The rule in my house growing up was if you were tall enough to reach inside the washing machine, you were old enough to do your own laundry. As an exceptionally tall ten year old, I had nine years of experience with doing my laundry upon coming to university. However (if the horrified faces I’ve seen my building mates donning in the laundry room are anything to go by) this isn’t common practice and the basics of doing laundry are not common knowledge. These are the laundry lessons that I was taught, as well as the ones that I learned the hard way. If you’re new to caring for your own clothes, these tips will hopefully make your laundry experience a little less daunting and dramatic.
1. Separate Colours
In the long run, your clothes will thank you for this. The most frequent colour divisions are whites, darks (black, blue, greens, dark purples), and colours (all things bright and vibrant). Colour-specific loads are ideal for a few reasons. First, because it removes the possibility of one colour bleeding into another. This happens when the dye is not fixed on a fabric. The jostle of the washing machine pulls the colour free from your red PJ shorts and it will settle itself nicely into your white t-shirt, making for a soft pink shade. Another reason that separating loads is beneficial is because it allows for a more even distribution among your loads. If you throw everything you have into one dryer and fill it to maximum capacity, not all of your items will be thoroughly dried. Likewise with the washing machine. Separating based on colour often allows the machines a little more room to do what they need to do.
2. Treat stains before throwing them in the wash.
Your best bet for stain removal involves tending to the stain as soon as possible. Whether you have spot treatment, believe in the club soda method or even just want to rub a little bit of detergent on the stain itself, you want to try your trick before you throw it through the wash. You’re trying to stop the stain from setting and then wash it away.
3. Check the “washing instructions.”
I can’t give you all the info because every item is different. All fabrics and clothing items require different and specific care. The manufacturer puts the info there because those directions give you an idea of how to get the best and longest life out of the clothes. If it says wash in warm water and lay flat to dry, do it. Shrinking your favourite sweater will hurt you more than taking that extra minute to check the labels.
This super cute image courtesy of Pinterest goes through the basic symbols you could encounter.
4. Temperature Settings
Most machines have a variety of water temperatures and heat intensities for you to choose from. These options are available because there each piece has an ideal setting which makes for its best care. Whites can be washed in hot water, whereas dark colours usually do best in cold. These instructions can be found on the tag, which ties in with tip #4.
5. Keep an eye out for the little things
Close zippers, unroll sleeves or pant legs, empty out pockets, unroll socks and unbutton all buttons. Take the extra moment that will allow you to make the most out of each wash; an unravelled shirt will get a better cleaning than if you throw it in all balled up. There’s also no need to send a bunch of bobby pins through the wash with your clothes, if it’s avoidable.
6. Pay attention to the washing machine itself.
High efficiency machines, for instance, usually suggest using less laundry detergent. Every machine is different and each has specific instructions to help you get the most out of your wash.
7. Skip the Fabric Softener
It’s a lesser known fact but fabric softener is no longer recommended by clothing companies. Sure, it smells fantastic, but it actually pulls apart the fibres of your clothing in the interest of producing that softness. To help pieces last longer, it’s best to go without.
8. Hang or Fold away clothes after drying
Leaving clothes piled in the hamper or basket after they’ve come out of the dryer will result in nothing but wrinkles. I don’t know about you, but I don’t even have an iron in my dorm room. So in the interest of not being a walking wrinkle, just get them put away as soon as possible.
9. Stay on top of your laundry
If you wait until you have absolutely no clean clothing left and you’re worried you’re starting to smell, you’ll have a big laundry day ahead of you which can be daunting. If you can maintain a conscious effort to do a load of laundry every week or two, you’ll thank yourself in the end.