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Doing the laundry rates up there with root canals of my favorite things to do around the house. But, like a root canal, I'm glad when it’s over. The odd irony is that I actually enjoy the precision of it. Sorting is one of my obsessions.
When my daughter helps me with the laundry we often get into long philosophical debates about what constitutes a “white” item: is it a white item with color or a colored item with white on it? (Got you curious, too? You’ll have to read on to find out.) My family debates aside, there are some guidelines and ways to improve your laundry, to make it cleaner, your clothes last longer, and cost less.
That’s what this article will focus on: the nuts and bolts of laundry. It won’t go into great detail about how to get out specific stains. But, it does talk about how often to do it, how to make your detergent work better, and of course, good sorting practices. Hopefully, you’ll get some good ideas from this article and some practical tips. On with the wash…
WASHING FREQUENCY
Only you know how often you need – and can tolerate – to do laundry. Some people do it only when they run out of underwear. Others do it daily, some weekly, and some bi-monthly. Chances are, unless you have a family of ten, if you’re doing laundry on a daily basis, you’re wasting water, using a lot of detergent, and spending too much time on a household chore. However, this is just some food for thought. Laundry should be done as you find that you’re getting close to needing fresh clothing, towels, etc.
Most people would probably say they do laundry weekly; I do it every other week, with weekly towel and bedding changes. However often you do it, you should try to fill the washer at least half full with each load. Less than that (unless your washer has a micro wash setting), and you’re wasting resources and just staying “busy” -- and who needs that?
SORTING
This is probably the root of all laundry evils. This is where the whole process can break down or not. Most laundry sites recommend breaking laundry into three piles: whites, colors, and delicates. But that seems oversimplified and a great way for some laundry mishaps (darkened bright colors, for one).
When it comes to sorting, I try to go with a “like with like” method. I break loads into underwear, whites, lights (light-colored clothing), brights (pinks, reds, bright blues, etc.), darks, household (napkins, sheets, towels, dish towels, placemats), and delicates.
Washing underwear by itself makes sense to me because this, frankly, is nasty laundry. I prefer to wash it with hot water and only very, very rarely do I use bleach. Washing white and light-colored underwear together means that someone’s smelly socks or dirty drawers aren’t being washed with dinner napkins, my favorite t-shirt, or with bedding. If there is an illness, such as stomach virus, it makes even more sense to keep this clothing separate from the rest of the wash. Bras always go into wash bags so the hooks don’t get hung up on other clothing.
Light colored clothing (beiges, light blues, yellow) can usually be safely washed with other whites. So if you have white T-shirts or other white clothing but not enough for a full load, put these in with the light colored clothing if you don’t have enough for a separate white load. Bright and dark colors should be washed separately because of the potential for bleeding.
The household pile is separated from regular wash because, let’s face it, underwear makes its way everywhere. That is, there are often dark or colored underpants in the wash. So, if you have dark dinner napkins and you throw them in with the dark clothes, you’re washing underpants with the napkins you wipe your mouth with. For cleanliness, I prefer that household items are washed separately.
The delicate pile is something you should keep separate as well, for obvious reasons. I’ve found that I can keep my sorting easier by having a three-part hamper. I sort dry cleaning in one section of the hamper, delicate washables into another, and household (napkins, dish towels, etc.) items into the third. Sheets and clothes all go into regular bathroom clothes hampers.
Special Sorting Notes
This is the perfect time to spot treat. Don’t forget to check pockets while you treat stains. You should also take items such as hosiery and bras and put them into wash bags so they don’t get damaged or lost. OK, now, you’ve hung in this long. The big mystery with whites is: If a garment is white with colors, it is a white. That is, the background is white and there is a pattern, such as flowers, on the garment. If the garment is colored with white, it is considered a colored item (i.e. red shirt with white stripes). My daughter often thinks any white on a garment makes it a “white garment.” We have a lot of pink underwear.
STAINS
It’s frustrating when stains are on clothing. They can render a garment unwearable if they’re left untreated. Keep a bottle of your favorite stain treater close to where you sort so that you can treat stains and give the treater time to work. My favorite stain treater is OxyClean because it attacks old stains, grease, and I don’t worry about it damaging colors or lightening dark colors. However, use whichever you like best.
LOADING: Underloading and Overloading
Each washer works differently, but there are some commonalities that you can depend on. For instance, regardless of the type of washer or dryer you have, you should always load big items like sheets in a loose pile on one side of the washer. Never “wrap” clothes or sheets around the inside of the washer or around the agitator. That’s how you can get out of balance loads, damage your clothing and sheets, and end up pulling a wet rope out of the washer. Make sure the washer is loaded in a balanced way if you have a middle agitator. Some of the newer washers, such as front load, don’t require any special loading requirements, but middle agitators do.
Another tip is to try to wash full – but not overfull loads. I almost never wash half loads. It takes a lot of water (a precious resource) to wash laundry, so I want to make sure I get the most wash I can for the amount of water used.
Of course, underloading is also ineffective because, let’s face it, washing two towels is silly. And I know you’re out there doing it…You waste water if you’re a ‘I want a fresh towel every day’ kind of person. You’re living in a house, not a hotel (which, by the way, many have switched and are not giving daily towel service anymore to their non-daily guests). By the same token, there are those that use their foot to ram in more jeans. Again, this is not good for the washer and your clothes won’t be clean. Your washer should be “loosely full” just to the top of the tub – not the lid.
DETERGENT
The detergent you use should be the one that does the best job for you. For years, I only washed with one certain very popular detergent. Mistakenly, I believed if I bought the “best” – and most expensive and popular – brand, that I would get better results. I found that it caused bleach spots on my clothes even though I wasn’t using the kind with bleach alternative.
Since then, I have switched to Arm & Hammer and my clothes are clean the mystery bleach spots are gone (and no, it wasn’t from bleach used in other loads. I never use bleach except for specific garments, and then, I only soak them in the laundry sink and not the washer.). Regardless of my personal preferences, it’s important to use the correct detergent for your washer. If you have a high-energy washer, you should use an “HE” detergent for the best results.
The amount of detergent you use is also important. Too much is just as bad as too little. Read the instructions on your detergent box and your washer’s owner’s manual for the correct amount for your particular wash. Be aware that if you have softened water, you don’t need as much detergent as you do with hard or unsoftened water.
Some of the best detergents for the money? Consumer Reports does an annual report on detergents every August. In 2004, the top detergents were Kirkland’s (CostCo’s house brand) and Ajax with bleach alternative. These were selected for best performance and price. Tide has recently introduced a cold-water alternative wash. I’m willing to wash just about all my clothes in cold water with the exception of underwear. Sorry, but I can’t part from my hot water. I’ve lived with underwear washed in cold water, and in a very short time, they looked like they should be burned.
TEMPERATURE
Again, this is a personal decision. But, hands-down, we know hot water cleans better than anything else, so it’s what I recommend for cleaning undergarments. Warm is a good all-purpose temperature and cold is best for delicates, brights, and dark colors, and patterned garments, such as colors with white accents. I typically wash my darks and brights with warm and rinse in cold. Depending on energy costs in your area, cold may be the way to go. If your energy costs are high, I’d give the new Tide Coldwater a try.
SOFTENERS, BLEACH, ETC.
Because I want to get the most wear I can out of my clothes and limit the amount of chemicals in my life, I typically avoid additives in the wash, such as softeners and bleach. But, if you like that “fresh smell” of softeners, by all means use them. Be aware that softeners can reduce the absorbability of towels, though. If you want a natural softening option, add vinegar. A half cup in the wash is all it takes to soften and the vinegar smell goes away in the dryer. It’s also less expensive than the mountain air smell.
If you want to bleach wash, make sure you observe a few guidelines. If your washer has a special bleach cup, use this to pour in your bleach. If not, wait until the washer is at least half full before adding the bleach. To cut down on the bleach smell and boost your wash, consider adding a half cup of bleach (instead of the usual one cup per load) and add a half cup of Arm & Hammer baking soda. The baking soda will boost the bleach and help clean the wash and will cut down on the amount of bleach used in the wash.
Bleach is good when used wisely, and harmful when over-used. Bleach will cause fibers to break down in clothing, so using it on a regular bases reduces the wear you will get out of clothing and will increase your clothing bill.
DRYING
The most common problem with drying is over-drying. Monitor your loads after 30 minutes of drying to see if they’re ready. Not every load needs to dry for an hour or more. Of course, you should check the lint trap each and every time you put a new load in. Too many people disregard this very important drying feature and leave the lint until they have a blanket of lint. If you check your dryer, but it still takes too long to dry your clothes, check your dryer.
The tip that could save your home – or your life
Most of the time, dryers work well and efficiently. But sometimes you may find that they don’t work like they should. A BellaOnline Cleaning Newsletter reader, Maryann in Indiana, wrote to me about how her friend’s heating unit went out on her dryer. When the repair man came to fix it he showed her how water would not flow through the mesh of the lint trap because it was coated with dryer sheet residue. That means that air couldn’t pass through the lint trap, the dryer worked too hard, and this caused the heating element to go out. Worse still, this could have caused the dryer to catch on fire.
Maryann went on to say that she religiously checks her lint trap, but that found when she did this test on her own dryer, the water puddled on her lint trap, though some got through. The dryer repairman wisely recommended that lint traps should be cleaned with a scrub brush, soap and water, every six months to get rid of this built up residue. It’s a very important safety tip that along with checking the lint trap with each load and vacuuming the dryer vent coil will help to ensure the life and efficiency of your dryer – and perhaps prevent a fire. Thanks, Maryann!
Clean laundry is a good feeling. Nothing looks as nice as piles of neatly folded clothing sitting there in their pristine whiteness in the drawer, or the smell and warmth of a towel fresh out of the dryer in winter! Give your laundry habits a fresh look and see if you can't improve on your own laundry routines. Hopefully, this has given you some good tips for your own home.
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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Everydayclean.com Calender -- the calendar that helps you end the power struggle with your house. Keeping a clean home is about knowing what to clean when. Virtually everything that needs to be cleaned is on this calendar in a year-round cleaning schedule that helps you keep your house clean easier and faster. Click here for more information.
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