Do you know that some of your laundry mistakes are spending your money? Here you have 8 laundry mistakes probably you are making.
You may think that washing clothes in the washing machine are the simplest of tasks. I mean, you do it every day, right? But are you making these common laundry mistakes?
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
Even if you’ve been doing laundry for many years, these simple laundry mistakes are surprisingly easy to make.
Laundry sure isn’t one of my favorite things to do. Sometimes my laundry tends to remain never competing for a task, especially folding.
There are other parts to doing the laundry. And, this is maybe why it can be so hard to keep up with it!
Anyway today I have 8 laundry mistakes that most of us are making and they’re costing us money, time, and keeping our clothes dirty.
Doing the laundry holds so many individual tasks:
- washing
- drying
- folding
- ironing
Before jumping right into laundry mistakes if you don’t have any laundry routine, try to find best laundry routine which saves you time and money.
8 Laundry Mistakes Probably You Are Making
1. Sort your laundry wisely
a. Sort by Color
Once the handwash and dry clean only clothes are separated, sort the remaining washable laundry by color.
Whites, pastels, light gray, and white background prints will go in one pile. Dark-colored clothes–black, red, navy, brown, dark gray–go in another pile.
It is important to sort your light clothing from your dark clothing.
But apart from separating your lights and darks, you should also sort your laundry by the material.
b. Sort by Fabric
In the dark colors, separate t-shirts and jeans from lighter-weight items like blouses and dress shirts.
If you have dark towels or blankets, separate them from clothes to reduce lint, never wash lint-producing fabrics and lint-attracting fabrics together!
Sorting is the most common seen out of these 8 laundry mistakes you may be making every single day.
2. Using Too Much Detergent
Using too much laundry detergent can also have the opposite effect on the laundry. It can make your clothes dirtier!
Use only half the amount of detergent that you normally do, then gradually increase that amount if your clothes are not coming out as clean as you would like.
Moreover, using too much detergent is just a waste of money. Laundry detergent is expensive, even when it is bought on sale.
Stop using more than you need. If you are using liquid detergent, always pour it into the measuring cup!
It’s impossible to just eyeball the amount you pour into the washer free hand.
3. Not Removing Stains Quickly
Treat the stain as soon as you can; the less time that elapses, the more success you’ll have. And always use a white cloth so that colors can’t transfer.
Rubbing can make the stain worse and possibly wear away the fabric.
The less time a stain has to soak in, the easier it will be to remove, although there are ways to remove mold stains out of clothes as well.
Pre-treat with a stain remover, then let it soak in.
You can learn more from this stain guide.
4. Using the Wrong Detergent
Over time, using the wrong soap can damage your machine, leading to costly repairs, as the extra suds than regular detergent creates can cause the machine’s pump to overheat or break down.
Some machines might use more water, negating the water and energy savings you get from using the machine.
What happens if we use normal detergent in the front load washing machine?
Nope, they are not interchangeable, you should not use standard laundry detergent in your front load, high-efficiency washer.
Using regular laundry soap in your washer puts you at risk for a sudsy mess and violation of your warranty.
There’s no danger in using high-efficiency detergent in a traditional machine.
5. Overloading the washing drum
Overloading is one of the most common laundry mistakes.
Your clothes need space for the laundry detergent to move through them.
And they should be distributed evenly and loosely inside the drum.
By filling a washer to the appropriate level, you allow water and detergent to circulate through the entire load and also minimize wear and tear on the fabric.
If you overload the washing machine, clothes won’t be free to move around and get clean, because they can’t be properly soaked in water and laundry detergent.
6. Not Prepping Your Laundry
Prepping your laundry helps to condense your laundry into fewer, larger loads, the water you save probably won’t offset the wear and tear on your clothes.
To make sure your clothes are properly prepped, clean out any pockets, read labels so you aren’t tossing in a dry clean only garment, pull up zippers so they don’t damage clothes, and pull clothes apart.
These extra steps will save your clothes and your machine in the long run.
7. Leaving Clothes in the Machine for a long time
If you leave the clothes in the machine itself, they get moldy and smell awful. It is surprisingly hard to wash that smell out of clothes plus your washer will stink.
it’s easy to throw a load of laundry in and then forget about it.
Letting the clothes sit in the washer or dryer might not seem like a big deal, but it’s negating the work that was just done.
Thankfully in general, you can leave your wet clothes for a maximum of eight to twelve hours.
8. Skipping machine cleaning
Yes! that is right, your washing machine needs to be washed? Yes, it does.
If you don’t give the machine an occasional rinse, odors can develop and your clothes might come out smelling musty, or stained with white streaks.
At first, it might seem odd to clean an appliance that itself cleans your clothes, but thinking about it, of course, it makes sense.
How to clean a washing machine to keep your machine fresh?
Baking soda and white vinegar are the two ingredients you need, so grab the former and add 1/4 cup to 1/4 cup of water then pour this solution into the washing machine’s detergent dispenser.
Next, take 2 cups of white vinegar and add this to the drum, then run a high-heat cycle, while leaving the machine empty.
The baking soda and vinegar combined, along with the high heat will banish any unpleasant smells and leave your machine clean and fresh.
Once a year, you should clean out the dryer vent. This will help your machine work better and last longer.
If your machine’s vent is blocked, it has to work harder during each load of laundry, which can be very dangerous.
Final Thoughts
Laundry tasks often need to be completed daily, so it’s important to make sure that your laundry routine is working effectively. Don’t let it get out of hand so the whole job becomes a nightmare.
Knowing these common laundry mistakes can help protect your clothes and money.
Laundry doesn’t have to be a depressing chore. You can stay on top of the laundry pile if you get to know these laundry hacks! And put your laundry mistakes in the past – use these tips to make doing the laundry a much easier job.
I hope you like all these laundry mistakes probably you are making.
With
❤️
Nasreen
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