Laundry--Loads of Advice

Thanks to automatic machines that do all the washing and drying for you, laundry day has changed drastically over the past century. Instead of boiling wash water in a big black kettle, scrubbing clothes against a corrugated washboard, squeezing the water out with a hand-cranked wringer, and hanging the clothes on a line to dry, today you simply toss the clothes and a measured amount of detergent into a machine and flip a switch, then toss them into a dryer and flip another switch. Bingo: clean, fresh-smelling clothes.
  Doing the laundry used to be a muscle job--the dirtier the clothes, the harder you scrubbed. But as machines, fibers, and fabrics have evolved over the years, so have laundry products and techniques. Today, laundering is mostly a mental exercise, a matter of deciphering the hieroglyphics of care label symbols, keeping up with the latest new-and-improved laundry products, recognizing the differences between fabric types, and understanding the chemistry behind stain-removal techniques.
  Everyone has clothes to clean. Not everyone cleans them as well as they could. They wing it orget by on the bare minimum. This chapter will help you do a better, more thorough job on your laundry. You'll be more knowledgeable, more confident, and more efficient. Your clothes will be cleaner, brighter, fresher, and longer lasting.

Sorting: Color and Beyond

Sorting clothes is easy, right? Darks go in one pile, and whites in another. That's a good start, but if you really want to do it right--and keep your clothes looking their best--also sort by similar construction and soil level.

Sorting by color. Separate whites from colors and light colors from dark colors. When in doubt, read care labels. If the label in a particular garment says to wash separately, that means the dye colors will run. Even tiny amounts of dye can transfer to other fabrics, making the clothes look discolored and dingy.

Sorting by soil. Separate heavily soiled or greasy items from lightly soiled ones. Lightly soiled clothes will pick up the extra soil and grease, making whites look gray or yellow and colors look dull.

Sorting by construction and material. Separate out clothes that are loosely knit or woven and clothes that have delicate trimmings or unfinished seams that can fray. Wash those on a shorter cycle that features more gentle agitation. Also separate lint producers--such as fleece sweat suits, chenille items, new terry cloth towels, and flannel pajamas--from lint attractors, such as corduroys, synthetic blends, and dark things.

First, Some Prep Work

While laundry prep work is not as extensive (and tiresome) as, say, painting prep work, it is important for getting the cleanest clothes. And you know what they say about
an ounce of prevention. A few routine steps before starting--like removing crayons from your child's pocket--can prevent a laundry disaster.

• Empty Pockets. Remove lipstick, lip balm, paper (especially tissues), candy, nails, and, yes, crayons--plus anything else squirreled away in pants and jackets. Keep a small brush handy to brush dirt and lint out of cuffs.
• Close Zippers and Velcro. This prevents snags and keeps your Velcro from getting matted (and losing its staying power) with lint and thread.
• Bag your hose. Put panty hose and items with long ties in a mesh bag to keep them from snagging and tearing.
  

Stain strategies

It's always best to try to remove stains when they are fresh. But sometimes stains sneak in under the radar screen. These you need to address before washing. If you let them pass through a washing cycle (or the dryer), the stains may become permanent. If you treat them beforehand with the right stain-removal solution, however, you stand a good chance of removing the stains for good. Here are a few general tips for pretreating clothes with certain stains. For more detailed techniques for removing stains, see Stains later.

Soak protein stains in cold water. These include egg, milk, feces, urine, blood, and the like. Soak for half an hour. Run the stain under cold water, gently rubbing the fabric together with your hands to loosen the stain. Avoid warm or hot water, which can cook the proteins, setting the stain permanently.

Pretreat oil and grease stains with liquid laundry detergent or pre-treatment spray. Apply the detergent or spray, such as Shout  or Spray'n Wash, directly to the stain.

Soak tannin stains (coffee, tea, soft drinks, fruit jelly) for a half hour in a solution of 1 teaspoon of liquid detergent (preferably one containing enzymes) per 1/2 gallon warm water. Do not use soap or a soap-based product. Soap can make the tannin stain harder to remove.

See Liquid Soap

After washing, check to see whether the stain is gone. If it isn't, do not dry. Try again to remove the stain and then repeat washing.

The Main Event: Washing

The invention of the automatic washing machine was to household cleaning what the advent of the gas-powered mower was to lawn care--revolutionary. The automatic washing machine accomplishes what once took hours of skin-scalding, backbreaking work. And the machine does it better, getting clothes cleaner and treating them more gently. Today, machines,especially the new generation of front-loaders, are more efficient than ever.
  Most people pick up their laundering skills in bits and pieces. The following is a more thorough lesson in washing, with a few tips that just might surprise you.

Evenly distribute clothes in the washer. The spin cycle relies on a balanced load. Never wrap sheets or long garments around the agitator post. That can tear fabric and jam the machine. The best  loads are ones that mix small and large items--for instance, sheets mixed with hand towels and socks.

Don't overload the washer. The wash cycle depends on clothes rubbing together to remove the soil. If the washer is too full, the clothes will not have enough space to rub together. Powdered  detergent may not have room to adequately dissolve, and you may end up with clumps of powdered detergent stuck on your clothes. Moreover, there must be enough free-flowing water to carry away the soil removed from the clothes. Check your washer's manual for the recommended maximum load.