How to do Your Laundry Safely
Authors:Dalton Wilding, McCara Steinhilber, Shane Heindl
Do
you want live on your own and not with your parents for your entire life? Do you plan on going off to college? Then you should definitely learn a very
important life skill, how to do laundry.
Knowing how to do your laundry properly can save you clothes, money, and
time. You cannot live on your own
without knowing how to do this properly, and not everyone learns this life
skill before leaving home and going off on their own.
Shane: Darks/Colors
The next few words shall be a
comprehensive and detailed instruction on how do wash dark/colored clothes
correctly. Now the most important thing or problem area you should remember
about dark/colored clothes is they have a tendency to bleed, so you definitely
don’t want to ever mix any colored clothes with your whites.
1. The
first concept everyone should grasp is, especially if you are also responsible
for other people’s clothes along with your own, is that you need to read the
washing instruction on your unknown clothes.
2. There are several items of clothing that have
very specific washing instructions. For instance, wool will shrink sometimes if
washed in warm or hot water, delicates like lingerie can get ruined in a normal
wash cycle, and should be hand washed. So, I cannot stress enough to check tags
on all new and unfamiliar articles of clothing or linen.
3. Next, you should always check pockets for
valuables. Even though it is a wonderful feeling to find a $20 dollar bill that
comes out in the dryer, it is not so wonderful to discover a washed paycheck
that is now a ball of pulp.
4. While you are checking pockets you can also
check for stains that if undetected can get set in permanently if not caught in
time. If you do find stains it is best to rub in some liquid laundry detergent
directly on the stain it will give extra strength to you cleaning aid.
5. Now, we are ready to use the machine. Keep in
mind there are several different types of machines so read instruction on
personal machines (usually found under lid or on surface of front loaders.)
6. First, I like to, put in choice of detergent.
Also, check with other person you are washing for to see if they have allergies
of any sort, dyes, perfumes, then add clothes to the washer, finally, dial in
load size.
7. It is better to have too much water than not
enough. Then, dial in water temperature; rule of thumb on this is that with
dark/colored fabric you want to use cold water. Warm water is acceptable is
some cases; for instance if you have really soiled clothes and it is highly
unlikely that they will bleed dyes due to the fact they have been washed many
times before.
8. Next chose your wash type, permanent press,
some washers have delicate cycles, regular general and deep clean. For all
intents and purposes you can usually use regular/general.
9. Push the start button or pull the knob out in
some cases and listen for the water starting to rush in.
10. Then we just have to wait for the machine to
do its job. If you do want to use a washer based fabric softener, read the
washing machine instructions, but, it’s is usually added right before the rinse
cycle.
McCara: Lights
How
to wash whites
We
think we know the basics of washing laundry. But how much do we really know? As
we get older, grow up and start to move out and away from home, the basics and
“how to” of doing laundry should be something everyone covers.
1. When washing
white clothes, there is one rule we all know not to break. And that rule is
about washing whites. That you wash whites with whites and nothing else. Our
white clothes need special attention and treatment.
2. So what is this
special attention and treatment? Different detergent and water temperature all
play a role. Although you should always read the tags of your clothes, a safe
go to detergent is the Tide color safe bleach detergent. This detergent is made
for your white clothes. It doesn’t have the effect of normal plain bleach, but
still does the same job. Regular bleach can leave your blotchy if you don’t
rinse them good enough and eat apart things such as the rubber grips at the
bottom of your socks.
3. Next, believe it or not your water temp does
play a role also. When washing your whites the rule of thumb is to always use
hot or warm water because it fights stains better.
4. Things
to remember no matter who you are or what kind of wash load you are doing, you
need to be aware of if the detergent or fabric softener you are using can cause
itchiness or allergies to certain people. Watch out for clothes bleeding on
other clothes.
5. Empty your pockets and remove belts before
throwing into the washer.
6. Tie
strings so they don’t get wrapped around other clothes or stuck in your
machine.
7. Enjoy washing!
Dalton: Drying
The following
information is essential to be able to dry your clothes without ruining them,
which will save you time and money.
1.
Before you use a
dryer take a look at the settings. If there is an instruction manual then take
a look through it and make sure you know what each setting is on that specific
dryer because some dryers are different from others.
2.
When you are done
washing your clothes in the washer then you take out your wet clothes and check
them for stains. If they do not have stains put them into the dryer.
a.
If there are some stains in the clothing, DO
NOT put the stained clothes into the dryer or else you will set the stain into
the fabric.
3.
If you are
unfamiliar with the clothing you are drying check the tags to make sure it is
safe to machine dry.
a.
Some fabrics that
should not be machine dried are:
Leather, Wool, Acetate, Polar Fleece, Rayon, and Spandex. Do not mix different types of fabric either
unless they are able to be dried on the same settings.
b.
Other fabrics may
need to be tumble dried or dried on low heat to avoid shrinkage or damage to
the fabric.
4.
Check the lint
trap and clean it out for optimal wrinkle care and lint removal. Not only will you optimize the dryer
performance but you will also prevent a possible fire by cleaning the lint
trap.
5.
Put two or three
dryer sheets into the dryer for a fresh clean scent.
6.
Now set your
dryer for the appropriate settings for the type of clothing you are
drying. The Most used setting is a timed
setting for cottons and other fabrics that are similar to cotton’s toughness.
a.
Other settings
include low heat, tumble dry, or delicates cycle.
7.
Close the door
and start the drying cycle and wait until it is finished.
8.
When your clothes
is finished drying take it out and check to make sure it is fully dried, if it
isn’t dry, put it in back into the dryer until it is dry.
9.
When it is dried take
it out and begin to fold the now clean and dry clothes.
10. If you have some clothing you just want to de-wrinkle,
take a damp towel and throw it into the dryer with the article(s) of clothing
that are wrinkled and put them through a drying cycle appropriate for the
fabric.
11. Sometimes you may notice that you have an odd number
of socks, this is because your socks are multiplying in the dryer giving you an
odd one out. When you are pairing your
socks I would recommend that you do not ball them inside each other but instead
just stacking one on the other and then folding the pair in half.
a.
When you ball the
socks, the top of the sock tends to get stretched out and wear out faster.
12. After you are done folding the clothing just put each
article of clothing in its correct spot. (Wherever you normally put each type
of clothing).
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