Once you’re married or living with someone – assuming you don’t have a maid or send all your dirty clothes to the cleaners – you’ll have double the laundry. Doing loads of laundry for two can be time consuming and frustrating if the work lands on your shoulders alone.
As with all the other household chores, you and your husband or wife have to decide who will do the laundry and develop a system for getting it done that fits your needs and lifestyle. After you have determined the logistics, you can start tackling the laundry. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do the laundry:
Separate dirty clothes by color.
Whether you’re washing clothes by hand or in a washing machine, you should separate them into three color groups – whites, darks (think red and black, which have dyes that might run), and all other colors. You’ll want to wash whites with whites and so on. Mixing colors with whites is a common mistake that can result in white socks turning pink, for example.Check pockets.
People tend to leave things in their pockets – from money to dirty tissues. It’s always best to remove items from pockets before doing the laundry. Coins, for instance, could damage your washing machine and paper will disintegrate and cause ugly lint to stick to your laundered stuff.Read labels.
Anything you wash – from sheets and bath towels to shirts and pants – should have a label on it that describes what it is made of and how to clean it. Some labels say dry clean only, whereas others might say to wash the item in cold water with like colors. Take the advice of these labels to insure the safety of your things.Treat stains.
If you have a stain on any of the items, you’ll need to treat it before washing it. A Tide stick or other stain removal product might be a good first line of attack. Oxy Clean powder also helps dingy, old clothes look new again. There are also home products that might help you – milk takes out blood stains, powder or flour help to soak up oil stains, and brown soap works on grass stains. Sometimes, however, even after treatment and several washes, a stain remains. In those cases, you simply have to either part with the item or turn it into cleaning rags.Wash by hand.
Washing clothes by hand might seem old-fashioned but even people with access to washing machines opt to wash delicate items – from fine lingerie to a silk blouse – by hand.To wash by hand, you just need a bucket or clean sink or bathtub filled with cold or warm water (depending on directions on the label). You should add liquid detergent while the water is running to create suds. Then, gently place the items in the soapy water. Swoosh them around to make sure they get treated with the soap and water. Don’t put too many items in the bucket or sink at the same time. Soak the clothes for a length of time that seems appropriate. A sweat-stained shirt probably needs more time than a new bathing suit that you haven’t worn yet, for instance.
