Follow these laundry tips to get your clothes squeaky clean every time!
The best way to achieve excellent results when you do your laundry is to carefully measure the detergent, properly sort your clothes, pre-treat stains and load the machine properly. Read on for some great laundry tips.
Pre-Treat Stains
- Beverages: Soak stain in cool water. Pre-treat stain with prewash stain remover or detergent. Launder using fabric safe bleach.
- Blood: Fresh stains: soak in cold water and launder. Dried stains: soak in warm water with a product containing enzymes and launder. If stain remains, rewash using fabric safe bleach.
- Chocolate: Gently scrape off excess chocolate. Soak in cold water. Pre-treat with stain remover and wash garment in the hottest water that is safe for the fabric.
- Collar, cuff soil: Pre-treat with prewash stain remover or detergent. Launder.
- Grease, oil: Pre-treat with prewash stain remover or detergent. Launder using the hottest water that is safe for the fabric.
- Mud: When the mud is dry, brush off as much as possible. Pre-treat with a paste of powdered laundry detergent and water or liquid detergent booster. Launder.
- Perspiration: If perspiration has changed the color of the fabric, apply ammonia to fresh stains, or white vinegar to old stains; rinse. Use a prewash stain remover or rub with bar soap. Launder using the hottest water that is safe for the fabric.
Sort clothes by color and type.Sort by color first – light, medium and dark. This helps to prevent the colors from bleeding. Then, sort by fabric. Similar fabrics should be washed together. Avoid washing towels with other fabrics as the lint from the towels may transfer. Finally, sort by dirtiness. This helps to prevent soil from transferring onto other clothes and also allows you to select a hot cycle for very dirty garments.
Measure detergent carefully and use the correct water temperature.Please measure detergent carefully before putting it into the washer. Today’s high efficiency washers run best when minimal soap is used. 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of detergent is ideal. Adding too much soap causes the machine to over-suds, which will result in detergent residue being left on garments. (If the machine over-suds, adding fabric softener to the cycle will reduce the suds.) Next, select the proper water temperature. Use the hottest water that is safe for the fabric you are washing. Delicate fabrics should be washed with cold water.
Properly load the machine.Clothes need room to move freely for best cleaning action. Fill the tub loosely, not completely. In fact, overloading the washer is the most common laundry mistake made. The clothes cannot become clean unless they have room to move in the machine.
Proper drying techniques.Fill the dryer loosely with damp clothes. To dry properly, clothes need room to tumble in the dryer. For best results, do not over-fill the machine. Be sure to remove clothes promptly from the dryer when the cycle completes to reduce wrinkles. To get the best results with delicate items, hang dry them rather than machine dry.