How to Wash & Iron Clothes

The Guys Doing Laundry

Perhaps you just love the smell and feel of fresh washed and pressed clothing. Of course, when the budget starts getting tighter, paying someone to do your laundry might be the item that gets cut. If you want to wash and iron your own clothes, there are a few tricks of the trade that will result in clean and well-pressed clothing. It might seem basic, but there are some tried and true methods that will produce better results than average.

Things You'll Need

• Washing machine
• Dryer
• Ironing board
• Iron
• Distilled water
• Laundry soap

Instructions

Washing Clothes

1. Fill your washing machine with water while preparing your clothes for washing. Pour in the recommended amount of laundry detergent into the water (usually a cap full). If you wash the solid whites, add a cup of bleach to the wash machine bleach dispenser or into the water before you add your clothes. A cup of white vinegar added to the rinse dispenser will leave your clothes better rinsed and softer.

2. Separate your clothes into piles of solid white, colored and dark. This will keep your brightly colored clothes from staining your whites. It can help keep the dark lint off the white clothes and the white lint off the dark clothes. Remove any belts, check pockets for strange items, straighten socks, and straighten sleeves.

3. Check garment labels for washing instructions if you are unsure of their care. Most clothing can be washed in cold water if it does not say "Dry Clean Only." Even clothes that are labeled to be washed in warm water can be washed in cold water. Make note of any clothes that need to be line dried instead of put through a heated dryer. You will have to separate them later from the load before it goes into the dryer. Close the lid and start the cycle.

4. Choose the size of the load. It is economical to run your wash machine only with full loads, but--if you have just a few clothes that cannot wait--use a smaller setting. Choose the wash cycle. Use the full-length regular one for the whites such as socks, t-shirts and underwear. Choose less rigorous ones for polyesters or more delicate clothing. Decide on the water temperature. You should use cold for most. The hottest setting should be reserved for jobs of super cleaning.

Drying Clothes

1. Remove the clothes from the wash machine when it finishes. Dry them by using a clothes dryer. Using a dryer will result in a faster drying time and less wrinkles if you take the clothes out of the dryer immediately after the cycle ends.

2. Hanging clothes outside to dry will provide a little ultraviolet radiation and a little extra bleaching of your whites. Hold the very edge of the clothing with a clothes pin so that the garment hangs straight. Allow the clothes to dry thoroughly before bringing them in to fold or iron.

3. Drying clothes inside is much cheaper than running a dryer, but it will take between 2 to 24 hours to dry. During the cold months, you can string a strong line in your laundry room. You can also hang clothes on laundry hangers. Keep enough space between the hangers for air movement.

Ironing Clothes

1. Hang up any clothes that you wish to iron even before you get to ironing them. This will cause many of the wrinkles to fall out just from gravity.

2. Set up your ironing board, making sure the surface is clean and that you have good overhead lighting. Fill the water compartment of your iron with distilled water or tap water if you don't have hard water. Turn the iron on the temperature for the cloth you are ironing, and allow it to fully heat up.

3. Iron the secondary areas of the garment first and then the main area. For example, iron the sleeves and collar before you iron the front and back of the shirt. For stubborn wrinkles, use extra steam. Delicate polyester or acrylic clothes might need to be ironed under a clean cotton kitchen towel to prevent a glossy sheen from developing.

4. Hang up the pressed clothes on a hanger. Place it in the closet or other storage area..Pants should be folded in half along the pressed seam lengthwise and slung over the hanger. Skirts should be hung with their waistband sitting on the edges of the hanger.

Resources

• How to Green with your Laundry
• How to Find How Much Electricity a Device Uses
• How to Bleach Wash Jeans