How much detergent do I really need? What is the environmental impact of using the extra rinse program? How can you make washing laundry more fun? These questions and more will be answered in the following article. Read on for more information.
Tips for Doing Laundry
- Sort laundry items properly,both according to temperature (clothes should be washed at the temperature specified in the care instructions) and according to color (dark, light and colorful clothes should be washed separately).
- Reduce your laundry load. Why would you put your clothes in the washing machine when you can just clean them in an instant? For example: Remove surface dirt with a clothes brush, wipe mud and dirt from waterproof material with a damp cloth, and air wool and other delicate clothes on the rack.
- Turn the garment inside out, empty pockets and close up openings. Wool, knitwear, velour and denim should always be washed inside out. Always empty your pockets. And always close any zippers and velcro.
- Wash at low temperatures. For best results, wash colored laundry at 100 degrees, and white at 140 degrees Fahrenheit. When you wash at the lowest possible temperature, you save electricity.
- Choose ecological detergents. Avoid softeners and detergents with perfumes, added colors and optical brighteners.The clothes will be clean and free of substances that harm the environment. When you choose ecological detergents and eliminate softeners and chlorine, you reduce the release of substances that are toxic to animals and plants into the water. All the detergents and fabric softeners you use end up in nature.
- Using the correct amount of detergent/softeners. The appropriate amount should be determined based on the hardness of the water. Check with your local water supply or municipal authority. Your clothes won't get any cleaner if you use detergent and fabric softener more. Quite the opposite – you pollute the environment and increase the risk of allergies in your family, because the soap stays on the clothes. So check the detergent packaging. You will see how much detergent is needed to wash a certain amount of clothes.
- Load the machine and skip the prewash. You will save water. This is necessary, because in most of the US we have a large consumption of water. The more water we use, the less remains in nature. The water we waste down the drain has to go through a treatment system before it can be used again. Wasting water is also wasting energy.
- Avoid chlorine. If you want to bleach clothes, choose products with sodium percarbonate instead of chlorine.
- Prevent heat damage. It is easy to make a hole in delicate fabric if the iron is too hot. Therefore, before ironing, refer to the clothing care instructions. Even clothes with beads or embossed designs can be ironed, only the decorations must be protected by ironing the garment from the reverse side.
Interesting Facts About Washing Laundry
How to remove the color tint in a more environmentally friendly way:
Boil with lemon. Boil the laundry item in a pot with a few slices of lemon. Lemon is a natural bleach.
How to check if the dyes on the dyed fabric are still washing out: Use the tissue trick
Always wash new colored fabrics separately and, if necessary, wash them by hand the first few times. Has the excess color been washed off? Check with the tissue trick. Wash the white handkerchief together with the colored clothes. If the tissue is still white, there is no excess color left in the garment.
How we often justify dyed clothes: Sloppy sorting
Establish a sorting system. Sort clothes by temperature, washing program and color. White/light colors together, dark/strong colors together. Wool separately. Wash clothes that can be boiled separately.
How to keep jeans from fading during washing: Add vinegar.
Soak the jeans in a gallon of water with 4 tablespoons of vinegar and leave them submerged for half an hour. Then wash them as indicated in the care instructions. Vinegar keeps the color in the fabric.
How to Make Doing Laundry More Fun
Doing laundry is a never-ending story. Sorting. Washing. Drying. Ironing. Arranging. Rinse and repeat. Here are some tips to keep your laundry under control and prevent your laundry basket from turning into a laundry monster.
- Plan to be home when the wash cycle is finished. If at all possible, it is best to transfer the laundry directly to the dryer as soon as the wash cycle is finished. Otherwise, you risk smelly laundry, or you might even forget to do it altogether, and then you'll be in for an unpleasant surprise the next time you go to put your laundry in the machine. If you are not at home, consider setting a reminder on your smartphone so that the laundry doesn't stay in the machine for too long.
- Delegate. Teamwork makes the dream work, and the same goes for doing laundry. Getting the whole family involved can have a learning curve at first, but it will pay off in the end. Give each family member an age-appropriate task and watch the mountain of laundry disappear on laundry day.
- Take advantage of modern technology. Take a look at your washing machine's instruction manual and you may be surprised at what it can accomplish in less than an hour. Most modern appliances have some sort of quick program, which can save you money when you're short on time.
- Make folding fun. Folding a week's worth of laundry can sound like a boring task—one you might want to put off. Instead, do it in chunks. It would be best to fold it as soon as you take it out of the dryer, but if that isn’t possible for whatever reason, we suggest a triage system: first do the easy folding (like towels and sheets), then continue with the adult clothes and finally deal with the children's clothes and socks. If you do it this way, your motivation will stay elevated as you see the results of your work. Listening to your favorite music or audio book will keep your mind busy at the same time, and you will be done before you know it.
- Do not iron more than necessary. Ironing can be quite long and tiring, and most people don’t find it fun. Do you really need to iron every item of laundry? Thankfully, no. A tumble dryer with a steam function can significantly reduce creasing and virtually eliminate the need for ironing.
- Invest in high-capacity appliances. Washing and drying machines with larger capacities allow you to treat a larger amount of laundry at once, saving you considerable time and effort. In this case, we're happy to introduce you to our great variety of washers for sale online at Town Appliance.
- When life happens, take a breath. Sometimes life takes priority while laundry piles up in the corner, and that's okay. Just remember: no amount of dirty laundry is worth the stress.
