BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cleaning Doing the Laundry

OK, I have a confession to make. I don't think I understand laundry at all.

I always use the 'normal' wash cycle and always for the longest time. I divide the clothes into two piles - the "whites/PJs/sheets" and the "other". I put the white stuff in at hot with the laundry-plus-bleach detergent. I put the other stuff in at cold with normal detergent.

What am I missing? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

LOL Lisa! In my opinion laundry just sucks. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> But, it's one of those annoying jobs that must be done.

Basically the different cycles are for different fabrics. More delicate fabrics don't like the normal wash cycle because it's too much agitation. It pulls the weaving to harshly. Check the labels of your garments to find out what the manufacturer recommends.

As for the length of the cycle that should really be determined by the dirtiness of your clothes. If they are really dirty (like mine usually are) go for the longest cycle. If they are heavily soiled you can safely go with a shorter cycle. Again avoiding overagitation is a good thing.

Now your sheets and towels. It's really a better idea to wash them seperately from your clothing. With sheets your clothes tend to get wrapped up in a ball with the sheets and that really limits the amount of cleaning the machine can do on the clothing. Towels I always wash in hot with a touch of color safe bleach. I have kids so I feel like the towels are really dirty (I usually find them on the floor after they've been walked on). <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> For a one or two person household, warm would probably work as well.

Another reason to consider washing your sheets and towels seperately is because of the fabric. Sheets and towels are usually made of heavier fabrics than clothing. During agitation if they don't get all balled up, the heavier fabrics tend to put added stress on the less heavy fabrics.

I wash my dark clothes seperately in cold water too. Warmer water can lead to fading. I usually wash all the jeans in one load seperately because of the weight of the fabric. If you have something that has a stain and needs a warmer temp, wash it by itself in the smallest cycle available and in the temp that works for the particular stain. Different stains take different treatments. If you're not sure how to treat a stain try something like Tide: Stain Care Guide .

The better you treat your clothes in the laundry the better they'll look and the longer they'll last.

Hope this made sense and helped. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi, Lisa and Cheryl.

I hate doing laundry too - usually it gets done on a Friday night or Saturday morning depending on whether it's raining - if it isn't then I can get it dry on the line.

I check my washing and divide it into several piles though I must say I never considered separating out sheets and towels. I live alone and there's not usually so much to do if you're not doing the bedlinen.

Cottons and hot wash items I put in at around setting 3 at 50 degrees with ordinary non-biological liquid (I react to things sometimes so always use non-biological).

Acrylic and similar go in at setting 10 at 40 degrees.

Machine washable woollens (always check this, woollens aren't always machine washable) and cool wash items such as viscose knitted tops go in at around 30 degrees at setting 14. I always use Persil Silk and Wool for such items.

Remember i'm in the UK and on my washing the higher the number the more delicate the wash.

If I get something new that's a dark or bright colour I ALWAYS wash separately just in case it runs - I have a pair of dark blue trousers that has to be washed separately because they leaked blue dye all over a pair of white knickers! Fortunately not something that mattered.

Patchwork fabrics always get washed separately as well and checked for colourfast properties.

Sounds complicated - but as I said I live on my own so it doesn't matter so much. Ironing takes about 1 1/2 hours a week. I still remember how awful it was living in a bed sit and having to take all the washing round to the laundrette every week! And it's still quite common in London for people to have to do that.