Bad Laundry habits! help!

[dustin92]

When I was young, my mom tought me how to do laundry, and the first rule was to never mix colors with whites. I was tought to wash whites/lights in warm water, everything else in cold. She taught me how full the washer should be loaded, and how much detergent to use. Now it seems like I have forgot all of that. I find myself mixing the colors with the whites, and washing everything in cold water. I personally don't see a huge difference in how clean the clothes are getting, but the whites are starting to look a bit tired. I pretreat stains if needed and try to not overload the washer. We currently have a Maytag performa set upstairs and a 80's Speed Queen set downstairs. At this point (only temporarily) we only have access to the upstairs laundry.
How should I sort, what temps should I use, what cycle, and how much wash time? I want to start doing laundry "the right way", not my way, and not my mom's way. What products would you recommend? How long should clothes be dried and on what cycle and temp? THANK YOU

 

[appnut]

Whites and light colros can be washed in hot.  Usually for the longest setting on regular cycle.  I recommend POWDER detergent and use Tide with Bleach for these white loads.  (actually the new Tide Vivid is all fabric detergent for all colors now).  Towels and sheets hsould also be washed in hot.  Same with undergarments (I prefer whites myself).  Any clothing that everyone sees as your walking down the street (except for denims and jeans) I treat as wrinbkle free/perm press and wash on that cycle with warm water and cold rinse.  Dry on medium temp.  These "clothes" I also sort into lighters and darker colors.  Taht's the basic in my book.  I don't believe in washing in cold water.  I"m old fashioned. 

 

[chuffle]

I second what appnut said.

I use the same sorting and temperature technique, and always use a powdered detergent, usually Gain, with a scoop of an oxy bleach for undies, white sheets, and dishrags. I use warm and hot water washes, the last washes are always hot. No cold water washes here, either.

When I use the dryer, I use a delicate temperature for t-shirts and cotton work shirts, and permapress or hot for everything else. My line drying habits are discussed in a post about line drying.

While slightly off topic, my washer hygiene is to remove the dispenser tray when I am done with the laundry, rinse it, and allow it to dry. I wipe the door glass and tub boot, and leave the door open through the week. No funky smells or mold issues in the washer.

Joe

 

[dustin92]

Already went through the deodorizing/ desliming of the washer. Before we moved in, it was used only with cold or warm water, and the lid was always closed immediately after washing. I ran a couple washes with only hot water and bleach, the water turned green! Yuck! I always leave the lid up after laundry is done, or when we had a front loader, left the door open. No nasty smells.

 

[dustin92]

I will try out these techniques tomorrow or the next day, we have about a bottle and a half of dollar store bargain liquid detergent, but when that's gone, I will try out a powder. Will warm water cause colors to fade and will the hot water/ longer wash time affect the life of fabrics?

 

[vintagekitchen]

Sort clothes based on fabric, ( cotton, permanent press, delicate, etc.). Sort again by color (whites, lights, brights, darks). Pre-treat any stains with Resolve Spray and wash, the aerosol, not the pump type. (Even the aerosol isnt as good as it was before Resolve took over, and the pump type is awful).

For really bad stains, get a stain guide. (cool water soak for blood, alcohol and hairspray for ink, etc etc. ) But for most basic things, the aerosol Spray and Wash does the trick.

Hot water, Oxydol Powder detergent, and Clorox for whites, with a touch of Mrs. Stewarts Bluing in the final rinse, along with some generic watery gallon jug supermarket softener. Whites get an extra rinse cycle, because of the Clorox bleach.

Hot water, Era liquid detergent, and oxygen bleach for lights, with the same generic softener.

Warm water and Era liquid detergents for brights, with the same generic softener.

Cold water and Era liquid detergent for darks, with the same generic softener.

Rugs and such get a hot water wash with Oxydol powder detergent, no softener.

Delicates get a cold water wash with Woolite, and the same generic softener.

Permanent press fabrics get washed on the perm press cycle, (though mine isnt a true perm press, its a combination of settings that is equivalent) with Era liquid detergent and the generic softener.

Everything except rugs and delicates gets a run through the dryer on the auto setting, with a Bounce dryer sheet. Delicates air dry on a rack, rugs air dry on the line outside.

Dont forget to use the permanent press cycle on your washer and dryer for those type fabrics, if you have one, and keep them seperated form cotton fabrics for washing.

If you cannot find the old fashioned watery gallon jug type softener, dilute you softener with 1 part water to 1 part softener for regular, 2 part water to 1 part softener for ultra. The liquid softener for me is more to help with rinsing, and I dont want that thick goop they sell now. The Bounce dryer sheet combined with the watered down softener makes everything soft, static free, and smells just like my childhood. (I know many on here hate softener, and I tried to live without it, really I did, but I like EXREMELY soft clothes and towels, and short of washing everything in rainwater or getting a whole house water softener, fabric softener is the only way to acheive that here. Your mileage may vary.)

Also don't forget to check items that were heavily stained before putting them in the dryer, if the stain is still there, it will need further treatment and re-washing, as drying it would cook in the stain.

Last note, these are the detergents that seem to give the desired results here. Depending on your water conditions, machine type, and general types of soil on your laundry, other detergents may work better in your area, ask around and experiment.

 

[dustin92]

I also like fabric softener, our clothes are usually fairly lightly soiled to moderate. The water is Jackson city water (which is very hard with calcium or lime and is randomly very heavily chlorinated).

 

[appnut]

I"m actually about as picky a sorter as Kevin is, but I was trying to give you basic guidelines to get you started.  My mom threw everything together in a load.  Ruined a few of my clothes growing up.  I vowed I wasn't going to have dingy whites nor ruin garmets with mixingh inappropriate things together.  I sort by the Lady Kenmore way--  Cotton/Linens White, Cotton/Linens Colored, Wash'n'Wear (Perm Press) White, PermPress Colored, Delicates.  I prefer sorting out lighter colors from dark and keep whites all unto themselves prettyh much.  And also by fabric/cycle.  I even go as far as keeping slacks and shirts separate.  Jeans all by themselves.  Towels by themselves and sorted by white, light, dark.  Always hot. 

 

[vintagekitchen]

That sounds like the water here, only ours is just hard from limestone, no calcium. They do the same thing with the randomly heavy chlorine too, though not as often now as they used to.

A trick to deal with the heavy chlorination, get one of the cheapy whole house charcoal filters. They are around 30 bucks at the hardware store or walmart, and install in about 30 minutes. They do help, and the water tastes better too.

In a neighboring town the chlorine is very often way way too heavy, to the point of causing fading of clothes and discoloration of dyed blonde hair, so I guess it could be worse.

 

[dustin92]

Yesterday I took a shower, no chlorine smell. Today it smelled like I was taking a shower in clorox. The water is so hard, a few weeks ago when we were watering the lawn, my car got hit with a few drops while adjusting the sprinkler and in the morning after it dried, it looked like a bird crapped all over the roof and drivers side windows. Eventually, we plan on installing a water softener, but finances aren't allowing for any extras right now.

 

[dustin92]

EDIT: we already have a reverse osmosis system fitted for drinking water and cooking, because the water is completely undrinkable from the tap.

 

[vintagekitchen]

yoou might try the whole house charcoal filter for bathing and laundry. I dye my hair,, and used to have issues with fading from the chlorine, and skin issues.

 

[dustin92]

I'm guessing the charcoal filter would also help with sediment? I cleaned out the fill screens on the washer yesterday and its a suprise the water could even get through. Packed solid!

 

[vintagekitchen]

yes, major sediment help, but there will still be some lime buildup in faucets and such.

 

[dustin92]

Ok maybe I will look into something like that.

 

[appnut]

sediment in fill screens

If the dishwasher stops cleaning very well, then your water valve in the dishwasher will have gotten clogged/restricted too and machine won't be fillihng as it's intended/designed to do.

 

[dustin92]

The dishwasher is cleaning great, but I'm thinking the fill screen on it probably needs cleaned was well, occasionally I have to manually add a jug full of water to the first fill. It is fine after that though.

 

[appnut]

I have to manually add a jug full of water to the first fil

You may be advancing the mechanical timer a little bit too far into the first fill for it to have adequatge fill time.  Friends here have a very similar Kenmore and one of them turns the knob so fast when they start the machine that a lot of times it only gets a partial fill because it enters the first fill phase to far along on the timer when he turns loose of the knob after setting it.

 

[strongenough78]

Dustin, to answer your question about washing in warm water and if it fades fabrics etc..... over a very long period of time eventually yes but that's unavoidable. Warm won't fade as fast as hot. As for items to wash in hot water and a long wash time, as long as it's done right and not overloaded, you'll be fine. To me it seems drying deteriorates fabric faster. I dry my clothes on medium heat with an automatic sensing dryer when I can. When I'm at the laundromat, I'll go medium heat for about 28 mins and everything is dry but not over dry. The only thing I dry on high heat are denim jeans.