This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/P&G.
Laundry is the never ending chore that we all MUST do. Laundry is what we all have in common. Since there is no way to avoid doing the laundry, I’ve gathered 22 laundry tips and tricks that will hopefully ease the process of laundry day laundry non-stop everlasting feels-like-eternity days.
Laundry Tips To Make Life Easier
Pre-Care
1. Wash your washing machine. Yes, it is important to keep your washing machine in tip-top shape so that it can last longer and do a better job with your laundry. There are products made for washing the drum on your washer and many washers have a washing machine clean cycle.
2. Attack the stain asap! As soon as you realize you’ve got a stain, take action! You might have to change your shirt – but it will be worth it when you don’t have a set-in stain! As soon as you notice a stain, spray it down with stain releaser and wait at least 30 minutes before putting it in the washing machine.
3. Sort the laundry. You can stay on top of your laundry madness by keeping it organized. Have different hampers for whites, colors, delicate items and hand wash items. Likewise you can do this for washing in cold or hot water. This way you can see which laundry bin is fullest and do just a load at a time instead of scrambling to do it all at once!
4. Use mesh laundry bags. Especially in large households, buy mesh bags for each person. Have everyone use their mesh bag for their under garments (bras, underwear and socks) and have them keep their bag in their room (hanging in the closet, on the back of the door, etc.). This way when wash day comes, you don’t have to worry about separating and sorting everyone’s socks – everything is washed in the bag! Just make sure the bags don’t get too full before washing.
Wash
5. Check your pockets! And check your pockets again! Have you ever accidentally washed a tissue? It’s a mess. Or a piece of chocolate? It’s a mess. Or your wallet? It’s a sad day.
6. Follow the laundry care tag. Always take note of the care tag on your clothing. You can usually find this on the neckline or on the side of the body. If you cannot find it, washing in cold is the safest. If it is a delicate fabric like silk and wool, you will want to hand wash or bring to the dry cleaners.
7. Deep colors and dark jean wash inside out. To prolong the deep color in rich fabrics, wash inside out. By doing this, it will help maintain the darker colors and keep them from fading.
8. Wash new clothing separately. Especially true for new jeans, you should wash these alone for a few washes. Dark jeans will bleed and stain other clothing so it is best to wash alone until the color no longer bleeds. This can also be true for any dark colored clothing.
9. Be careful with bleach. Bleach needs to be used correctly otherwise you will ruin your clothes. Always use the slot that says “bleach” and never just pour your bleach on your clothes or in the water. (The little bleach slot dispenses it carefully during the washing cycle).
10. Use the right dosage on detergent. Always use the manufacturer’s recommended dosage on detergent. Even if it looks like you are barely using any detergent at all for those small loads, don’t add more because you think you should. Too much detergent means it might not come out of your clothing completely and could wear them down faster.
11. Fabric softener changes everything. Use a fabric conditioner like Ultra Downy for the freshest, softest, most lovely difference in your laundry load! The Downy April Fresh scent smells like heaven. When you pour Downy in the dispenser you are protecting color and fibers in your fabrics, reducing wrinkles and leaving your clothes softer than ever. Your clothes will thank you.
12. Promptly remove clothes from washer. Don’t allow your loads of laundry to sit in the washer. After more than just a few hours your clothes will no longer have the fresh smell and will develop a musty, damp, moldy smell. After a few days of sitting stagnant in the washer, most likely they will smell so bad that you need to re-wash them.
Drying
13. Don’t let stains dry. When you take your clothes out of the washing machine, inspect them to see if the stains have been completely removed before adding them to the dryer. If the stain is still present, pre-treat the stain again and wash it again until the stain is removed. Do not dry until the stain is gone to avoid permanent stains in the fabric.
14. Dry erase board for sorting. Have a reminder board in the laundry room so you can write which items should be taken out because they can’t go in the dryer. You can also use a dry erase pen and write directly on the dryer! It erases right off. This is handy for when you are in a rush or if someone else transfers over the clothes.
15. Shake your clothes a bit before adding to the dryer. When you grab your entire bundle of clothes from the washer and just set them in the dryer, your clothes are probably all tangled up in each other. This can cause uneven drying, more wrinkles and maybe even stretch out your clothes while they dry. You don’t want your sweater neckline and just one arm sleeve to be all stretched out, right? So just give your clothes a little shake out before putting them in the dryer.
16. Clean the lint trap. The lint trap should be cleaned out before each load of drying, just pull it out with your fingers and run a vacuum in the slot if you can. This will help expedite the drying process, making your dryer more efficient and your clothes won’t need to be in the dryer as long. Most importantly, cleaning out the lint filter can reduce the risk of fire!
17. Throw in the towel. To save time and energy, throw a dry towel in with your wet laundry. The towel will reduce moisture in the dryer and speed up the drying process.
18. Lowest setting for removing wrinkles. If you can’t seem to get those stubborn wrinkles out of your laundry, try drying on the lowest heat setting.
19. Set a dryer timer. Set you phone alarm or the timer on the dryer to alert you as soon as your clothes are dry. The sooner you can pull your freshly dried clothes out of the dryer, means your clothing will have less wrinkles.
After-Care
20. DIY wrinkle releaser. If you are still struggling with wrinkles, there is an easy homemade wrinkle releaser you can make in a flash. All you need is purified water, Downy fabric softener, isopropyl alcohol and a spray bottle. Fill the spray bottle up with 1 tablespoon of isopropyl alcohol and 1 tablespoon Downy fabric softener and 16 oz. purified water. Mix together and spray while lightly pulling to remove the wrinkles! Works wonders!
21. Fold and hang asap! Taking your clothes directly out of the dryer and folding them or hanging them immediately will be your saving grace to avoid ironing. Just commit to storing your clothes while they are still warm right out of the dryer. Plus warm dryer clothes…ahh!
22. Check the exhaust duct annually. That shiny hose in the back of your dryer can build up with lint and gunk that your dryer’s lint trap does not catch. You should regularly check this and clean it out.
Hopefully these household hacks: laundry tips and tricks were helpful. Maybe you learned a new laundry tip? Do you have any additional laundry tricks to make life easier?
Don’t forget one of the easiest ways to spruce up your laundry (protects color, reduces fading, softens) is with Downy! You can purchase the Downy Fabric Conditioner at Walmart.
