Laundry & Clothing Question..Please help!? :( 10 points ?

Question

I have never done laundry before what type of detergent should I use to make my clothes smell really nice? I also need a type that will make my clothes keep their vibrant colour because I have lots of clothes with really bright colours and I want them to stay that way. Please help me out..Nice smell and keeps vibrant colour? Also I have lots of loose shirts ..they are from american apparel...and I want them to stay that loose and not shrink..should I hand wash them in that case? Or will washing them not do much? Please help I am clueless what to do.

Answer 1

Cheer colors is the favorite in my laundry at the drop off center, I don't recommend using dryer sheets unless is in winter because even if they make your clothes smell good, the wax on them will start dulling the colors, also, never dry clothes on high heat, if they are colors use medium or low.  The heat will take more lint out of your clothes.

Answer 2

To keep colors vibrant, wash in cold water with like colors with a gentle detergent.  I look for the detergent that is on sale.  Unless you have hard water I think you can use less then what is called for.  Try color safe bleach and see what that does for you.   It also really helps to wash clothing inside out.  For extra nice smell try the liquid fabric softener and again you can use less then what is called for, just experiment and see what works for you.  For me I am happy with half of the dose per wash and periodically even skip adding it in and still the build up in the machine passes it along.  To preserve the clothing size as long as possible hang dry is a must.  For an extra nice touch hang dry on a clothes line outside.   Good luck!  

Answer 3

First of all, make sure you ALWAYS follow a garment's washing instructions.  That will help preserve your clothes better than anything.

When buying clothes, look for a label that says "Preshrunk cotton"  if you are worried about shrinkage.  Also, never wash in HOT water.  If you are worried about shrinkage, hang to dry.  Also, cold water wash is good for vibrant colors, there is less fading.  You can also turn these items inside out to lessen fading (specifically with dark jeans or blacks).  

As far as detergent goes, I always trust Tide.  It smells good, and seems to do the best in removing stains.

Answer 4

As far as detergent goes, in my opinion any works well. However, I have heard that Woolite is good for preserving the color of clothes, so you may want to give it a try.

If you want your shirts to stay loose, I think that the washing part should be okay if you don't use straight hot water...cold water or warm/cold may help so that they don't shrink up on you. What you really want to watch out for is the drying. If at all possible, I would consider hang-drying them, so that there is no heat to shrink them. I hang dry as much of our clothes as possible because I hate when my clothes shrink up in the dryer. If you can't do this, make sure that when you put them in the dryer, it's on a low heat setting.

If I missed anything, someone please feel free to add here, lol.

Good luck hun :)