How to Wash Clothes

Before you can wash anything, you have to be able to find it! I have ONE laundry basket for my whole family of five. This stuff about everyone having their own just means something gets missed and you’re doing laundry at 1am the night before the big presentation. So find one big basket and put it in a common area for everyone to use.

Separate the clothes into piles. Whites, darks, reds, towels, jeans and specials. Specials are anything that says “Don’t Wash, Dry Clean Only.” “100% Cotton.” “Gentle Cycle” “Cold Water” and anything else that looks like special instructions. I always separate the reds because there is too much of a chance of the color bleeding onto another and it is easier to do a small load of reds than to replace the favorite shirt I bought years ago.

I always check my clothes for stains or repairs while sorting. If stained spray with stain remover and throw in the pile, most stain removers will say to let it set for awhile to work effectively. Repairs are set aside to be taken to the seamstress or repaired myself.

When you get ready to wash look at the load to determine if it is small, medium or large. Set your water level accordingly. Keep in mind that you want enough water for the clothes to agitate freely not be all bunched up. If you get all the clothes in the washer and they are stuffed together - run more water or take some out! You will just ruin your clothes and not get them clean if they are jammed in there.

Follow the label instructions for the detergent but don’t forget the softener or your clothes will come out of the dryer clinging to each other. Try to choose a softener that you can add to a ball in the beginning like Downy or softener sheets like Bounce, that way you don’t have to remember to add the softener before the rinse cycle.

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to run the washer - use the instruction booklet if you have to. Today’s washers are akin to programming a computer so know what you are doing or choose the simplest wash available.

Dry your clothes in the same groups you washed them in. Blouses and shirts will dry faster than jeans so don’t put them in together otherwise you will end up with wrinkled shirts or damp jeans. Also, don’t dry your towels with clothes, the towels can leave little flakes of material on your clothes that will be hard to remove.

Your wash isn’t done till the clothes are put away. Leaving them thrown in the basket will just wrinkle them and if you did fold them will just crease the folds; either way it increases your chance of having to iron them. So take a few minutes and put them away.

decreases absorbancy

The properties that make fabric softener work for most things make towels, etc much less absorbent.

these days its quite easy to find environmentally friendly detergents and soaps, so use these instead!!! in my experience they work just as well and in some cases better than normal detergent