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7 Laundry Myths You Always Believed That Aren’t True
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You must have heard a lot of Do’s & Don’ts about laundry – wash muddy clothes separately, don’t wash coloured clothes along with whites, and many other things. However, not everything you see on the web or hear from peers is right.
A lot of laundry disasters take place because people keep following what they know without cross-checking. They end up either wasting time or damaging their clothes by trusting vague myths. If you don’t want to waste time & damage clothes due to laundry mistakes, keep reading. Because we have shared 7 common myths about laundry that are not true. Let’s see:
Extra Detergent Make Clothes Cleaner
Using too much detergent will not make your clothes extra clean. Instead, it will make them worse. Excessive detergent does not get rinsed out completely and leaves soapy residue or suds behind. The suds will get soaked in the clothes. Afterwards, your clothes will get stiff and you will feel itchy.
In case you are using detergent caps, it may be difficult to see measuring lines. You can use a permanent marker to darken the lines. It will take some extra time but it will also be cheaper. Plus, your laundry load will come out clean without any soapy residue.
You can even use half of the recommended quantity of detergent. If you will not get desired cleanliness you can add detergent later on, but, you can never pull it out from the washer after pouring it once. It is also a good idea to use half as much detergent as recommended and see if you are pleased with the results. You can always add more, but you can never pull it out. So, go with the “less is more” approach while using detergent in laundry. You should even choose your detergent carefully.
Coffee Prevents Black Colour From Fading
There is a less popular myth that adding a cup of black coffee to the rinsing water helps in keeping the colour of the garment intact. This is not true. Coffee is effective for this purpose, but you will need a huge quantity, probably a washer-full of black coffee. Coffee can leave a shade on a light-coloured or white fabric. However, adding a cup of coffee to laundry will not prevent fading in any way. In all, adding coffee to laundry is not a good idea.
Also read: The Perfect Way To Do Laundry
All Stains Should Be Treated From The Front
If you start rubbing or rinsing the stain’s surface from the front immediately after noticing it, you need to change this habit. It makes the stain delve deeper into the fibres of the fabric. So, you should turn the garment or stained area inside out. And treat the stain from the inner side. This way, you will push the stain out of the fibres of the fabric.
If you want to know more about removing stains, you can refer to our guide to stain removal.
Chlorine Bleach Boosts Detergent Power
It is not ideal to add chlorine bleach to your laundry mindlessly. Many people consider chlorine bleach acts as a detergent booster. However, both of these ingredients can neutralize each other. So, if you will add chlorine bleach to laundry your detergent may not work. And your clothes will remain dirty and stained even after laundry.
Instead of a detergent booster, chlorine bleach works as a whitening agent (only for white clothes). So, you can use it while washing only white clothes. You should wait for five minutes before adding bleach. It will allow the enzymes present in detergent to whiten and brighten your clothes as much as they can. After 5 minutes, add the diluted bleach and run your wash cycle as usual.
Also read: Everything you should know about bleach in laundry.
Hot Water Kills All Laundry Germs
Hot water is not an aggressive germ-protectant. You should not expect to get rid of all germs and bacteria by using hot water alone. If you need to clean the clothes of a person having an illness and there is a risk of spreading germs to other clothes, use a disinfectant. It can be pine oil, chlorine bleach, phenolic disinfectant, etc.
Washer/ Dryer Lint Is Not Harmful
If you do not clean your washing machine at least once a month, you need to check the lint trap of your machine immediately. It would be full of lint (not a pleasant thing to watch). People who believe that washer lint is no big deal, are taking it all wrong.
Lint build-up gives rise to mould and mildew which will never let your freshly clean clothes smell like they are clean. They will always have a foul smell. Not only this, but excessive lint can clog hoses in your machine and make it inefficient. Your machine will keep deteriorating gradually. There is a high chance that you will call mechanics, plumbers, and technicians frequently and end up replacing your machine.
It does not take more than 5 minutes to clean the lint trap. So, don’t fall for “Lint is no big deal” and clean it regularly to keep your laundry clean and machine efficient.
Hair Sprays Can Remove Ink Stains
Now, this is not something completely right or wrong. You will first have to know why hair sprays are recommend for stains in the first place.
Some hair sprays contain alcohol which has ethanol present in it. Ethanol is an element which is effective for stain removal. That’s the reason why you rubbing alcohol is used to remove stains.
The quantity of ethanol a product contains decides its capacity to remove a stain. In general, hair sprays contain less than 25-50 per cent ethanol which is not enough to remove a tough ink stain. If you get your hands on a hairspray with a high concentration of alcohol then it might work. However, it is not the best way to handle ink stains.
These were 7 things that need to stop following immediately.
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