How To Do Laundry Correctly? Especially Retaining Colors.?

Question

I've been doing my laundry for years now, as i'm in college.

But I find myself thinking I need new clothes almost monthly because I feel my clothes begin to look old. At first I convinced my self it was out of style but that is simply a lie. The true reason is that I just get ALL of my dirty clothes from the hamper and throw them in one wash.

That wash is always cold water and add the soap immediately.

As for drying, I just throw all the clothes in the dryer. I used to use those sheets in the dryer but stopped almost 6 months ago due to hearing a "laundry expert" on NBC News mentioning she doesn't think they really help and are just a ploy to spend more money. The only thing I noticed since stopping using them is my clothes don't smell great.

But I'm mostly concerned here with retaining the original look & feel of my clothes as to when I 1st purchased them. The jeans little by little, but most importantly my shirts don't look as new. Mainly my black shirts begin to lose that quiality original black.

I'm sure I should begin to seperate colors and whites but was never taught the correct methods overall.

Answer 1

One important thing to do is always separate your colors from your

whites, but also remember to turn all your pants/jeans inside out

before washing. This will help retain the colors. You should also

try to wash blacks with just blacks if you have enough or else just

stick to darks with blacks, but always turn them inside out! Very

Important and well worth the trouble! Keep them inside out while

drying too. This will help tremendously, for sure. Then wash your sheets and linens ( or whites) separately.

Hope this helps! and Good Luck!

Answer 2

Yep, you should definitely separate your laundry!

Whites go together ... colors get separated into darks and lights ... towels get washed separately.

Since you're especially concerned about keeping your darks as dark as possible, here's how:

Wash your dark items as infrequently as possible.  When you DO need to wash them, do so on a light/gentle wash cycle, turn them inside out, and use just a LITTLE detergent.  You might want to try one made for delicate fabrics, such as Woolite (Woolite also makes one specifically for blacks/darks), Delicare, or even Dreft (which is for baby clothes, but it's extra-gentle).

Then, either let your clothes hang to dry, dry them flat, or use the low-heat cycle to tumble dry.  Remove them while they're still slightly damp.  

Your clothes will stay looking new longer if you wash them separately according to color.

For towels, use warm or hot water, a good detergent (Tide, Gain, All ... whatever you like.  Tide with Bleach is probably best).  Then tumble-dry completely.

Whites ... depends on fabric weight.  Underwear, T-shirts, etc., can be washed in hot or warm.  Anything like a dress shirt should be washed according to the care instructions (depends on the fabric).

Lighter colors can be washed in cold or cool water if they're not heavily soiled.  Again, use the lowest heat and shortest cycle that will get the job done.

Always consult the care label if you're not sure how to wash something, or whether it's OK to wash it with other garments.  Some fabrics aren't colorfast and might bleed color onto other garments, or might pick up color from other garments in the wash.

NEVER wash your red T-shirt with your white socks!  Unless you want pink socks! :)

Answer 3

Separate colors with colors, whites with whites, darks with dark if you are not sure each garmet should say on the care tag on the inside. Wash darks on cold, colors on warm, whites on hot, be very careful when washing your whites on hot make sure that if there are any stains on your whites that you pretreat them with oxyclean or spray n' wash. HOT WATER WILL SET A STAIN AND MAKE IT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET OUT!! Always make sure that you soak the garmet in which ever pretreat you wish and that you get out the stain completely or almost get it out...if you can't get it out on the first try, soak again..WARNING do not put anything like oxyclean just on a dry shirt and wet the stained area and let it sit...you will oxidise the clothing causeing discoloration of a purpleish or blue hue and possibly have holes in the garmet. I did this to my favorite shirt.....you can usually get the purple oxidizing c**p out...but the holes, hahah. On another note, Just by separating you should notice your clothes look less dingy. A scoop of oxyclean really is a wonderful laundry booster in any brand even the off brands like Sun. Be sure to take garments that are especially vivid in color and hang them to dry...do not dry them drying fades the color, you can hang them in your bathroom from your shower curtain on plastic hangers not metal ones. Things like blankets old tees socks underwear basketball shorts should be fine in the dryer. Always check tags in whatever you are putting in the dryer to check the heat setting, somethings can melt in the dryer if it is too hot!!! I hope that this helps some!!! Took me a few trys to get the laundry thing down!!!!! Becareful about the tempetures your wash each category in!!!