How to do laundry- for beginners
- WHAT YOU WILL NEED: A washing machine, a dryer, time, laundry detergent, & fabric softener OR dryer sheets.
- Go through every single piece of laundry, one by one. You will be doing 4 important things all at once, if you do it this way, which will save you a lot of time. You will be buttoning all buttons & zipping all zippers, checking all pockets for things left inside them, checking all labels to make sure items do not require special care (dry clean only, hand wash only, etc.), and separating them into different piles....
- SEPARATING- You will want to make 3 piles (possibly 4, depending on the amount of dirty laundry you have.) A pile for DARK colored items (black, dark blue, dark purple, etc), a pile for LIGHT colored items (light gray, pale yellow, etc), a pile for WHITE items, and if needed- a pile for TOWELS, WASHCLOTHS, & BED LINENS.
- Decide which pile of laundry you would like to do first. I like to do my WHITES first, but it really doesn't matter.
- Different washing machines & dryers have different buttons, knobs, etc but these are the "basic" knobs/buttons you should pay attention to. If you come across a machine that looks totally different and you are confused as to which settings to use, just ask! =)
If you have a front-loading washing machine (where the door is on the FRONT of the machine and there is a little pull-out compartment on the machine where you pour your laundry detergent and fabric softener in.)
- Add items (from whichever pile you decided to do first) into the machine. Do not pack the machine tightly, as the clothing will not have room to really get clean. If you have too many items, you can always break them up into 2 loads, if needed.
- Determine the load size. Do you have a small, medium, or large load? Set it accordingly, on the machine.
- Determine if you need a regular, delicate, heavy duty (sturdy items that are heavily soiled), etc wash. Set it accordingly, on the machine.
- Decide which water temperature you should use for the particular load you are washing. I recommend using HOT water for whites & towels/washcloths/bed linens, and COLD for everything else. Set it accordingly, on the machine.
- Open up the compartment for the laundry detergent. Read the back of your detergent bottle or box to determine how much you will need. Add it.
- If you would like to use fabric softener, do the same for it as you did with the detergent. Be sure to pour detergent and softener into the appropriate compartments, they should be labeled. Close the compartment.
- Once all settings are set, clothing is in, detergent & fabric softener (if desired) is in, you can start the wash. It will kick off when the laundry is finished. Some machines will also beep to let you know.
If you have a top-loading washing machine (where the door is on the TOP of the machine and there is no pull-out compartment on the machine where you pour your laundry detergent and fabric softener in.)
- Determine the load size. Do you have a small, medium, or large load? Set it accordingly, on the machine.
- Determine if you need a regular, delicate, heavy duty (sturdy items that are heavily soiled), etc wash. Set it accordingly, on the machine.
- Decide which water temperature you should use for the particular load you are washing. I recommend using HOT water for whites & towels/washcloths/bed linens, and COLD for everything else. Set it accordingly, on the machine.
- Read the back of your detergent bottle or box to determine how much you will need. Pour it into the machine.
- Start the washing machine.
- After there is enough water in the machine to have dissolved the detergent, add your clothing.
- Let machine wash & if you would like to use fabric softener, keep an eye on it until it is starting the FINAL RINSE cycle. Once that final rinse cycle starts, open the door and dump in the appropriate amount of fabric softener, then shut the door to allow the laundry to finish.
- Machine will kick off when laundry is finished.
Drying your laundry:
- Once the washing machine has kicked off (be sure it's actually done and not just in-between cycles) open the lid and begin removing the items.
- Open the door of the dryer, shake out each piece of laundry you remove from the washing machine, and toss them one by one into the dryer. Make sure nothing that is NOT able to be put in the dryer, gets put in. Once you do your own laundry a couple times you will know and remember what items, if any, you'd like to keep out of the dryer. For those- just hang them up to dry instead.
- If you did not use fabric softener when you washed the clothing, toss in 1 dryer sheet with the wet laundry.
- Find the lint trap on the dryer- it is usually a long screen looking contraption that you pull out of the top of the machine OR inside the door.
- Pull out the lint trap, remove any lint that may be in it with your fingers, toss it in the trash, and replace the lint trap the same way you removed it.
- Shut the dryer and make sure all settings are correct for the type of laundry you are drying in this load. Unless you are drying delicate items, you will typically just use the "normal" or "regular" settings on the dryer.
- Start the dryer and let it do it's thing. Once it has kicked off, check laundry to make sure it's completely dry. If not- check the lint trap again and turn the dryer back on. If so- remove laundry, fold or hang, and put away.
- Repeat steps for all remaining loads of laundry. Obviously, you can go ahead and start another load in the washing machine WHILE you have a load drying in the dryer, to save time. =)
how to treat stains
how to hand-wash clothing
- Separate clothing the same as you do with machine-washing.
- Fill your sink, tub, or bucket with water. Use the same water temperature guidelines for hand-washing as you use for machine washing. (HOT for whites, towels/washcloths, and bed linens and COLD for everything else.)
- Add a bit of laundry detergent to the water. You really just have to eye-ball this, it depends on how big of a load you are hand-washing. Swish the water around a bit, with your hand, to dissolve the detergent.
- Place items in water & make sure they are completely submerged in the water. Allow to soak about 10 minutes.
- One by one, use your hands to "knead" the items, rub them together gently, etc to get them clean. Do this for all items.
- Drain water and wring out items the best you can.
- If you'd like to use fabric softener, add fresh water to the sink/tub/bucket and a bit of fabric softener. Allow clothing to soak for about 20 minutes.
- Rinse items with clean water, one by one, and wring them out the best you can with your hands.
- Hang items to dry or put them in the dryer.