How to do Laundry A quick and easy

How to do Laundry A quick and easy tutorial!

5 Steps to Clean Clothes! ¡ ¡ ¡ Gather your materials Separate & evaluate your clothes Wash your clothes Dry your clothes Fold your clothes

Step 1 ¡ Gather Materials l Quarters (if you don’t have a washing machine at your house) ¡ ¡ l Detergent ¡ ¡ l Each load will usually take between $0. 75 -$1. 75 (per machine) Drying will take more quarters! Two kinds…bottles (liquid) or boxes (powder) Really no difference between the two…liquid may be less messy but slightly more expensive STOP!!! ¡ Watch out for detergents that may cause an allergic reaction!!

Still Gathering… l Bleach Used to make your WHITES brighter ¡ Use ONLY with WHITE colored clothing and linens ¡ They now have “color-safe bleaching action” in some detergents ¡ So…which bleach is the best? Consumer Reports found that l Tide with bleach alternative came in 1 st l Followed by Cheer and then Arm & Hammer ¡

l Fabric Softener ¡ Eliminates static cling ¡ Makes clothes soft ¡ Two forms l Liquid…added during the wash cycle l Sheet…added during the dry cycle ¡ Please note that liquid fabric softener is DIFFERENT from liquid detergent…if you use this form of softener you must also use detergent!!! ¡ Examples…Bounce, Downy, Snuggles

Last thing to grab! l Laundry Basket ¡ If you’re classy…buy a plastic heavy-duty basket or a nice drawstring bag ¡ If you’re not…a pillowcase will work too! ¡ Now you are ready to begin!!!

Step 2 ¡ Separate and Evaluate Your Clothes l Preparation is CRUCIAL!!! l Evaluate your dirty clothes to see how many loads should be done l Separate your clothes by color

Sorting ¡ Whites l Basic t-shirts, white socks, sheets, pillowcases and other plain white clothing/linens ¡ Lights l l Everything from pastels to striped or patterned whites A white item with enough color (logo/pattern) to make you think doesn’t fit with the whites ¡ Darks l l Dark socks, shirts, all jeans, dark pants Newly dark clothing should be washed alone first ¡ Delicates l l Wool garments, sweaters, satin, undergarments These can be washed in a machine but hand-washing is usually better.

Why separate? ¡ ¡ Separating helps protect the color and durability of your garment Should an accident occur the damage cannot be undone! l ¡ What would happen if a red sock got mixed into white towels? Look at the care labels

What to evaluate? ¡ Pockets l ¡ Zippers l ¡ Are they empty? Are they up? (This prevents snagging) Ties (hoodies/drawstrings/etc) l Should be tied to prevent losing them or getting them tangled

Step 3 ¡ Wash l This is the easy part l Pre-treat any visible stains l Select your cycle l Add your detergent to the machine

Setting Your Machine ¡ Some require you to set the temperature (of the water) others ask you to set a cycle l WHITES ¡ l “hot” cycle…vigorous agitation, hot water rinse LIGHTS & DARKS “warm” or “permanent press”…mild agitation, extra cool water rinse ¡ cool water protects the colors ¡ l DELICATES ¡ “delicate” or “cold” cycle…extremely short and gentle agitation spin cycle

A last few tips… ¡ When in doubt…read the care label! ¡ A typical wash cycle takes 25 -40 minutes ¡ 2 problems that arise l Overloading the machine ¡ Fill the machine ½ to ¾ full l Using too much detergent ¡ Only use the full amount if you have a full load…use your judgment for the rest l smaller loads = smaller amt. needed

Step 4 ¡ Drying your nice clean clothes l Clean the lint filter l Add fabric softener/dryer sheets l Unload clothes from washer…shake them a little l Inspect stains…the heat in the dryer will bake it in!

More drying… ¡ Overloading…why is this a problem ¡ Most cycles last 30 -40 minutes l Jeans/towels take longer l Take light cotton items out early to avoid wrinkles ¡ Dry for too long=shrinking!!! ¡ Hang delicates to dry l Helps them maintain shape

Step 5 ¡ Folding…the last task! l Begin immediately…avoids wrinkling l Don’t hang sweaters (they will lose shape and take the form of the hanger) l Hang button down shirts