How do you do laundry?

Question

I'm doing laundry for the first time and I have no idea what to do. I have the money to pay for it and I have stuff like detergent, bleach, etc, but I need to know exactly what to do. All I know is I have to seperate colors, but what else? I'd love some advice in my time of need.

Answer 1

Laundry is a pain in the ***, but if you would like to move about our society, it must be done! And for some of you, college might be a time where mommy can't do your laundry any more and it's time to learn how to do it yourself. Here is an easy-to-follow list that should leave you with clean smelling laundry that doesn't seem to be smaller or a different color than when you started:

1.
Separate you clothes.
Before doing laundry, read the tags on all of your clothes. Some clothes need to be washed in cold water and dryed on a lowsetting or else they will shrink. Some clothes, on the other hand, are more durable and won't get clean if you wash them in cold water.

Your clothes should be separated into the following piles:
Lights/cold (light gray, pastels, white, anything that will pick up bleeding and will shrink in hot water), Darks/cold (black, red, dark blues or greens, anything that will change the colors of your other clothes and will shrink in hot water), Lights/hot (light colored sweatshirts, socks or pants that will not get clean in cold water and can also pick up any bleeding) and Darks/hot (this includes jeans, dark colored sweatshirts, socks, anything that will bleed and needs to be well cleaned).

Note: It is possible that your clothes cannot be washed. If your label says, "Dry Clean Only" then do not put it in the washing machine—it will get ruined. If you do not want to take your clothes to the Dry Cleaner, try a Dryel—a home dry cleaning kit for your non-washable clothes works well. Also, bras (especially underwire) should be washed on a delicate setting, and the more delicate ones should be air dryed—these are easily ruined.

2.
Put your clothes in the washing machine.
Before adding your clothes, pour in your detergent. Liquid detergent is more effective than powder, and any brand will do (Tide is the most popular). If you have a lot of clothes, pour an entire capful of detergent into the machine. If you do not have a lot of clothes, pour only a small amount in—liquid detergent is concentrated and if you add too much your clothes may come out feeling stiff and uncomfortable. After adding detergent, put your clothes in. Do not overload the machine. Just add whatever fits comfortably—never press your clothes down to fit more. The machine may tear clothes and simply will not clean them if it is overloaded.

3.
Set the machine.
Once you have put your clothes in, select the correct setting. If you are washing delicate clothes select a Cold/Cold temperature setting. For regular loads select a Hot/Warm temperature setting, and for especially dirty clothes select Hot/Hot. Also, select the load size. If you have filled less then half of the machine your load is small, for half the machine the load is medium, and for more than half the load is large. Then turn the dial to select how long you want your clothes to wash for and wait. The machine will go through several cycles of rinsing and spinning and it will stop completely when it is finished - normally 30-45 minutes.

4.
Dry your clothes.
If you would like to make your clothes soft, now is the time to add a fabric softening Dryer Sheet (you can also buy fabric softener in a liquid form and add it during the wash cycle, but you have to have a special fabric softener dispenser built into the machine or else know the right time to add it—this can be overly complicated, so dryer sheets work best). You can add two dryer sheets if you have a particularly large load of laundry or you would like a load to be particularly soft—but be careful, too many can leave a residue on your clothes or be particularly smelly. Next, add your clothes to the dryer and make sure that the lint trap is empty (always empty the lint trap, if it is full it can take hours for your clothes to dry). Select the temperature you would like to dry you clothes on (lower temperatures for more delicate clothes, higher temperatures for thicker clothes like jeans and sweatshirts), and turn the dial to select the length of time you would like to dry your clothes. Remember, the lower the temperature the longer it will take to dry, the higher the temperature the smaller your clothes will be when they are dry. Now it is up to you to decide what you'd like to do.

Fold your newly clean clothes up, or just throw them into the "clean" pile in the corner. Either way, you did it! You washed your own clothes. Contratulations—welcome to the real world. Sucks, don't it?

Answer 2

Ok dude.. first of all don't do the whites first. Do those last. First do the darker colors (like dark blue, black) basically anything that says wash in cool or cold water. Wash that first. Use a good detergent like Tide or Cheer (surf leaves some residue! I don't use it anymore). For washing I usually let the washer fill up half way with the soap and the water before I put the clothes in. Just follow the cycle and when it gets to rinse (you will hear the water start dropping in the washer) put in the Downey (softener) in when about the tank fills up half way again. Then let run through and should be done in a few minutes. After that throw it in the dryer, use one of those lint things (bounce) and dry it...but be careful to not put the power of the drying machine too high for color clothing as that can make the color fade much faster..put it in delicate or normal...just repeat for the warm type clothing (it will say on the tag either cold, warm or hot) and for the hot (which is usually the whites) NEVER use bleach for color clothing! Your clothes will turn white only use bleach on white clothing that says you can use bleach....Even if your shirt or pants are white don't assume it's an automatic white clothing read the tag...very important...well that should be it...just remember not to over dry the clothes or they fade (the colors) for the whites it doesn't really matter (since most are under garments like undies and socks...

cgminime..sure..for a price :P

Answer 3

You don't need to separate each color, just dark from lights. You should only bleach towels and bed sheets, and white clothing unless the label says not to bleach them. Towels and sheets should be bleached to get rid of germs. Most new towels have a tag that says, "Do not bleach." They say that because bleaching will eventually fade the color of the tile, something I don't mind, so I opt for germ free towels rather than nicely colored ones. You also need to separate clothes that need to be washed on the delicate cycle and clothes that should be washed in certain water temps. All the instructions regarding temperature and washer settings can be found on the clothing tag.

Once you've got them separating into piles, turn the water on, add the prescribed amount of detergent and bleach if you're using it, then add the clothes.

Your dryer will have similar information about settings. My own rule is that I never wash clothing in hot water and I never dry them on a high heat setting. This can shrink them, especially cotton and denim.

Happy laundry day.

Answer 4

You could start by taking all of the white things and the ones like towels that don't tend to lose their colors. Throw them in on a cycle ofhot water with bleach and detergent. They are probably the bulk of your wash anyway.

Take the rest and put the m in a cold water cycle with detergent. That will keep the colors from running and ruing the other bright-colored clothes.

Start with a name brand detergent like TIDE. Add the amount that it says on the label using the measuring cup that came with the detergent.

That advice is so conservative that you can't go wrong.

Answer 5

You're doing your laundry and you're on your computer asking Answers how to do it??? Oh well. I've always heard reading the instructions on the detergent bottles was a good way to get started, but I guess with all the computers, etc., reading isn't a viable alternative for you. But, if you can read, and are willing to put out the effort to do so, "Beautiful Brunette" appears to have the best answer by far, although I haven't read it word-for-word, the parts I have read are accurate, and she's put a lot of effort into her answer. Then again, lo0olita's got an answer that's sounds more like my reaction to your question, as does "samanta R". But, upon final review, "Tray B" has the answer most appropriate for me. My wonderful wife goes and gets my dirty clothes, whether they be in the dirty clothes hamper, or in the laundry basket next to the washing machine, or my really sweatty work clothes she hung across the back yard fence so the sweatty smell won't smell up the utility room, or my towels hanging on the various towel racks on the several bathrooms that I consider mine, and she takes them to the utility room, washes them, dries those that can be dried, hangs up the shirts that I don't want dried in the dryer, and hangs my towels up on the proper towel racks in the proper bathrooms, and then folds my handkerchiefs and socks and underwear and puts them back on the shelf in my closet where I can easily reach them, and she NEVER lets me run out. Now SHE'S "da bomb"!! But, of course, before she came along, I did my own laundry for many years, very successfully too, whether at laundramats or my own washer and dryer at home, plus ironed my own shirts, which I still do. And wouldn't you love to know what all I've done for my wife that gets her to do my laundry so perfectly, as well as cook absolutely fabulous meals and keep our house clean and work so hard in the yard. Well, actually nothing, besides having had a continual income that satisfied us and our kids. Other than that, it's all because she's just ONE INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL WOMAN God Bless you.

Answer 6

Okay, so you know about colors, that's good. Also, you need to sort by heaviness. Put your towels and jeans in together. For your more delicate items, they need to be apart from the towels and jeans. Other than that, any new article of clothing that may bleed will need to be rinsed separate. Blacks can take a cup of vinegar to keep preserved. I don't separate much more than that. And be sure to check your pockets for change, and if you have drawstrings on something turn it inside out.
If you have something with a bad stain on it, you can spray some Spray and Wash directly on the stain. You use the detergent cap to measure out the amount of detergent. For full load of laundry, use a full cap (usually) but check the cap lines on it.

Answer 7

The first step is to separate the wash. Whites and pastels can be washed together, if you use tide with bleach The colored clothes use just plain tide, I say tide because that is my choice and my favorite. But there are many other ones out there/
once a month I take all the whites and only whites and I use a cup of bleach in the wash in hot water. Do all the towels separate, or your clothes with have fuzz on them from some of the towels. You can use cold water or warm water either one is good. Hope this helped you.

Answer 8

Laundry isn't a hard task... I pick a day to sort my laundry..

I wash the laundry that I wash on hot first (sheets/towels)
*Hot/cold permanent press cycle- Dry with dryer sheets

Next I wash Dark/Light cottons... Pretreat with Shout/Spray n Wash *I like to turn my darks jeans and logo t-shirts inside out to prevent fading... Fill wash tub.. Cold/cold and add detergent/ 1/3 c. baking soda (helps detergent clean better) perm press...

I wash whatever is left.. Bras/underwear delicate cycle.. I hang my bras keeps them nice and lasting longer...

Read the laundry tags and follow detergent instructions- You don't need much detergent.. Also, wash really big loads in two seperate loads or your clothes won't come clean....

Answer 9

Yes, first separate colors; then separate by reading the labels; some whites should be washed in warm/hot water. Others should be washed in cold water. Most darks wash in cold. However, do not wash your work jeans with a nice dark dress shirt. Soak socks and other heavily soiled clothes.

My mom taught me to always rinse twice (2nd rinse option if you have it; otherwise, just turn your machine on again, with a higher water level without adding any more detergent). It gets rid of all the detergent.

Hope that helps!

Answer 10

If you use powdered soap then pour the water in the machine first then add the powdered soap and help it mix and then put your clothes in. If you're using liquid soap then you can put the clothes in first and then add the liquid soap.

If you have colors or shrinkables you might want to use tepid water and liquid soap.

Washers take about half hour to wash.
Towels and sheets can be dried at a high setting or medium setting...they take about 30 to 45 minutes to dry and that depends on how full you stuff the dryer. Shirts and light things can be dried on the perma prest setting.