, pastel, and light gray fabrics in one pile. Meanwhile, it’s advisable to make a different pile for fabrics with deep colors such as dark gray, red, navy, brown, and black.
Clothes that are very soiled need to be separately washed.
Sort One More Time
Group your piles one more time based on their fabric type. For example, in your white pile, sort clothes from the towels and beddings. For the dark color pile, separate shirts and pants from light fabrics such as dresses and blouses.
Separating by fabric will let you know the right water temperature to use, making drying a lot easier. Do not wash fabrics that produce lint and attract lint together.
Choose a Detergent
We highly recommend going for an all-purpose laundry detergent to laundry your clothes. Check the directions to know the amount of detergent to use depending on the size of your load.
If there are stains, pre-treat them first before you wash them so that the stain won’t set in. You can just run a small amount of laundry detergent on the stain or use a stain remover.
After that, put the detergent in the dispenser or water drum before loading them to avoid residue on your clothes.
Choose the Cycle and Water Temperature
It is recommended to wash your clothes in cold water, except if they are very soiled or have many stains. Cold water does the washing job effectively and also allows you to avoid destroying the fabrics.
Do a Final Check
Don’t rush and go through all the pieces before loading your washer. This will help you prevent mistakes at the last minute.
You can check for stains that need to be pre-treated. However, while a lot of stains can be resolved with treatment solutions, some will need the use of special methods.
Stack the Washer
Put the pieces into your washer one at a time and make sure they don’t end up tangling with each other. Also, do not stuff your washer with too many clothes at once. Just make sure that there’s enough space for the clothes to move in the water.
Empty the Washer
Remove your wet clothes from your washer right away to prevent mildew and wrinkles. Then, you can either air dry them, put them in the dryer, or lay them flat to dry.
Conclusion
Doing your laundry is actually a lot easier if you do it more often. One key thing to keep in mind is not accumulating too many dirty clothes since it can be overwhelming to wash them all at once. Simply follow the steps we mentioned above so that you can feel comfortable doing this chore.
