Dear Friends,
I don’t know about you, but doing laundry is absolutely not my favorite thing to do! Especially when my kids’ clothes look like they have been trampled in the dirt by a herd of cattle! It is a nightmare and you end up with a lot of ruined clothing when you are not familiar with some basic laundering guidelines.
I have not always been a laundry fanatic; I never used to care about those stains that I could not get out. No big deal…you have to accept some casualties and just buy a new shirt--that was my thinking before kids!
My attitude has changed quite a bit since then. I soon realized that kid’s clothes are not cheap and they grow out of their clothes at lightning speed.
To save myself a little money, I decided to buy and sell my kid’s used clothing on eBay. I quickly discovered that clothing that is in excellent used condition (known as EUC in the eBay world), has a much greater value and usually sells pretty well.
So, I learned how to keep my kids clothing in excellent used condition and pretty soon I was clothing my kids for free! I buy gently used name-brand clothes, let my kids wear them for a season and then resell them at the same price and sometimes more…but that is a topic for another day!
Now back to our main topic…Laundering! Don’t worry; it is not a major time-consuming process. After you get into the habit of following these basic guidelines, it will be like second nature!
I know that these are just basic guidelines and I did not invent them, but I think that some are overlooked or maybe some of you just don’t know yet. I sure don’t remember taking Laundry 101 in high school while my wonderful mother was washing my clothes, so I didn’t know the basic guidelines when I got out on my own.
If you are like me, you have had your share of pink socks, blue tinted white t-shirts and sweaters that could fit your Barbie doll! By sharing these guidelines with you I hope that you can learn from my mistakes and use these ideas to help you keep your clothing in excellent condition!
NOTE: My personal laundering has taken on a more natural approach; I make my own laundry soap and try to use other products that are friendly to my family and the environment. Nevertheless, the guidelines are the same no matter what type of products you use!
* For front-loading machines, use ½ or ¾ of the recommended amounts.
5 Basic Guidelines to Keeping Your Clothes in Great Condition
1.Sort Your Laundry
-I sort into 7 categories:
Light Colors / Dark Colors / Reds / Whites /Jeans - Sturdy Darks / Towels-
-While sorting, do Check-Ups – check for stains, zip zippers, fasten hooks and check pockets for color crayons, ink pens or gum – I’m sure you can imagine this scenario!
-Use a Mesh Bag for your delicates like bras/tights/lingerie. Some people like to hand wash these items, but honestly, I don’t have the time! They wash very well in a mesh bag.
-Other delicate items like sweaters or dressy clothes can be washed using the gentle cycle.
-To avoid mildew let wet items dry before tossing them in the laundry basket.
-Do Not Overload your washer – your clothes need room to move around!
2.Water Temp
-Hot water for whites/towels/bedding
-Warm water for jeans
-Cold water for delicates, light/bright/dark colors and especially new items in which the colors may run
-I wash all of my Gymboree in cold water (except jeans), and any other items that I want to keep very nice; plus it saves energy!
-Rinsing in cold water helps prevent shrinkage.
3.Pre-treat Stains
-The sooner the better! Stains come out much easier if they are treated right away. If you have a larger stain and are pressed for time, just put it in a bucket to soak until you can get to it. I keep a bucket for soaking under the sink in my bathroom for quick and easy access!
-Work the stain from the backside of the fabric & try to remove tough stains before laundering.
-Warm-Hot water for Oily stains (butter, salad dressing, ointment)
-Cool water for Protein stains (tomato sauce, fruit, fruit juice, mud)
-Smaller Stains – Spot Treat with powdered detergent paste, liquid soap, bar soap or stain remover spray
My favorites are: Fel’s Naptha or ivory bar soap - OXY Magic spray – Homemade laundry soap
-Larger/Deep Set Stains – Soak with powdered solution
My favorites are: Oxy-Clean - homemade Fel’s Naptha powdered laundry detergent - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda – 20 Mule Team Borax
-Re-Check for Stains while you are putting clothes into the washer.
4.Laundry Soap & Additives
-Homemade Laundry Soap – I have been making my own laundry soap, it contains no harsh chemicals, is much easier on your clothes and has some powerful cleaning action! It is great for front loading machines because it does not suds and is also extremely cost effective…$ .01 per load!
-And now for my shameless plug…if you would like to learn how to make your own homemade laundry soap go to my eBay store: All Sweet Angels Boutique and check out my Guide to Homemade Laundry Soap.
-Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda – as an additive, this is a great natural laundry detergent booster – works for eliminating odors and as a stain remover as well. Add ½ cup to a wash load.
-20 Mule Team Borax – also an additive and another natural laundry booster, add ½ cup to a wash load.This works great as a water conditioner as well and is gentle enough for baby clothes and delicates. (To hand wash delicates: Use ¼ cup & 1-2 TBSP of detergent, soak for 10 min, rinse with cool water, blot with towel, lay flat or hang to dry.)
-Baking Soda – helps your liquid detergent or liquid chlorine bleach work harder (add ½ cup for each) – also great at eliminating odors.
-White Vinegar works great as a fabric softener and helps eliminate static – use ¼- ½ cup in the rinse. (You can also use a rolled up ball of aluminum foil in place of dryer sheets – no static!) Bonus Static Tip: Natural fibers like cotton, do not produce static. If you can avoid putting your synthetics (like fleece) in the dryer- no static! Bonus Vinegar Tip: Have you ever left your clothes in the washer too long and they had a musty smell? No need to re-wash or tolerate that smell, just run the rinse cycle and add ¼- ½ c. of white vinegar.
-Homemade Fabric Softener- Mix 1/2 cup of Baking Soda with 3 cups of Very Hot water (shake/stir until dissolved) and then slowly add 3 cups of white vinegar (this will fizz). You can also add a few drops of essential oil for scent. Using this should help to eliminate your need for commercial fabric softener and dryer sheets! The dryer sheets leave a waxy residue on your clothing and a waxy/oily build-up in your dryer. So, listen to the words of my washer/dryer maintenance man “Do not use dryer sheets!”
5.Drying Your Clothes
-The dryer is not your best friend! The dryer can cause shrinkage and colors to fade.
-Air dry your delicate items - I recommend that you hang or lay flat any delicate items like sweaters, tights, lingerie, bras, swimsuits or any items that you want to keep in excellent condition! Like that favorite Gap sun dress or that gorgeous Gymboree outfit of your daughters! (I actually air dry all of my kids Gymboree clothing to keep it in excellent shape.) You can always toss them in the dryer on the no heat setting for a few minutes to smooth out the wrinkles or soften them up.
-Do not put stained items in the dryer - The heat will set the stain, so if the stain did not come out in the first wash, you can treat it again and re-wash or just air dry and treat it again the next time it comes through the wash!
-Read clothing labels - If the label says “lay flat to dry,” there is a reason…we don’t want to end up with Barbie’s sweater again!
-To avoid wrinkles, remove clothes as soon as they are dry. This will save you some ironing time if you are an ironer. I personally, do not iron except on rare occasion because again…I’m too busy!
-De-Wrinkle cycle – I love that my dryer has a wrinkle release setting, it runs for 18 minutes and I use it a lot because I can’t always get to the clothes right away when they are done drying. If your dryer does not have this setting, you could also use the timed dry for 20 minutes. You want to let it run the full time because your clothes need the warm up and cool down cycle.
-Dryer Horror Story: Beware of helping kids! When my daughter was about 2, she helped me load the clothes from the washer into the dryer…how sweet! When I opened the door, I almost cried…she had obviously tossed an orange color crayon in as well. I worked and worked on those clothes and recovered about ¼ of them, needless to say…some clothing can not be saved.
I hope that you will be able to use some of these guidelines to help you keep your clothing in great condition.
Wishing you lots of laundering success!
Tashia Calhoun
P.S. If you would like a condensed poster version of the 5 Basic Guidelines to Keeping Your Clothes in Great Condition that you can hang up next to your washer & dryer or inside your laundry cupboard for quick reference, click here to download:
(please be patient...it takes a minute!)
Find the Guide to Homemade Laundry Soap in my eBay Store:
