Doing Laundry: A Basic Guide

If you're on your way out the door with your first load of laundry and you've forgotten everything you never knew about laundry, here's the absolute basics. Read this, then go do your laundry.

Don't wash any colors with your white load
(your whites will turn pink, baby blue, or worse)

Don't wash any whites with your black load
(your whites will turn gray)

Wash your jeans by themselves
(because they're heavy, and they'll add unnecessary wear-and-tear to your other items)

For unwrinkled clothing, hang things up immediately after drying
(otherwise you'll get wrinkles nearly by looking at them)

Don't spill bleach on anything
(bleach takes color out of everything, then eats holes in your clothing)

Treat stains early
(the longer it sits, the harder it is to get out)

Grab some open space, a few clothes baskets, or just start digging around in whatever you used to bring your dirty clothes to the clothes washer. If you have the space, start a bunch of piles. If you have no space (or don't want to put your dirty clothes on the surfaces that are available), just dig out one "pile" at a time and put it directly into the washer. This is how I sort my laundry:

White delicate underwear and shirts
Because I like to keep my underwear separated from my socks. What goes on in my shoes does not need to come right up close to my unmentionables.

White regular towels, socks and rags
If my delicate load is particularly tiny, and the socks and rags I have aren't too harsh, I will occasionally combine this load with the above load. Generally, though, I like to keep gentle loads away from regular ones.

Red, orange and brown clothes
I have a lot of red in my closet, so this makes sense. However this load could be combined with a blue load if both loads are small, AND both have been washed enough times to not bleed on the other color. I don't need purple anything, thank you very much.

Blue and green clothes
I have a lot of blue and green clothing, thanks to my husband and the local professional fall sports team. Occasionally I will combine this load with the reds, but again - they don't bleed anymore, and I never combine the loads when I have new clothing in one or the other shade.

Jeans
Because they're heavy, they get their own load. Jeans will provide unnecessary wear on all my other stuff, particularly work pants that aren't canvas-type materials.

Colored towels
I'll put all my towels together, red and green, after they've been washed a few times. They're just for drying off - I don't particularly mind if they change colors. Plus, they're all the same weight, so they aren't wearing anything else down.

Black delicate underwear and work clothes
Remember how I split the white load up? Same reasoning here. I just prefer to not have my pants wear out too quickly. If I had a rogue pink sock or a stranded blue shirt, I would be willing to toss it in with the appropriate black load.

Black regular jersey shorts and tees
Yep, still splitting up by color. See the white loads for why.

White socks, white underwear, white towels, white pants, white shirts. They are (in my experience) a magnet for dirt, soil, dust, mud, blood, chili, spaghetti sauce, candy, and all other variety of stain-producing items. I can't look at a pair of white pants without getting a stain on them, and my white shirts for work have all been replaced with other colors due to lunch time mishaps.

So let me tell you some ways to keep them clean.

When bleaching whites, dilute the bleach first
Pouring bleach directly on your clothing is bad. Start the washing machine first and let the basin fill with water. When the lid is up on a clothes washer, the agitation won't start, so you have a little time. When there are a couple inches of water in the basin, add the appropriate amount of bleach (I use about a cup), and let the incoming water agitate the bleach a bit before adding your clothing. My mom will additionally use a rag that is going in that load to swish around the bleach and water to mix it up further before adding everything else.

Try not to wash socks with underwear
Is this a hard and fast rule? Absolutely not. This is something my mom instilled in me, rationalizing that I wouldn't want my socks up next to my unmentionables. Then again, I'm doing the laundry - everything is going to end up clean in the end, right? Basically, if I have enough delicate clothing to make a full load, I won't put my socks in with my underwear. But if I don't have enough and I just want the laundry done, put them all in together, darn it!

Put bras in net bags to avoid snagging other clothing
They sell these great little netted bags with zippers on top for your bras and other items with hooks. I put my bras in these to avoid snagging other delicate items with loose weaves. The hooks end up getting snagged on the netted bags, but that's what they're there for.

Don't wash rags used with chemicals with your clothing
If I've got rags soaked with turpentine from my day painting, there is no way I'm putting those in with anything else. Same with any chemical from the garage, the basement, the kitchen or my bathroom. Regardless of whether it all gets clean in the end, what is going to happen to it before it gets in the clothes washer? Nothing good. I don't recommend mixing these items. It's my habit to wash all chemical-soaked rags together, regardless of color (because they're rags), and that will get me a full load.

Don't put anything red, blue, green, black, etc with your whites
This seems like common sense, but sometimes we all need a reminder. I don't think it matters how many times my red handkerchief has been washed, or that it's 5 years old. Putting it in with the white load is just asking for trouble, and I'd rather wait a week to catch that handkerchief in the next red load than to turn all my towels pink. Even though I love pink.

Button your shirts and turn them inside out to reduce wear
This really applies to all your clothing. When your clothes are in the washer and getting all mixed up and rubbed together, the fibers of your clothing are breaking down. When the fibers break down, the colors break down as well. Additionally, the more you wash an item, the faster the colors fade. So if the side of your clothing that's rubbing up next to their neighbors is the inside, and that's the side that the color is wearing from, when you turn the clothing back right side out, the colors are still beautiful. Bonus!

New brightly colored clothing should be washed only with like colors the first few washes
Whenever I buy a new shirt, I absolutely make sure that it's only getting washed with its color mates. Red shirts, only with red. Black shirts, only with black. Orange shirts I will hand-wash the first few times - I got to see first-hand how orange the water turned when I washed my son's new orange shirt in a white plastic basin in my sink. The shirt came out, but the orange stayed behind! If the color is going to transfer, it may as well transfer to another shirt the same color. No harm, no foul.

Wash delicate clothing separate from regular wear clothing
I mentioned before how the clothing is rubbing together in the wash. So if my delicate things are rubbing up next to my jeans, the delicate items are getting more wear. This is why I separate my delicate clothing - work pants, shirts, underwear - from my regular wear clothing - yoga pants, socks, workout clothing.

Try not to wash socks with underwear
Is this a hard and fast rule? Absolutely not. This is something my mom instilled in me, rationalizing that I wouldn't want my socks up next to my unmentionables. Then again, I'm doing the laundry - everything is going to end up clean in the end, right? Basically, if I have enough delicate clothing to make a full load, I won't put my socks in with my underwear. But if I don't have enough and I just want the laundry done, put them all in together, darn it!

Wash your black clothing in cold waters
Washing black clothes in hot water can cause fading. Also, cold water cuts down on suds, helping your black clothing come out of the wash without any extra residue. Bleh, residue.

Consider special detergent for black clothing
How these work, I do not know. However I know they must be at least a little popular, because several brands of detergent have a special product specifically for black clothing.

Turn black clothing inside out to preserve color and reduce wear
This really applies to all your clothing. When your clothes are in the washer and getting all mixed up and rubbed together, the fibers of your clothing are breaking down. When the fibers break down, the colors break down as well. Additionally, the more you wash an item, the faster the colors fade. So if the side of your clothing that's rubbing up next to their neighbors is the inside, and that's the side that the color is wearing from, when you turn the clothing back right side out, the colors are still beautiful. Bonus!

Hang your black clothing to dry
We turn clothing inside out in the wash to avoid the friction of fabrics rubbing together, weakening the fabric, and causing premature fading. The same goes for black clothing in the dryer. Because black clothing is so easily faded, consider hanging your black clothing to dry. The sun tans our skin, but causes our clothing to fade, so make sure if you're hanging your clothing outside to hang it inside out.

There is such a wide variety of opinions about jeans. My husband's old roommate always hung her jeans to dry. She got stiff jeans that hadn't shrunk in the dryer. That worked for her because she wore her jeans tight, and there was no room for them to shrink if she wanted to be able to put them on again. I always dry my jeans, and get soft jeans that have shrunk a little bit, but bounce back after wearing them for an hour or so. This works for me because I don't like my jeans to be skin tight, so there is some leeway when I put them back on after they've shrunk.

New jeans should not be mixed with anything except other jeans
When you wash new jeans for the first time, you will often wash away excess dye from the manufacturing process. It makes sense, then, to wash your jeans together so the color is getting transferred to other jeans. If you've got black jeans, wash the new ones with other black jeans, or by themselves for the first wash or so.

Wash very dirty jeans separately from everything
If you've been playing in the mud, don't put the muddy jeans in with the rest of your jeans. Wash them alone, after shaking off as much mud and dirt as possible (outside). Your jeans are less likely to all come out muddy. The same goes for any very dirty jeans, or any clothing really.

Jeans and towels may be combined
I will often wash my jeans and towels in the same load, as long as I don't mind if my bathing towels end up tinted blue from a pair of jeans that hasn't become completely color fast.

Wash towels used with chemicals separately from towels used for bathing
Any rags or towels used with chemicals should be washed separately from your "good" towels. Clothes washers are good, but nothing is perfect. You don't want to dry off with turpentine, or anything more dangerous. "Clean enough" for a rag towel is not the same as "clean enough" for a bathing towel in anyone's book..

Spaghetti. Lipstick. Blood. Grease. Mud. Dirt. Oil. Whatever it is that you've gotten into, it's best to try to get it out as soon as possible.

Do it quickly
The quicker you treat a stain, the less likely it is to "set in", and the easier it is to get the stain out in the wash.

Don't leave stain treatments on your clothing for extended periods of time
I didn't realize this until recently, but if you leave a chemical stain treatment on your clothing for long periods of time, you risk harming the color and fabric of your clothes. So once you treat, wash within a couple of days.

Don't use bleach to treat stains on colored clothing
Bleach removes all color, not just spaghetti stains on your blue jeans. You're better off using detergent as a stain remover.

Always dilute bleach
As previously mentioned, when using bleach to wash stains in white clothing, allow your washer to fill slightly with liquid, then add 1 cup of bleach, and let the washer agitate the water and bleach before adding your clothing. To get a little extra bang for your buck with your whites, allow the clothing to sit in the water/bleach mixture for a few minutes (20 would be adequate) before starting the rest of the washing cycles.

You can use regular detergent to treat stains - just pour on and rub two sides of the soiled area together
Grab your bottle of Tide or All or whatever you're using, and pour a little bit into the cap. Then use the cap to apply a small amount of detergent onto the stain in question. Rub both sides of the fabric together, with the detergent applied, to treat your stains before washing.

Bras should be line dried to reduce wear and avoid shrinkage
When you purchase bras, you buy them to fit. Putting them in the dryer causes shrinkage, and thus, they no longer fit properly. Additionally, if you are drying under-wire bras with the rest of your clothing, the wire in the bras can become bent, or worse, pop through the fabric.

Jeans and cotton shirts can be line dried to reduce wear and avoid shrinkage
If your clothing is shrinking faster than you care to see, simply avoid the dryer. Hang jeans from a line at the waistband, and the same goes for light-weight cotton shirts. Hanging from the waistband helps the clothing deform less, and not having the excess heat from the dryer will reduce shrinkage.

To avoid stiff jeans and cotton shirts, toss them in the dryer when they are almost dry
If you are line drying jeans and cotton shirts to avoid wear, but hate the stiffness your clothing gets from not rubbing up against their neighbors in the dryer, you can minimize the damage while still enjoying soft clothing. Just before the clothing is completely dry, toss it in the dryer for a few minutes. The friction will help soften the clothes, but the reduced time will cause less damage.

Hang up work shirts and pants immediately after drying to avoid ironing
Are you lazy with ironing? I completely am. The secret is twofold. One, make sure you're washing similar weight clothing together. If you're washing your cotton work shirts with your weekend sweatshirt, you are more likely to end up with wrinkles when both those items go in the dryer. Washing and drying like items will help with step two - when the dryer cycle is finished, pull out your wrinkle-prone items immediately and hang them up. If you can catch them just before they're completely dry, it's even better. The clothing won't be wet enough to deform, but not dry enough to have "ironed" wrinkles into themselves.

Do not hang wet shirts on hangars
Wet shirts on hangars will pull and deform at the shoulders, and those aren't things that snap back together after wearing the item for a few hours. It's my experience that they're even difficult to iron out. If you have items of clothing that you don't want to put in the dryer, find a flat surface to dry them on - preferably the top surface of the dryer, and turn them over at intervals to make sure the entire shirt gets dry.

Do not hang wet pants on hangars
One, you will get an extra crease around your knee that just doesn't look attractive. Two, it will take a longer time for the areas of the pants that aren't hanging free to dry. I don't even want to think about what kind of lovely things might grow on an older hangar and my pants while they're wet and trying to dry. Maybe nothing...but maybe I just don't want to have to worry about it. :)

There is basically one rule with washing bathing suits - don't put them in the clothes washer and dryer. As they are designed for water, they are completely different from the rest of your clothing and shouldn't be washed with the rest of your items.

In a plastic basin (or your well-cleaned sink), hand wash your bathing suits with a gentle detergent. When your suit has been washed and rinsed, use a towel to roll the suit in to remove most of the water. When as much water is wrung out as possible, hang the suit to dry.

Always remember to rinse your suit in cold water after bathing, and be careful not to wring out your suit too harshly, as you don't want to damage the fabric. I've also been warned not to hang your suit to dry in the sun, as the sun will cause fading and reduce the life of your swimsuit.

When you have a lot of a little thing to take care of, it can be a royal pain. Socks in the laundry, especially when they're all white and you're washing for several people, are a time consuming task. Aside from the fact that socks will somehow disappear on their way from your feet to being clean and put away again, these sock things just need a good talking-to. Because nobody in my house likes to take care of the sock load when it's dry, we have dubbed it The Evil Sock Load.

Contents of my Evil Sock Load:
Socks
Tee-shirts
Kitchen towels
White bath towels
Rags not used with chemicals

How I process my Evil Sock Load:
With a basket below the dryer, I pull out all socks and deposit them in the basket
Tee-shirts are flipped over the dryer door (if flat)
Kitchen towels are laid flat on top of the washer (if available)
White bath towels are folded and set aside
Rags are set flat with kitchen towels

When the dryer is empty, first I hang the shirts to avoid ironing. Then I fold the kitchen towels and rags, and set them aside. These aren't the time-consuming bits, and this part goes quickly. It's the Evil Socks that come next.

Since I do laundry for six, usually, I have a variety of socks to fold. First I separate them all into flat piles by type. This goes quickly, as we are a white sweat sock type of family. Then I'm able to start with one pile, fold the first two socks in half, and pull the open end of the sock on top over the entire folded sock pair. I can toss it aside easily and start with the next two socks. The stacks are finished quickly, and this Evil Sock Load is finished as quickly as any other load - thankfully.

Some people prefer to hang all of their clothing. Others only hang the things they need neat for work. Some people don't hang anything.

I'm a big fan of hanging. I hang tee-shirts and work shirts and pants, but draw the line at jeans, shirts that fall off hangars, underwear, and socks.

Simple plastic hangars can be purchased at the dollar store. These are good for light-weight shirts, but not so great for heavy shirts and pants.

Light-weight hangars with a bit more heft can be purchased at IKEA. They're plastic, a bit broader, and good for heavier shirts, pants, and wide-necked shirts.

You can also get wooden hangars at IKEA. These are very sturdy, and very good for heavy sweaters, pants, suit jackets, and winter coats.

Hanging very heavy shirts on hangars isn't always a great idea. The heavier the shirt, the longer it sits on the hangar, the harder the base of the shirt pulls on the shoulders of the shirt, and the more disfigured and stretched out the shirt will become in that area. Then you're going to work with spiky shoulders, and you just look silly.

Hang your clothing immediately after the drying load stops. If you let the clothes sit in the dryer and cool there, the folds of the clothing as they sit there become creases, also known as wrinkles.

The heavier the fabric, the hotter the iron
If you're ironing jeans (not something I do), your iron will need to be warmer to remove unwanted creases than it would need to be to iron wrinkles out of silk. If you're not sure, set your iron to the absolute lowest setting, and see how it works. You can always increase the heat.

Read the instructions on the item of clothing for temperature instructions
Many items come with instructions, usually found at the back of the collar, but sometimes on the right side of the body seam. Check the clothing you want to iron to see if there are specific instructions for the type of fabric you are about to iron.

Don't leave a hot iron unattended for any period of time
While you might walk away from your ironing board for a few moments to grab another shirt, keep in mind that small animals and children especially may accidentally run into your ironing board, knock it over, and suffer serious injuries from either the hot iron, or the hot water inside the iron used to make steam. If you have any doubt, unplug the iron and set it on top of a surface such as the top of your stove, or the top of your dryer, with the cord far away from curious little mouths and hands.

Don't leave a hot iron on any piece of clothing for more than a few seconds
How long does it take to burn a hole in your clothing the shape of your iron? Leave the iron face down on your favorite shirt to find out. No, wait, that's a horrible idea, and not something you want to try. At all.

Delicate fabrics burn easily
If you're ironing a delicate fabric, it is very easy to burn. Even holding the iron too long in one area for a few seconds can burn the fabric, and once the fabric is burned, there's no reversing it.

Every item of clothing comes with a tag that tells you how to care for the item
The clothing manufacturer will often give you instructions on how to help your clothing last as long as possible. The tags are usually found on the back of the collar of the shirt, or inside on the right side body seam. In pants, the tag is usually in the back of the waistband.

Read the tag
Read the tag if you have any question about how an article of clothing should be handled.

Believe the tag
If you have any doubts about something, trust the tag. Unless you have a family member willing to reimburse you if their recommendation fails.

If it says lay it flat to dry, the item will shrink easily in the dryer or become misshapen if dried on a line or a hangar
Shrinkage in the dryer can be unpredictable, too, so don't use this as a method to revamp your wardrobe after a successful diet. And malformed shirts due to line drying is difficult to repair.

If it says don't dry clean, don't dry clean
I don't know what would happen, but I don't really want to find out. It probably has something to do with the chemicals used with dry cleaning and what they can do to the fabric in your clothing.

You may feel comfortable ignoring the tag instructions if you know what they're asking you to do won't hurt the item of clothing
But that's going to be on you. I have several shirts that say "lay flat to dry", and I toss them in the dryer anyway. I have some sports bras that occasionally I will just toss in the dryer due to time restraints on laundry day. But the instructions are there to help my clothing last as long as possible, and by not following them I may have to replace them sooner than desired.

Folding shirts in halves or in thirds (halves is easier)
Folding tee shirts the way they are in the store or when you order them online is (for me) virtually impossible. But with all things, I know if I practiced enough, I could probably pull it off. That's how folding in thirds works. To fold your shirt in thirds, lay it face down on the dryer and fold one sleeve over so the crease is halfway between the collar and the start of the sleeve. With long sleeves, fold the sleeve down at an angle so it's now running long-ways down the back of the shirt. Repeat for the other side, then fold the bottom of the shirt up in half. Done!

To fold a shirt in half, which is for me much easier, lay your shirt face down, and fold it in half so the sleeves meet. For long sleeves, fold them at an angle so they run the long way down the side of the shirt. Then fold the bottom of the shirt up in half. Done!

Folding jeans with flat fronts or creased fronts (creased fronts work better on hangars)
My mom and I disagree on how to fold both shirts and jeans. I like to fold things in half - it's just easier. To fold jeans in half, hold them flat so the side seams are on the outside. Then fold them so the zipper is in front, and the back pockets are together. Then fold the ankle hem up to the waistband (in half), and then fold the knees up to the waistband. Done!

Folding your jeans so they have creased fronts will give you a more tailored look. Hold your pants so the zipper is in one hand and the back seam (or back tag, or the center of the back of your jeans) is in the other. Then fold the ankle hem up to the waistband (in half), and then fold the knees up to the waistband. (In the store, they go to great pains to tuck in the excess in so the jeans are no wider than the pant leg. This is excessive for me, but can be done by folding the front zipper or buttons next to each other, and putting the back seam between the waistband to form a "W" shape.) Done!

Folding towels in halves or in thirds (thirds hang nicer on your towel racks)
Towels are much less scary in terms of "thirds" folding. I'm able to do it simply by holding up a towel by its end, folding one side over just by estimating a third, and then folding the other side over. I will then fold the towel in half twice lengthwise until I get home, when I will unfold it once to hang it on our towel bars.

To fold a towel in half, just fold it as you would a blanket. Halves until you can't fold no more. Done!

Folding underwear in halves, thirds, or not at all
My son, when I tried to get away not folding his underwear, was very upset, but many people simply place their underwear in the drawer flat with no repercussions.

To fold in thirds, hold the underwear by the waistband and just estimate the thirds, folding one side over, then the other, then folding in half the long way. To fold in halves, simply fold in half at the waistband and then in half again the other direction.

Folding socks in halves or inside out
Take your socks and fold them in half. You can stop there, or continue to pull the open end of the sock on top over the entire folded sock pair. Folding socks over one another so they are contained is a good way not to loose a pair in your drawer. But it is also a good way to stretch out your socks unnecessarily, and may even damage your socks. My call is to fold together sweat socks, but to simply fold in half nice socks that I don't want to damage.