Menu
Table of Contents
Did you ever think of making laundry a little better than before? If yes, then you should stick to this article.
We have shared a few tips here, some of them will save you time, some will save you money, and some will help you in taking good care of your clothes.
Sounds good? So, let’s read 10 laundry tips that will be very helpful to you:
Prepare A Homemade Stain Remover
It is possible to cut down the cost of laundry supplies and still remove stains effectively. You just have to prepare stain removers at home instead of using commercial ones. For example, you can mix equal quantities (1 tablespoon each) of distilled white vinegar and baking soda. Use this mixture to remove various oil-based stains. It is cost-effective and you will not expose your garments to chemicals every time they get a stain.
You can refer to our guide to stain removal and see specific homemade stain removers that work on different types of stains. You can make suitable stain removers and use them while doing laundry at home.
Process “Dry-Clean Only” Clothes at Home
Yes, you can actually clean the garments labelled as “dry-clean only” at home by using “home dry cleaning kits”. Such kits are easily available in the market, both offline and online. These are perfect to use when you don’t have time to visit dry cleaners but need a “dry-clean only” outfit ready in a few hours.
Generally, you have to place a garment along with a dryer sheet (which comes in the kit) in the dryer. Then, you have to run it on “medium” heat (as per your machine settings). The exact way of use differs from kit to kit. Though it will be a hassle-free affair as every kit comes with an instructional booklet. However, you can only use a dry clean kit if you have a clothes dryer at home.
Caution: We do not recommend using such kits on extremely delicate or heavily embellished garments. They might require extra care and special chemicals which can be found at trusted dry cleaners near you only.
Plan Some Laundry Reminders
While doing laundry there are a lot of Do’s & Don’ts that you have to keep in mind. The ideal wash cycle, water temperature, stain removers, & drying method for every garment you need to wash, these are just a few of many things. Remembering all these may not be easy.
Hence, It is better to plan laundry reminders. You can create a To-do list as well. Write everything that you must not miss while doing laundry. Make sure you choose a clearly visible place in your laundry room/ area to write such things. You can write it somewhere on your machine. Use a dry-erase marker as it gets off the surface in one wipe. You can easily remove the pointers from your washing machine without any hassle. You can also write reminders or create short To-do lists using sticky notes.
Sort Tiny Clothing Into Mesh Laundry Bags
Small piece of clothing like socks, babywear, lingerie, gloves, etc. often goes missing after laundry. You can keep such garments safe by sorting them in laundry bags. Always put such clothes inside a mesh laundry bag before putting them in the washer.
Make sure you have closed the bag properly or else the tiny pieces will come out during the spins. This laundry hack will save you plenty of time that you might spend to search for missing clothes later on.
Invest In Laundry Hampers
If empty chairs are the only home of your laundry, then you are inviting mess yourself. When dirty clothes are scattered at different places in the home, some of them might go missing. And you might not find them while doing laundry. Keeping them in laundry hampers or baskets will not let this issue occur. Plus, it will help you in keeping your home looking clean as well.
The biggest benefit of having multiple laundry hampers is that you can sort clothes properly. You may already it is crucial to sort clothes before putting them in the washer. You can have separate hampers for the following:
- Light-coloured clothes
- Dark-coloured clothes
- White clothes
- Muddy clothes
- Light-weighted clothes
- Heavy-weighted clothes
A one-time investment in laundry hampers or baskets can save a lot of time. And ideal sorting will save you from laundry disasters as well.
Use Baking Soda In Laundry
Baking soda brings both basic and acidic odour molecules into a neutral state. Hence, it can kill all sorts of odours. And you can use it as a strong deodorizer during laundry. Other than this, you can replace your fabric softener with baking soda. It can also revive your whites by boosting the power of oxy bleach. Just add one tablespoon of baking soda to your washer before putting your clothes inside, stir well and launder as usual for any of these purposes.
Apart from this, if there is gunk on the bottom of your iron it might ruin your clothes. Baking soda comes in handy here too. You can rub it on the iron surface and clean the gunk without any scratches on the iron.
Use Vinegar In Laundry
Just like baking soda, vinegar is also a multipurpose, inexpensive product that can help you with the laundry. It helps in getting rid of mild odours. You can use vinegar as a natural fabric softener and ensure very less chemical exposure to your garments. It also helps in brightening white clothes in laundry. Not only this, but adding vinegar to the last rinse cycle helps to remove soap or detergent residue from the fabric easily.
People often think that vinegar can damage their clothes with constant usage. However, that is not true. Vinegar has acidic properties, but the proportion is not high enough to damage your clothes. You can prefer diluting white vinegar with water if you want to be extra sure that you are putting a safe cleaning agent on your clothes.
Prevent Colour Bleeding While Laundry
Stains can occur anytime, anywhere, and stain removal takes a lot of time. Sadly, it is beyond our capacity to prevent all stains, but there is one type of stain that we can prevent – colour bleeding stain.
The internet is full of guides suggesting vinegar or salt in the laundry can prevent colour bleeding. This is not true. Vinegar helps in setting up acidic dyes during the dyeing process only. Whereas, salt help the fibres in absorbing dyes during the dyeing process. None of them can stop the colour run once the fabric is dyed.
The best way to prevent colour bleeding stains is to wash similar colour clothes together. Next, you should try to wash coloured clothes in cool water only. Because hot water opens up the fibres of the fabric which causes colour-run.
Apart from this, you can purchase colour fixative or colour catcher sheets online. Colour fixatives reduce colour bleeding as they can “fix” the loose dyes. They are not very effective on acrylic & polyester materials. On the other hand, colour catcher sheets absorb loose dyes. You can put one sheet in the washer while doing laundry, but do remember that both of these are not complete fail-safe methods.
Do Not Use Too Much Detergent
People often think that using more detergent will make their clothes cleaner. That’s not right. Using too much detergent will damage your garments. Because while using an excessive quantity of detergent its residue is often left in the clothes even after laundry which is not good from the perspective of fabric preservation. It can make the garments scratchy and uncomfortable.
It is enough to use 2 tablespoons of detergent for a heavy load of around 5-6 kg. Whereas, 1 tablespoon of detergent is enough for a small load of 2-3 kg. Sometimes, the labels of detergents instruct to use higher quantities. But, you should consider that they want to sell the product, and they want you to purchase more of it. It is not only bad for clothes but for the washer as well. Hence, only use the prescribed quantity. Always remember, a little will go a long way.
Go Eco-Friendly With Laundry
Ever thought you could do your bit towards the environment by changing your laundry habit?
To make a difference and reduce your carbon footprint, use front-loading washing machine instead of a top-loader as the former requires 50 per cent less water. You can replace your regular detergent with a bio-based detergent. They will be easy on your garments in comparison to the heavily-concentrated detergents.
If you don’t live in a hot or humid environment that invites excessive sweat, don’t wash clothes after wearing them just once. Wear a clothing piece 2-4 times before washing. Lesser wash cycles increase the lifespan of clothes. On the same lines, don’t wash 1-2 garments in the machine. Try washing at least ten garments together to save energy. All these minor changes will let you reduce the time spent on laundry, your energy & water consumption. With lesser washes and bio-based detergents, your clothes will last you longer as well. Isn’t this a win-win situation?
If you often send your clothes for laundry service then make sure you choose a trusted Laundromat that uses eco-friendly chemicals to clean and wash clothes.
Subscribe to us:
Sign up to get more such information & get the best deals on professional cleaning
