Any tips for someone who is starting Laundry on his own relatively new?

Answer 1

I'm going to assume that you mean that you are new to doing your own laundry.

First tip...pretreat stains ASAP. The longer they sit in, the more difficult they are to get out. There are many pretreating products available on the market. Some laundry detergents can also be used as pretreaters, though do this with caution. I have ruined a few items this way, as the laundry detergent was too concentrated to be used straight. Personally, I use plain old dish soap and an old toothbrush to scrub out stains. The dish soap is much milder and haven't found it to harm any fabrics, and the toothbrush is good at working the soap into the fabric.

2: Read the care labels on your clothing. You'd be surprised how many things are recommended as "dry clean only", "gentle cycle" "cold wash only" "line dry", etc.

3: Do your laundry every day or every other day. It tends to build up extremely quickly if you let it sit and only do it once a week. You'll also find that you can make do with having less clothes if you always have something clean to wear.

4: Hang things up if you can, your clothes will last longer that way.

5: Don't use fabric softener on your towels every time you wash them, or they will be less absorbent. Occasionally will be fine.

6: Sort clothes and wash similiar items together. Whites, towels, jeans, lights, darks, delicates. If you wash towels with your sweaters, you are going to end up with a whole lot of lint on your sweaters! This will also help to prevent colors from running.

7: Wash clothes in cold water, except whites (I use hot for whites unless labels say otherwise) or unless the label specifically tells you to use a different temperature. Using cold water saves energy and helps to keep clothes from fading and colors from running.

8: If your white shirt has another color on it, do not use bleach on it. Example: I had a white polo shirt with a small blue stripe around the sleeves and the collar, after bleaching the blue turned a browinsh color. Ick!

9: Add soap first and make sure it is dissolved before adding clothes. I prefer the liquid detergent, I just pour it in as the washer is filling and wait a few seconds before adding clothes. If you use powedered soap, start the cycle with hot water until the powder has dissolved. It doesn't take much. Then just turn the temperature back over to cold.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Tide is a great laundry detergent. Most instructions are on the back of the bottle. Since you are new just to make sure you get your stains out use a laundry detergent that contains already a bleach alternative for colors. Alot of times the new washers have the filling and how to operate the machine instructions under the lid of the washing machine. Yes and always read your tags on your clothes. When you use fabric softener there is a downy ball that you can buy where you can add downy (fabric softner) and put it in the washer at the beginning, and somehow it lets it in the water when ready. Don't forget your fabric softner sheets.( you can reuse these and they work just as well for softening and keeping static out, but the smell is not as much) Good luck we have all been where you have been, and you learn from exsperience. p.s. since you are new never wash your clothes with towels or blankets little lint balls get everywhere, and don't forget to empty the lint collector after every load. Good luck lol

Answer 3

Sort your laundry by color and fabric
Follow care directions on clothing labels
Choose the right cycle and water temperature before starting the machine
Don't overload
Make sure soap & bleach are fully dissolved.
Add fabric softener on the rinse cycle
Dry on "normal" for most kinds of wash (except delicates)

Now, for more details:

Sorting: Separate light and dark things. It also helps to keep heavy clothes like sweats and jeans separate from light-weight synthetics. Very delicate things, like stockings and underwear, should be washed separately. The same with red-colored articles of clothing - they tend to run. You'll notice there's a special setting on your washer for delicates; use it to avoid your machine becoming jammed, unbalanced, or damaging your fine washables.

Loading: Your clothes should be completely covered with water and no higher than the top of the agitator vanes. There is no benefit to overloading a washer. Too big a load means your clothes don't get clean and you risk the possibility of damaging the machine, creating an inconvenience for your fellow residents. Heavy things like towels and sweats can cause a machine to go off balance. In such a case, just lift the lid, redistribute your clothes, and then continue washing. The same goes for dryers. One wash load equals one dryer load.

Answer 4

Well doing laundry for the first time is always an experience! The first thing you need to do is sort your laundry into groups. Whites , colors, jeans, etc. Never use bleach on anything but the whites! (unless it is color safe bleach). I use clorox bleach on my whites. The tag on the garments will tell you how it is to be washed. Use hot water for your whites and jeans and warm water on everything else. If it is a delicate use cold water. (and put it on the gentle cycle). On my colors and jeans I put them on permanent press. With my sheets and towels I put it on regular wash. It all depends on how your washer is set up. With the detergent, follow what it says on the container for how much you use. It usually only takes one scoop of det. for each load. When you are ready to dry your clothes, again follow the directions on the garment tag. Some clothing will not be able to be dried in the dryer. I hope this will be of some help to you. GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 5

When washing whites, use cold water and bleach. Hot water neutralizes the bleach. Hot water is an old wives tale. Wash reds by themselves. Read labels. Dont wash dry clean only at home. Other than that, mix and match and use a good dryer fabric softener sheet so you have that april fresh scent. Pillows-just put in the dryer with a fabric softenter sheet for sweet dreams.

Answer 6

Everyone here gave you really good advice...my only two cents is, it's REALLY sexy for a guy to be good at this. So do what these people tell you and then offer to do your girlfriends laundry, or when you're married do it then. At that point best thing to remember is girls delicates (stockings, camisoles, sexy stuff) wash best when put in a pillow case with a knot and washed that way and dried on light in the pillowcase. Sexy and smart! Plus the fabric softener, it's magic!ty

Answer 7

as some people have told you, doing laundry for the first time is a learning experience. you will learn as you go along. i wash all whites together,(hot water) towels together,darks together, and the lights together.also if an item says dry clean i think i'd do that. i ruined a really nice dress skirt and top by trying to wash it. that taught me a costly lesson.but do pay attention to labels etc.you should be fine you've gotten some really good advice. good luck!

Answer 8

Wash everything in cold water except the whites then use hot water and bleach (with the laundry soap)

Answer 9

i use four different groupings: jeans and pants, delicate shirts and underwear, towels and the fourth group sheets.

sheets and towels i do with hot water to kill the bacteria and you don't have to worry about the fabric spoiling or shrinking. i also put cotton underwear and socks in with the towels, (or the sheets).

for my shirts and nice underwear or nice pants i do in cold water and usually hang to dry so they do not get out of shape and the fabric doesn't spoil. i will dry them sometimes if i am in a rush or if it looks like they need to shrink a bit.

jeans i do in cold water and usually dry so they aren't crusty. i hang them if they are going to be a little tight.

*if you have something new, always be careful when you wash it. if it is dark it might bleed onto your other clothes. if i have something new and black i always wash it with all blacks or alone. also if it's a nicer shirt i usually hang it, because it could get all out of shape as soon as i dry it.

Answer 10

Oh yes I am so glad that you asked. I seperate white and have a bottle of stain remover with bleach. I have a bottle of stain remover without bleach for the colors. You can iron clothes wet to save time spraying water.