Laundry 101: A Survival Guide

Laundry 101: A Survival Guide

It is time for Laundry 101! Most of us learned what we could about laundry from our parents, but it is fair to say that doing laundry has basically become a matter of separating lights from darks and then throwing them in separate washers with a scoop or capful of detergent and hitting start. After that everything gets thrown into the dryer. Honestly, who has time for much more? With a few extra minutes here and there and the right knowledge, this whole process can become much more rewarding. Stains get removed and clothes look and feel better all around.

The goal of doing laundry is to end up with clean garments, right? So the first step is to know what type of laundry detergent works best for your needs. There are certainly plenty to choose from. Whether you prefer a powdered detergent or liquid they offer all kinds of options: stain fighting, fresh fragrance, hypoallergenic, bleaching action, efficiency. There are even detergents out there that are designed to work best on specific types of stains. Just choose whichever detergent type is best for you and your family and let it do the lions share of the work. When dealing with particularly challenging loads of laundry, there are also great laundry boosters out there. Laundry boosters, most of which use active oxygen to fight stains, will give the wash that extra boost of cleaning power that might be needed to help with particularly challenging stains that still need help after pre-treating.

Fabric softener is a great thing to add to a laundry routine, not only does it add a pleasant scent to a wash but it also reduces static cling and smoothes and softens fabrics which makes ironing easier. There are two types of fabric softener available for use: liquid softeners which are added to the final rinse cycle of a wash or softener sheets that are used in the dryer and are heat activated.

Of course the real challenge of doing laundry is getting those stains out! Even the most careful of people will eventually end up getting stains on their clothing. Since there seems to be an exception to every rule when it comes to stains, sometimes luck is with us and we get it out and other times we come to terms with the fact that our favorite shirt can never be worn in public again. However, there are a few general tips that can be helpful for stain fighting:

                         Always use cold water to sponge out stains, heat of any kind will set a stain.

                         Treat them promptly. If you are at home try to use a pre-treatment stick but be sure to test your pre-treatment stick on a non-visible part of your clothing to make sure it does not discolor the fabric. If you are out in the world club soda is a great help with most stains.

                         Launder the effected clothing as soon as possible; you will have a better chance of removing the stain.

                         Always air dry effected clothing after laundering, some residual stains are not visible while the clothing is still wet and if you have thrown the clothing in the dryer the heat will set the stain.

                         Last, but not least, make sure you follow the label instructions! Hand-wash the garment if required. If you are dealing with dry clean only garments, do not treat the stain at all and get it the dry cleaner as soon as possible.