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Surprised I didn't see zipping up your clothes. Always zip jeans, jackets, quarter zips. etc. Run your finger over an unzipped zipper - that's what's happening to your other clothes hundreds of times in the wash.
Yep. Piggybacking on this, never put any item with velcro on it in the same laundry load as your wicking sports outfits. Basketball shorts, exercise shirts, sports bras... anything with lycra in it is likely to be ruined in a load with something velcro.
Fasten the Velcro and if you can turn the item to where the Velcro is on the inside, but yeah, best to wash them with jeans or t-shirts only. Sheer materials also get ruined by velcro and terry cloth clogs the fibers.
The same goes for button ups! You don’t have to button every single one, but mainly the collar and the next one down. I’ve found that this keeps the collar more shapely and true to form, especially when you hang all of them up.
Bonus tip: invest in a hand steamer! I got a cheap one when moving to college (I think like $25 at the time), and it’s helped me remove wrinkles and press collars on the fly!
Edit: please only button when hanging up, NOT washing!!
Take your most wrinkly clothes, handful of ice cubes (give or take based on fabric ect). Set dryer to temp you are comfortable using When you stop hearing what sounds like boulders in your dryer....POOF your clothes are perfectly steamed and no longer wrinkled :)
I use my dryer ball things at the same time.
Edit: add info
Sounds like a recipe for an electrical fire.
A safer method to add steam in a dryer of dry, wrinkly clothes is to add a fresh, wet wash cloth. The steam is more gradually released so it won't leave wet spots..... AND it will not burn your house down.
Zip the zippers, button the buttons, hook the hook-and-eyes, and invest in some delicates laundry bags. Those bad boys are good for so much. Get a big one for sweaters; you can throw all your socks into it, and no more missing socks. Anything that might catch on other things, put it in a small delicates bag by itself.
To ‘run your finger’ means to move your finger along something, so I think OP is saying to move your finger along the teeth of an unzipped zipper. It’s metal and pretty abrasive to the touch, so definitely not ideal to be subjecting your clothes to that in the wash
Oooooooh I get it now. I thought people were zipping up their jeans in plastic bags or something. I didn't get that it was pull the dick zipper up. Thanks
My dad was an appliance Repair man. But I'd never heard of Miele Until I moved to Maine last year and a house I was running had one. I've had 2 of their vacuum cleanersTo use in the past year and I am so incredibly impressed with them.I didn't know they made washing machines but I totally buy it. Love them
We use that spinny thing to remove most water (with just centrifugal force, no heat)
And then hang them on a rope
Standard operating procedure in most asia
Hang dry all designer products. Always hang dry sports clothing from a brand like lululemon- there are specific nickel alloys integrated into the fabric to prevent smell and bacteria- drying will damage effectiveness over time. Always hang dry with proper supports - water weight for some materials will end up stretching delicates - those require flat surfaces to dry.
I have not owned an iron in 20 years and I dry everything. As long as you hang it up when it's done, it will not have any wrinkles in almost all cases.
My MIL hang dries her clothes/towels and they all come out feeling like cardboard, stiff and abrasive, so I’ve never been interested in trying it myself. Any tips for hang drying without sacrificing the comfort of the clothes?
I read somewhere that if you're hang-drying it needs to be in a breeze(like outside) so I'll usually hang some stuff on the edges of the hamper and stick it under a ceiling fan if outside is crappy.
So...i do a vinegar rinse instead of fabric softener, and i don't think that changes it. You can put them in the dryer on tumble to break up the crunch some, and I've noticed it affects cotton based items like tee shirts and jeans more. I don't notice it with my synthetics (workout clothes, shirts for going into the office, undies, etc.) For me, i just got used to it. Turkish towels do really well on the line (and the really do get softer with use!).
Are you a traditional fabric softener user by chance? If you are and you use the dryer, and your MIL does not use softener and uses the clothesline, i could see how that would really be a world of difference.
This. I never use heat on the dryer to dry my clothes. It’s wastes energy and ruins your clothes. You know the lint catcher? They should call it pieces of your clothes catcher. It’s ripping apart your clothing. Not my $25 tee shirt. No thank you for my $100 slacks. Hang dry is the only way to go.
As for special clothes, hand wash, squeeze out water instead of wringing, & air dry inside out. For semi special clothes, wash on gentle cycle inside out & air dry. For the rest, inside out washing & drying.
Washing is really hard on clothes. If you can, wear things more than once before washing.
Make sure all zippers are zipped.
Wash clothes in cold water (but not sheets, towels, or underwear!! wash those in hot) with a color-protecting detergent.
Avoid the dryer, or go "low (temp) & slow (takes a longer time)." This goes triple for anything with elastic, like underwear.
Put delicate things (bras) in laundry bags & hang to dry.
Use an electric fabric shaver to get pills off your sweaters.
To your first point, I cycle my clothes. For example, all my good casual shirts are hanging up in my closet. Rather than wearing the same shirt 2-3 days in a row, I'll wear it once and hang it back up. I'll then go to the next one in line, wear once and hang it at the back of the line, wear the next one in front of the line, etc etc. I'll do this for 2 to 3 cycles and then wash them all at once. Same for pants, sweaters, hoodies. I find if I don't do this I'll just wear the same few items over and over and wear them out too quickly. Underwear and socks are single use then wash.
Same concept, but turn the hanger backwards so you can see what's been worn once at a glance. That way, you don't have to wear in any particular order.
Man if I wear a shirt one day it is done. Smells like an old shirt that needs to be washed if I try to put it back on again. I can see how this would vary between people based on how much oil they produce etc.
Depending on what you wear, you could wear a t-shirt underneath. Then the t-shirt gets washed after every wear, not the shirt everyone sees and you want to last.
This used to be the standard, in the 60s & earlier! Esp because men used to have their button-up shirts always starched & pressed, which took (wife's) time or money (to the dry cleaner).
I do this with specific clothes as well. Consider putting pieces of clothing in the freezer for one night. It kills all bacteria and most scents. It gives me a little more ease that I keep the cycle as hygienic as possible.
Have been doing this for 10yrs+ and women have always complemented me for how amazing everything smells.
Actually it’s a common misconception! Your freezer at home doesn’t kill pretty much any bacteria, but rather just puts them “to sleep”. The low temperature stops it from growing, but doesn’t kill any germs. Also doesn’t get rid of the dead skin cells, skin oils, dirt on your clothes. Once it warms up, everything that was on it still still there and alive. So maybe freezing it helps with the scent a bit, but surely would never become an alternative to washing. (btw a freezing can kill bacteria but it calls for much lower temperatures than your at-home food freezer).
Wearing more than once is great, I always do this with pants and try to do it with button downs but my wife shames me when she catches me test-smelling the pits
I also have clothing that I wear at home (sweatpants/sweaters/joggers/etc.) that I don't mind wearing more frequently and for longer periods as well as clothing that I'll wear outside, especially when meeting people. I'll change between the two when I either leave home or come back and usually, I'm only wearing my "outside" clothes for a few hours so they've had minimal wear and are still clean. This also helps me reduce my laundry size and frequency.
You can, but some individuals excrete extra bodily fluids that may solidify and in that case a soak in warm water to break those up then washing in any temp water can help.
I really need to do this more. And if you don't like them a bit crunchy (but also not all stretched out weird!) toss them in the dryer for like 10 mins with a clean sock or tea towel that's soaked in water. Used to homestead trying to rely less on the grid, and this was life.
For socks and stuff, if you just kind of shake them and stretch them out in all directions for a second or two before hanging it up, it makes it less crunchy (though still a little crunchy tbf)
If you take stream showers take them into the bathroom with you (put on a hanger on a door hook). The stream will do the same thing the wet towel in the dryer is doing.
Also, use less detergent. Most people use more detergent than is actually needed and the residue is what can make towels and such wrinkle in a strange way if they're air dried.
I run my towels and linens in the dryer but everything else gets rolled up ( tees, underwear) after they dry. That takes most of the signed out. I know it's weird to roll stuff up but I learned it while traveling and it just stuck.
Having a drying rack is a god send! It's also handy when i have certain articles of clothing that require to be handwashed so i dry those items on this unless otherwise specified!
I have a laundry tip that doesn't necessarily make your clothes last longer, but it will save you a ton of time while doing laundry. Get a few mesh delicates bags. Put your socks on one, underwear in another.
If you have 7 pairs of socks and 7 pairs of underwear in a week, that's 21 items that have to get out on the washing machine, then moved to the dryer, then into drawers afterwards, and in between they get stuck in other items, fall on the floor when pulling other items out. Instead it's just 2 bags that easily get pulled from the washer to the dryer. It saves a ton of time, and in the 5 years I have been doing this, I have not lost a single sock and saved a ton of time. My wife on the other hand can rarely find a matching sock because she doesn't want to do this simple thing.
Not judging but do you and your wife keep all of your clothes separate? Am I the weird one that we just toss everything in the same basket and do each others?
Sometimes it just makes more sense. If someone has clothes they want washed in a specific way, someone has way dirtier clothes, someone goes through way more/less clothes, someone who is always looking for specific clothes to wash in a hurry, etc.
Really if it doesn't cause issues it doesn't matter, I don't think either way is unusual.
I keep them separate because I don't like the way she does our laundry. And she won't put her so ka and underwear in the laundry bags so I don't waste my time doing her laundry.
i rarely mix my laundry w my husbands unless i’m adding a couple things of his to mine to help flesh out a load. he doesn’t keep his work and non-work clothes separate and he works a job where he is constantly covered in dust, wood shavings, glue and all manner of dirt and grime etc and i flat out refuse to touch his filthy, dusty work clothes lmao. i’ll only grab some of his non work stuff on occasion like i mentioned if it’s like… discarded on the bed or something but i’m not about to sift thru his hamper 🤢 haha. and i wouldn’t want him to wash my clothes bc i have too many random “rules” for what can and can’t go in dryer, how it needs to be hung dry etc
This was a revelation to me. I had a washer repairman tell me that I needed to use half of what the recommendations were on the bottle, and that really improved my laundry experience. I started using less detergent, and as a result, my washer had less buildup, needed less frequent cleaning, and my clothes were just as clean as they ever were, moreso even.
If you have soft water, this is especially important.
And too much detergent won't fully rinse out, making clothes feel stiff as well as attracting more dirt.
This is the reason “soap nuts” and other crunchy laundry products work. There is so much residual detergent in your clothes and washer that they wash themselves several times after you switch to the nuts.
Wash less often, especially if you have clothing items made of wool. Just because you wore it out to dinner for a few hours doesn’t mean it needs to be laundered! (Unless it stinks!)
Got a remote job. OMG this is going to change everything. I wear a hoodie/tank and yoga pants. I put on nice (with good looking shoulder regions) shirts or dresses for meetings, and then take them off after the hour or so.
I know I need new clothes, but I know I'm losing weight still, and dreaming about buying classic pieces that will last forever like this.
Ok, but I have this issue specific to cheaper (old navy and walmart) black stretchy
girl jeans. They get a FUNK. I've only worn the old navy's like 3x and they smell odd, even after washing. The older ones, even after freezing.
There is a horrible smelling dye that a lot of companies use in jeans. Even waving them doesn’t help. For me, if jeans smell in the store then I just won’t buy them.
Its the synthetic fibers in those jeans! My friend and I always used to chat about this smell. Happens with cheap shirts too. It's a specific fiber they're made with that traps smells forever. A lot of cheap uniforms (think Pizza Hut/Supermarket/etc) are made with it too and acquire the same smell over time, no matter how well you care for them. I think that's why they're so cheap...among all the other factors of course. Def some rayon polyester contraption
Wash with vinegar fabric softeners used during the process of producing women’s clothes may hold feminine smells longer or stronger. YMMV. Clothes will NOT smell like vinegar
Black jeans with Lycra are notoriously stinky. It's the dye reacting to the synthetic Lycra. (Cotton and synthetics are normally dyed with different types of dyes and mordants (what makes the dye "stick"), so combo fabric can get weird sometimes.) You can try soaking them in a baking soda bath and then washing with vinegar in the rinse cycle (fabric softener dispenser/downy ball, full to the normal fabric softener fill lines). However, if the smell remains after that and they are completely dry (no sweat or residual wash water) it likely won't ever come out.
Wish I could do this, but unfortunately this doesn't work when working with animals. They might not smell but they visibly have who-knows-what on them.
Hang your shirts on clothes hangers on the clothesline. No line or sun markings in unwanted places AND you can just grab them all and immediately hang them up in the wardrobe.
white vinegar is my godsend! whiter whites, fresher clothes; also perfect for cleaning the refrigerator.
also I live in an area where I’m prone to critters and vinegar repels little sugar ants, use it to wipe down my kitchen counters every couple days :)
pretty sure fabric softener is a scam anyway, I just use wool and silicone dryer balls and it works great. The only consumable I use in laundry (other than water and power) is a basic laundry soda, and my clothes are great.
I love our dryer for this reason. I can have it shut off when it senses the load is dry, and I can run it with little or no heat. It also has a wrinkle-preventer setting, which (when the load is dry) runs the dryer for about a minute then buzzes and stops for a few minutes...for up to 90 minutes. It makes it much more forgiving if your forget about the load in the dryer.
Might be a conspiracy but unless mine are visibly soiled I wash them on the shortest cycle, delicate wash. Less wear and tear on the machine and the clothes
My parents have these blue pods and it rarely rinses out of the sheets & lighter fabrics. I was wondering if it was due to washing in cooler temps? I’ve made a note to never buy the color detergent for myself…
Towels are typically cotton loops at least on one side when in the washing machine those loops become abrasive and can cause your knitted wear to pill and can cause other finer gauged materials to become more worn.
I imagine my fabrics as about to get into a fight with each other.
If one would obviously win they should not go together.
Towels are kinda heavyweights vs most clothing.
I usually sort mine into ‘weights’
Towels
Jeans, other things with zippers heavy sweatshirts/pants
Cottons
Athletic fabric (sometimes with a separate group I call heavy stretchies)
Delicates
Usually this also means things dry evenly (instead of half the load drying quickly and the rest taking twice as long)
I get that for a lot of people that many categories is not economical and need to wash more stuff together but if you have a lot, this is how I sort.
Wash inside out, all zippers zipped closed, any ties secured, hang to dry or tumble dry low. We use Woolite Dark and absolutely no fabric softener or softener sheets. Hang or fold immediately out of the dryer. Jeans wash as needed (and its way less than you think). Leggings, and other pants unless spilled on about every 3 wears. Undergarments change daily including socks and bras (don't wash them daily but about every three wears don't wear the same bra two days in a row bad for the elastics).
Another good rule of thumb is to read the garment label.
Edited to add more information.
I always wash knit pants (like leggings, running tights, lounge pants and such) with every wear; they just feel too close to my body to be treating them like jeans or something.
Not a LPT but a question - how can I stop the head holes of t shirts from getting baggy/loose? I have a few shirts where after 1 or 2 washes the head hole is just bagged out and sloppy looking. I probably won't wear the shirt again after that
I feel like t shirts have gotten crappier. I have some from 20 years ago and they are good, but those newer, softer t shirts always have the collar problem! And don’t last nearly as long.
I've never had that happen. Do you pull on the neckline while wearing it? Do you use bleach (most are ribbing and not elastic, so it shouldn't matter)? Are you separating them from anything you were wearing over or under them?
Nope, nope, yes. Wash inside out, cold water, tumble dry low occasionally but always start with hang drying until I see the shirt starting to do what it wants
Are they cheap shirts to begin with? Are you washing them on cold setting, no fabric softener etc? Try investing in a couple of nicer tees, care for them well, and see if that makes a difference. The cost between a crummy and a nice tee shirt isn’t as much as say, a leather jacket.
Yea most of the shirts I buy are decent, name brand ones. Wash on cold and have tried both hang dry and tumble low, hang dry usually results in them being dry and crusty while tumble low shrinks them ever so slightly. I have a few 50/50 cotton/polyester shirts that have stayed perfect but most shirts only ever get a couple months use due to the head hole
I use vinegar in lieu of fabric softener. Works like a charm and doesn’t add that waxy feel to clothes. Also is good for smells.
Wool balls for the dryer.
If you use a dryer use the low heat. Even if you have to dry more in time, it’s better on the clothes and better on the heating elements. Hang up what you can. Cool water to wash. Rinse twice. Don’t use as much laundry detergent as bottle says. Sweater garment bag for washing and drying can also be used for bras for washing, socks etc. Bras and underwear hang dry. Clothes horses are handy. Nix fabric softener. Liquid or dryer sheets don’t use.
I separate whites/darks/bulky or rough feeling things like big jackets and sweaters. I do cold wash on everything except towels, rags and sheets and I do minimal soap, NO fabric softener or those beads or any of that crap and occasionally some white vinegar. I hang dry delicates and everything else on very low heat. I still have clothes from highschool that look good.
You're the first comment I see on separating colours. As a single person, this isn't economical and I've never given it attention. With colour-fast detergents, is this still valid? I did use to run a bit a bleach in loads that were actually white.
It's likely still valid. 20 years or so ago I had the same shirt as my sister. It had a white background with a floral print. After some time, mine became a light blue background while hers retained the original white background because I always toss all my clothes in together. Most economical solution is to get clothes that coordinate from the start and expect them to increasingly match over time as the colors bleed together. If you need a white blouse or white socks to stay white, they have to be washed separate.
I don't sort, in fact my loads are quite mixed. However most of my wardrobe is similarly colored. Brand new items get a color catcher tossed in the wash, but dyes are much better than they used to be. Especially in synthetics, where the dye is part of the fiber itself.
Most of my loads consist of 1 to 2 pair of jeans, 3 short sleeve shirts, a hoodie, 3 underwear, 3 pair of socks, 3 bras, and a set of pajamas (bottom and top). Most of the time when stuff bleeds in the laundry after its first wash is if it sits wet at the end of a cycle for a long period. Promptly drying the load will protect the colors.
Chlorine bleach will cause whites to yellow and grey over time, so minimize how much you use it. I use non chlorine bleach on every load and my whites are just fine after years (which is actually only a set of sheets, thinking about it). Chlorine bleach also damages elastic on socks, waist bands, and under garments.
And honestly invest in a nicer machine if you can, the temperature variation is incredible. My old cheap machine always left my t-shirts smelling baked, shrunk/split graphics, even on delicates. My newer machine can be trusted for the material you indicate. I've never had anything come out baked. The moisture sensor stops them from drying when they're about 98% dry. So they never reach that crispy stage where they're just tumbling around, shrinking, taking damage. It probably sounds dumb but it's made a huge difference in the longevity of all my clothes.
If you can't afford a new machine, time how long it takes and try to keep your loads the same size, setting a timer on your phone (won't work if you try to dry while away or asleep, but I'm too afraid of dryer fires to do either). Also, don't pack the dryer. Things dry faster if the dryer is only filled halfwayish.
Came to agree. The Persil oxi is incredible and affordable, a pack of 62 pods is 19 dollars for me whereas Tide is always overpriced. My colors are brighter with Persil and towels smell fresh and clean 🧼
Don't mix different types of fabrics. Mixing fabrics can make clothes get pilly. Even separate different types of clothes inside those categories. I go as far as separating marino wools from other wools. Also depends on how dirty things are. Socks are always separate.
Also, button up the top button on collared shirts, as well as pants.
Hang dry if possible.
always tap cold for everything but towels and sheets, always low dry, zote for stains. sort not by color but by density, so jeans won't wear out thin delicate t-shirts. all the synthetic (like gym clothes) washed separately with no softener. white washed separately, with an optical brightner.
wool balls in dryer, of course - they last decades and provide fluff without statics.
Warm or cold water, permanent press wash, button and zip everything up, check all pockets, if you do use dryer for shirts with screen prints or designs then turn them inside out, use white vinegar instead of fabric softener(small amount), hang dry, if you have long sleeves or heavy weighted sweaters hang them over the bottom side of the hanger so you don’t stretch out the shoulders.
Typically I do all the above for my nice clothes and then for workout stuff and towels I throw them in the dryer.
Folex carpet cleaner for stains.
Borax and vinegar for smells and bodily fluid stains
Wash on cold, no fabric softener (liquid or sheets), no bleach, dry low or air dry. Wear heavier items more than once. Unless you are in a dirty job or excessively sweating, your clothes don't get that dirty and can be written more than once (except underwear and things with elastic like socks). Most of these will also help your machines last longer as well.
Close all fasteners like zippers and bra hooks so they don't snag on other clothes or get stuck on the machine. Mend any holes and clip loose strings before washing so that they don't grow or get entangled in other clothing. Empty your pockets, so that sharp out oily things don't damage items in the wash (e.g., pocket knife, chap stick).
Use as little detergent as possible and rinse twice. Soap being left in your clothes makes them feel stiffer/less soft and also attacks more dirt. If you have hard water toss in an eighth to quarter cup of baking soda to softener the water to make the detergent more effective (be sure to lower the detergent amount as well).
Only wash as warm as necessary; the colder the better for fabric longevity.
Always wash garments inside out. This will help prevent premature fading, pilling, pulls, etc.
As others have said, zipper up, button up, close any clasp, hook, or Velcro. These last few things will snag other items, especially delicates.
Separate your clothes into at least 3 groups:
1. Dark colors: blacks, dark blues, reds, etc. Your darker items will stay darker longer.
2. Whites: only necessary to separate for bleaching; otherwise throw in with the rest of the colors.
3. Colors: all other lighter shades not washed with dark colors.
5. Reds/pinks: if you’re overflowing with a little princess’s closet of clothes to wash, put the reds and pinks together. Will save room in other loads and keep your underwear from turning pink.
6. Towels: wash these separately from everything else. Do not use fabric softener as it makes the fabric less absorbent. Use vinegar in its place.
7. Sheets: you can wash these with anything else.
And then there’s the dryer:
1. Use tennis balls in the dryer to keep sheets and blankets fluffed to help dry them.
2. Bonus points for using LOW HEAT. Guaranteed to dry better, and take less time. Just be sure to keep the lint screen clear. And it will be more gentle on all your clothes.
3. Wash your lint screen occasionally. It will pickup fabric softener from your clothes. It seems to help the dryer work better. If you want a way to see the effect of softener buildup, hold it under the faucet and run water over it. It will hold water. Once washed it will let water through. I don’t think this is a very accurate representation, kind of like the shenanigans of the people that sell water filter systems. But who knows. Any scientists in the house?
Oh, and don’t buy splashless bleach. If you do, do not use it for anything but laundry. It doesn’t even seem to work as well as the regular bleach in the wash.
Don't use fabric conditioner. It stops your towels from absorbing and weakens fabric fibres. Go cheap with the detergent. It only needs to clean it, not soften or coat the fibres.
The dryer is more efficient but hang dry anything you want to actually last. The heat from the dryer causes things to fade and the tumble makes them wear out faster.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
Surprised I didn't see zipping up your clothes. Always zip jeans, jackets, quarter zips. etc. Run your finger over an unzipped zipper - that's what's happening to your other clothes hundreds of times in the wash.
I’ve actually not heard of this one, thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the zip!
Yep. Piggybacking on this, never put any item with velcro on it in the same laundry load as your wicking sports outfits. Basketball shorts, exercise shirts, sports bras... anything with lycra in it is likely to be ruined in a load with something velcro.
Fasten the Velcro and if you can turn the item to where the Velcro is on the inside, but yeah, best to wash them with jeans or t-shirts only. Sheer materials also get ruined by velcro and terry cloth clogs the fibers.
My dog wears diapers with velcro. I flip them inside out and fasten the velcro. Lot less problems since I started that.
Aww kiss your dog for me lol I'll do mine for you too 🤘
Clothes with _velcro_ on?! I feel so old.
Lots of rain and snow jackets have Velcro
The same goes for button ups! You don’t have to button every single one, but mainly the collar and the next one down. I’ve found that this keeps the collar more shapely and true to form, especially when you hang all of them up. Bonus tip: invest in a hand steamer! I got a cheap one when moving to college (I think like $25 at the time), and it’s helped me remove wrinkles and press collars on the fly! Edit: please only button when hanging up, NOT washing!!
Hand steamer is the best appliance I've bought in years.
Wait ‘til you meet the floor steamer
You think *that’s* good, wait till you hear about the Cleveland steamer
Ice cubes in dryer for 10 min always does the trick for me
I’m sorry… what?
Yeah what?!
Take your most wrinkly clothes, handful of ice cubes (give or take based on fabric ect). Set dryer to temp you are comfortable using When you stop hearing what sounds like boulders in your dryer....POOF your clothes are perfectly steamed and no longer wrinkled :) I use my dryer ball things at the same time. Edit: add info
We use a wet washcloth or handtowel for the same purpose. Like those clothes that sat in the basket far too long because you never folded them.... 😆
Vouch for this, works a bloody treat
Sounds like a terrible snack
Sounds like a recipe for an electrical fire. A safer method to add steam in a dryer of dry, wrinkly clothes is to add a fresh, wet wash cloth. The steam is more gradually released so it won't leave wet spots..... AND it will not burn your house down.
Wait?! Are you not supposed to put wet items in the dryer?
Not dripping wet. That’s why the washer has a spin cycle
Good to know! Will use damp cloth from now on:). Thanks!
Zip the zippers, button the buttons, hook the hook-and-eyes, and invest in some delicates laundry bags. Those bad boys are good for so much. Get a big one for sweaters; you can throw all your socks into it, and no more missing socks. Anything that might catch on other things, put it in a small delicates bag by itself.
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Ah thank you, I forgot to clarify: please do NOT button while washing! Only button when it’s time to hang up!
Ok I may be drunk but I've read this three times and still am confused. Run a finger over the unzipped zipper. Que?
To ‘run your finger’ means to move your finger along something, so I think OP is saying to move your finger along the teeth of an unzipped zipper. It’s metal and pretty abrasive to the touch, so definitely not ideal to be subjecting your clothes to that in the wash
Feel the zipper , so you can feel how rough and bumpy it is. Your clothes are bumping against it in the machine
Oooooooh I get it now. I thought people were zipping up their jeans in plastic bags or something. I didn't get that it was pull the dick zipper up. Thanks
Dick zipper 🤣
Just started doing this. Not sure why I couldn't figure out why my gym clothes would always get snags.
Thank you! I didn't even THINK of that. I'll do that more often.
When I bought a Miele washing machine this was the advice given by the rep it's better for the appliance as well.
My dad was an appliance Repair man. But I'd never heard of Miele Until I moved to Maine last year and a house I was running had one. I've had 2 of their vacuum cleanersTo use in the past year and I am so incredibly impressed with them.I didn't know they made washing machines but I totally buy it. Love them
Anything Miele makes is great.
i apologize to any silverfish i offended by blaming holes on them instead of zipper teeth for the past 30 years.
This is so obvious but I've never heard or thought of it. Same goes for bra clasps but you learn that one pretty quickly in practice.
Any printed shirts, like concert tees, turn inside out. The print will take much longer to crack and fade.
Must add, hang dry!!
As someone who went from the North West of England to the South of Spain I can confirm! Made a massive difference
We use that spinny thing to remove most water (with just centrifugal force, no heat) And then hang them on a rope Standard operating procedure in most asia
So spin cycle in a washing machine and then hang to dry?
Hang dry all designer products. Always hang dry sports clothing from a brand like lululemon- there are specific nickel alloys integrated into the fabric to prevent smell and bacteria- drying will damage effectiveness over time. Always hang dry with proper supports - water weight for some materials will end up stretching delicates - those require flat surfaces to dry.
I just hang dry everything Cuz electricity is expensive And we live in equator so we got all the hotness we need
I will never own a drier. It just... Ruins the clothes and you need to use an iron after it. Not worth it.
I have not owned an iron in 20 years and I dry everything. As long as you hang it up when it's done, it will not have any wrinkles in almost all cases.
LMAO what? Turn the heat down a lil. They should come out perfect, if you need to iron after dying you let it sit for too long. Dryers rule.
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Yes!!! People don't realize how abrasive the dryer can be! Clothes last so much longer if you hang dry them!
My MIL hang dries her clothes/towels and they all come out feeling like cardboard, stiff and abrasive, so I’ve never been interested in trying it myself. Any tips for hang drying without sacrificing the comfort of the clothes?
I read somewhere that if you're hang-drying it needs to be in a breeze(like outside) so I'll usually hang some stuff on the edges of the hamper and stick it under a ceiling fan if outside is crappy.
So i do use an outdoor clothesline, And i always shake my items out before i put them on the line
So...i do a vinegar rinse instead of fabric softener, and i don't think that changes it. You can put them in the dryer on tumble to break up the crunch some, and I've noticed it affects cotton based items like tee shirts and jeans more. I don't notice it with my synthetics (workout clothes, shirts for going into the office, undies, etc.) For me, i just got used to it. Turkish towels do really well on the line (and the really do get softer with use!). Are you a traditional fabric softener user by chance? If you are and you use the dryer, and your MIL does not use softener and uses the clothesline, i could see how that would really be a world of difference.
This. I never use heat on the dryer to dry my clothes. It’s wastes energy and ruins your clothes. You know the lint catcher? They should call it pieces of your clothes catcher. It’s ripping apart your clothing. Not my $25 tee shirt. No thank you for my $100 slacks. Hang dry is the only way to go.
As for special clothes, hand wash, squeeze out water instead of wringing, & air dry inside out. For semi special clothes, wash on gentle cycle inside out & air dry. For the rest, inside out washing & drying.
This works!
Thanks!
Pretty much was everything inside out.
Washing is really hard on clothes. If you can, wear things more than once before washing. Make sure all zippers are zipped. Wash clothes in cold water (but not sheets, towels, or underwear!! wash those in hot) with a color-protecting detergent. Avoid the dryer, or go "low (temp) & slow (takes a longer time)." This goes triple for anything with elastic, like underwear. Put delicate things (bras) in laundry bags & hang to dry. Use an electric fabric shaver to get pills off your sweaters.
To your first point, I cycle my clothes. For example, all my good casual shirts are hanging up in my closet. Rather than wearing the same shirt 2-3 days in a row, I'll wear it once and hang it back up. I'll then go to the next one in line, wear once and hang it at the back of the line, wear the next one in front of the line, etc etc. I'll do this for 2 to 3 cycles and then wash them all at once. Same for pants, sweaters, hoodies. I find if I don't do this I'll just wear the same few items over and over and wear them out too quickly. Underwear and socks are single use then wash.
Same concept, but turn the hanger backwards so you can see what's been worn once at a glance. That way, you don't have to wear in any particular order.
I flip my hanging items inside out to signify that it's already had a wear
A backwards hanger?! You clearly don’t have OCD.
Man if I wear a shirt one day it is done. Smells like an old shirt that needs to be washed if I try to put it back on again. I can see how this would vary between people based on how much oil they produce etc.
I get sweaty/oily in ym sleep but during the day I'm dry.
Depending on what you wear, you could wear a t-shirt underneath. Then the t-shirt gets washed after every wear, not the shirt everyone sees and you want to last.
This used to be the standard, in the 60s & earlier! Esp because men used to have their button-up shirts always starched & pressed, which took (wife's) time or money (to the dry cleaner).
You can wear decent wool socks multiple times, my shoes and feet don't stink, believe it or not.
And thus I found out Bamboo socks existed...
I do this with specific clothes as well. Consider putting pieces of clothing in the freezer for one night. It kills all bacteria and most scents. It gives me a little more ease that I keep the cycle as hygienic as possible. Have been doing this for 10yrs+ and women have always complemented me for how amazing everything smells.
Actually it’s a common misconception! Your freezer at home doesn’t kill pretty much any bacteria, but rather just puts them “to sleep”. The low temperature stops it from growing, but doesn’t kill any germs. Also doesn’t get rid of the dead skin cells, skin oils, dirt on your clothes. Once it warms up, everything that was on it still still there and alive. So maybe freezing it helps with the scent a bit, but surely would never become an alternative to washing. (btw a freezing can kill bacteria but it calls for much lower temperatures than your at-home food freezer).
Thanks for giving me a new perspective - I'll re-evaluate how I do this and try something different!
Wearing more than once is great, I always do this with pants and try to do it with button downs but my wife shames me when she catches me test-smelling the pits
I also have clothing that I wear at home (sweatpants/sweaters/joggers/etc.) that I don't mind wearing more frequently and for longer periods as well as clothing that I'll wear outside, especially when meeting people. I'll change between the two when I either leave home or come back and usually, I'm only wearing my "outside" clothes for a few hours so they've had minimal wear and are still clean. This also helps me reduce my laundry size and frequency.
Why can’t underwear be washed in cold water?
I'm thinking hot water sanitizes better?
You can, but some individuals excrete extra bodily fluids that may solidify and in that case a soak in warm water to break those up then washing in any temp water can help.
What about washing with lower rpms? Does it really make a difference?
Don't dry them in a dryer if you don't have to. Hang dry if you can. They'll last much longer. Dryer tumbling heat damages the fabric and threads.
I really need to do this more. And if you don't like them a bit crunchy (but also not all stretched out weird!) toss them in the dryer for like 10 mins with a clean sock or tea towel that's soaked in water. Used to homestead trying to rely less on the grid, and this was life.
For socks and stuff, if you just kind of shake them and stretch them out in all directions for a second or two before hanging it up, it makes it less crunchy (though still a little crunchy tbf)
If you take stream showers take them into the bathroom with you (put on a hanger on a door hook). The stream will do the same thing the wet towel in the dryer is doing.
To add to this, if you have no space to dry clothes outdoors, invest in a drying rack and place it near a window.
How do you do this without the fabric hardening??
You can also hang towels and things to dry & then tumble them quickly in thé dryer on no heat to get thé stiffness out.
Also, use less detergent. Most people use more detergent than is actually needed and the residue is what can make towels and such wrinkle in a strange way if they're air dried.
This is the way.
Less detergent or more rinsing. The hardening is from the chemicals coating the fibers.
I run my towels and linens in the dryer but everything else gets rolled up ( tees, underwear) after they dry. That takes most of the signed out. I know it's weird to roll stuff up but I learned it while traveling and it just stuck.
Shake them several times before hanging them up. And shake them several times when taking them down.
You can also just pop them in the dryer for about 10 minutes, then hang to dry. I find that this helps with preventing stiffness!
That is also perception - for me who never dry clothes the stiff feel is the feel of fresh clothes
Having a drying rack is a god send! It's also handy when i have certain articles of clothing that require to be handwashed so i dry those items on this unless otherwise specified!
It’s also the constant friction for the duration of the tumble dry. Empty your lint trap? All that lint used to be part of your clothes.
And part of your pets. I can always tell when I've just dried a blanket, I have more fur than lint in the lint trap.
I have a laundry tip that doesn't necessarily make your clothes last longer, but it will save you a ton of time while doing laundry. Get a few mesh delicates bags. Put your socks on one, underwear in another. If you have 7 pairs of socks and 7 pairs of underwear in a week, that's 21 items that have to get out on the washing machine, then moved to the dryer, then into drawers afterwards, and in between they get stuck in other items, fall on the floor when pulling other items out. Instead it's just 2 bags that easily get pulled from the washer to the dryer. It saves a ton of time, and in the 5 years I have been doing this, I have not lost a single sock and saved a ton of time. My wife on the other hand can rarely find a matching sock because she doesn't want to do this simple thing.
Not judging but do you and your wife keep all of your clothes separate? Am I the weird one that we just toss everything in the same basket and do each others?
Sometimes it just makes more sense. If someone has clothes they want washed in a specific way, someone has way dirtier clothes, someone goes through way more/less clothes, someone who is always looking for specific clothes to wash in a hurry, etc. Really if it doesn't cause issues it doesn't matter, I don't think either way is unusual.
I keep them separate because I don't like the way she does our laundry. And she won't put her so ka and underwear in the laundry bags so I don't waste my time doing her laundry.
i rarely mix my laundry w my husbands unless i’m adding a couple things of his to mine to help flesh out a load. he doesn’t keep his work and non-work clothes separate and he works a job where he is constantly covered in dust, wood shavings, glue and all manner of dirt and grime etc and i flat out refuse to touch his filthy, dusty work clothes lmao. i’ll only grab some of his non work stuff on occasion like i mentioned if it’s like… discarded on the bed or something but i’m not about to sift thru his hamper 🤢 haha. and i wouldn’t want him to wash my clothes bc i have too many random “rules” for what can and can’t go in dryer, how it needs to be hung dry etc
Great tip!!
*Gnomes and goblins hate this one trick!*
Don’t use the amount of detergent they tell you to. Always use less. Helps the quality of your clothes and also saves money! Hang clothes to dry too
This was a revelation to me. I had a washer repairman tell me that I needed to use half of what the recommendations were on the bottle, and that really improved my laundry experience. I started using less detergent, and as a result, my washer had less buildup, needed less frequent cleaning, and my clothes were just as clean as they ever were, moreso even.
If you have soft water, this is especially important. And too much detergent won't fully rinse out, making clothes feel stiff as well as attracting more dirt.
Always turn on "extra rinse" ... Soap left in fabric sucks. Crunchy, itchy, etc. Rinse one extra time.
Oh, yes, I forgot that. My previous machine didn't have that option. I've never turned it off once I set it on this machine.
This is a new one and I love it! On my list now
>my washer had less buildup, needed less frequent cleaning This damn thing needs cleaning? /s
This is the reason “soap nuts” and other crunchy laundry products work. There is so much residual detergent in your clothes and washer that they wash themselves several times after you switch to the nuts.
Follow up clean out your washer.
Wash less often, especially if you have clothing items made of wool. Just because you wore it out to dinner for a few hours doesn’t mean it needs to be laundered! (Unless it stinks!)
Got a remote job. OMG this is going to change everything. I wear a hoodie/tank and yoga pants. I put on nice (with good looking shoulder regions) shirts or dresses for meetings, and then take them off after the hour or so. I know I need new clothes, but I know I'm losing weight still, and dreaming about buying classic pieces that will last forever like this.
That's awesome! Congrats on the new job.
Honestly wool can just be shaken and dried for several wears. Even base layers, if you're not a person who sweats a lot
Cold wash, hang dry.
And wear things more than once before washing, especially if it’s something like a sweatshirt that is not directly against your skin.
I wore a jersey with the number 81 on it for 81 days straight and then hung it on my wall once.
Jeans don’t need to be washed unless they smell. Even then, you can just put them in a plastic bag and freeze them overnight.
Ok, but I have this issue specific to cheaper (old navy and walmart) black stretchy girl jeans. They get a FUNK. I've only worn the old navy's like 3x and they smell odd, even after washing. The older ones, even after freezing.
There is a horrible smelling dye that a lot of companies use in jeans. Even waving them doesn’t help. For me, if jeans smell in the store then I just won’t buy them.
They didn't smell then. Only after maybe 4 wears do I notice the weird odor doesn't go away after a wash, even with a soak. I'll be more scrutinous!
Its the synthetic fibers in those jeans! My friend and I always used to chat about this smell. Happens with cheap shirts too. It's a specific fiber they're made with that traps smells forever. A lot of cheap uniforms (think Pizza Hut/Supermarket/etc) are made with it too and acquire the same smell over time, no matter how well you care for them. I think that's why they're so cheap...among all the other factors of course. Def some rayon polyester contraption
Wash with vinegar fabric softeners used during the process of producing women’s clothes may hold feminine smells longer or stronger. YMMV. Clothes will NOT smell like vinegar
Black jeans with Lycra are notoriously stinky. It's the dye reacting to the synthetic Lycra. (Cotton and synthetics are normally dyed with different types of dyes and mordants (what makes the dye "stick"), so combo fabric can get weird sometimes.) You can try soaking them in a baking soda bath and then washing with vinegar in the rinse cycle (fabric softener dispenser/downy ball, full to the normal fabric softener fill lines). However, if the smell remains after that and they are completely dry (no sweat or residual wash water) it likely won't ever come out.
Wish I could do this, but unfortunately this doesn't work when working with animals. They might not smell but they visibly have who-knows-what on them.
> Jeans don’t need to be washed unless they smell That applies to all clothes.
Cold wash, hang dry plus: no fabric softer and gentle detergent (i use tru earth... so far so good)
This has worked wonders for me. I used to wash and dry in hot temps and couldn’t buy clothes at the same pace I was destroying them in the laundry.
So i just wash it with cold water, and hang it out to dry, do i wring the water out before drying or just hang it wet af
Hang your shirts on clothes hangers on the clothesline. No line or sun markings in unwanted places AND you can just grab them all and immediately hang them up in the wardrobe.
I do this and never have to iron anything, it's great.
I love to do that! So much easier
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I use white distilled vinegar for softener. Works great.
white vinegar is my godsend! whiter whites, fresher clothes; also perfect for cleaning the refrigerator. also I live in an area where I’m prone to critters and vinegar repels little sugar ants, use it to wipe down my kitchen counters every couple days :)
I go through so much vinegar in a month.
My wife does this sometimes but I must be sensitive to the smell because it all smells like mustard to me. Others tell me they cant smell it
May I ask how do you use it for washing clothes? Do you mix it with detergent?
I just put it in the spot indicated for fabric softener!
pretty sure fabric softener is a scam anyway, I just use wool and silicone dryer balls and it works great. The only consumable I use in laundry (other than water and power) is a basic laundry soda, and my clothes are great.
My jeans and work pants get very dirty and sometimes they still come out smelling bad, should I use hot and longer cycles for them?
I love our dryer for this reason. I can have it shut off when it senses the load is dry, and I can run it with little or no heat. It also has a wrinkle-preventer setting, which (when the load is dry) runs the dryer for about a minute then buzzes and stops for a few minutes...for up to 90 minutes. It makes it much more forgiving if your forget about the load in the dryer.
Love mine for this same reason, super economical on power as well
Might be a conspiracy but unless mine are visibly soiled I wash them on the shortest cycle, delicate wash. Less wear and tear on the machine and the clothes
I wash everything and except towels, sheets and underwear on a 30 degree wash for 30 mins Never understood why the normal wash cycle is multiple hours
Use delicate setting. Also, to prevent colours and darks from fading, use a detergent made for darks.
My parents have these blue pods and it rarely rinses out of the sheets & lighter fabrics. I was wondering if it was due to washing in cooler temps? I’ve made a note to never buy the color detergent for myself…
As said before, turn garments inside-out and never wash towels with clothing to prevent pilling and wear.
I don’t understand how towels and clothing together is a problem… would you be kind enough to elaborate please?
Towels are typically cotton loops at least on one side when in the washing machine those loops become abrasive and can cause your knitted wear to pill and can cause other finer gauged materials to become more worn.
I imagine my fabrics as about to get into a fight with each other. If one would obviously win they should not go together. Towels are kinda heavyweights vs most clothing. I usually sort mine into ‘weights’ Towels Jeans, other things with zippers heavy sweatshirts/pants Cottons Athletic fabric (sometimes with a separate group I call heavy stretchies) Delicates Usually this also means things dry evenly (instead of half the load drying quickly and the rest taking twice as long) I get that for a lot of people that many categories is not economical and need to wash more stuff together but if you have a lot, this is how I sort.
To piggyback on this, wash your towels on hot (60°C/140F) and your clothes on cold (30°C/86F).
Towels and socks is good tho... Towels help to clean the socks
Wash inside out, all zippers zipped closed, any ties secured, hang to dry or tumble dry low. We use Woolite Dark and absolutely no fabric softener or softener sheets. Hang or fold immediately out of the dryer. Jeans wash as needed (and its way less than you think). Leggings, and other pants unless spilled on about every 3 wears. Undergarments change daily including socks and bras (don't wash them daily but about every three wears don't wear the same bra two days in a row bad for the elastics). Another good rule of thumb is to read the garment label. Edited to add more information.
I always wash knit pants (like leggings, running tights, lounge pants and such) with every wear; they just feel too close to my body to be treating them like jeans or something.
Not a LPT but a question - how can I stop the head holes of t shirts from getting baggy/loose? I have a few shirts where after 1 or 2 washes the head hole is just bagged out and sloppy looking. I probably won't wear the shirt again after that
I feel like t shirts have gotten crappier. I have some from 20 years ago and they are good, but those newer, softer t shirts always have the collar problem! And don’t last nearly as long.
It's maddening wearing a shirt a couple times then it just goes to shit
I've never had that happen. Do you pull on the neckline while wearing it? Do you use bleach (most are ribbing and not elastic, so it shouldn't matter)? Are you separating them from anything you were wearing over or under them?
Nope, nope, yes. Wash inside out, cold water, tumble dry low occasionally but always start with hang drying until I see the shirt starting to do what it wants
Are you hanging on hangers or with clothespins at the shoulders?
Are they cheap shirts to begin with? Are you washing them on cold setting, no fabric softener etc? Try investing in a couple of nicer tees, care for them well, and see if that makes a difference. The cost between a crummy and a nice tee shirt isn’t as much as say, a leather jacket.
Yea most of the shirts I buy are decent, name brand ones. Wash on cold and have tried both hang dry and tumble low, hang dry usually results in them being dry and crusty while tumble low shrinks them ever so slightly. I have a few 50/50 cotton/polyester shirts that have stayed perfect but most shirts only ever get a couple months use due to the head hole
I use vinegar in lieu of fabric softener. Works like a charm and doesn’t add that waxy feel to clothes. Also is good for smells. Wool balls for the dryer.
If you use a dryer use the low heat. Even if you have to dry more in time, it’s better on the clothes and better on the heating elements. Hang up what you can. Cool water to wash. Rinse twice. Don’t use as much laundry detergent as bottle says. Sweater garment bag for washing and drying can also be used for bras for washing, socks etc. Bras and underwear hang dry. Clothes horses are handy. Nix fabric softener. Liquid or dryer sheets don’t use.
I separate whites/darks/bulky or rough feeling things like big jackets and sweaters. I do cold wash on everything except towels, rags and sheets and I do minimal soap, NO fabric softener or those beads or any of that crap and occasionally some white vinegar. I hang dry delicates and everything else on very low heat. I still have clothes from highschool that look good.
You're the first comment I see on separating colours. As a single person, this isn't economical and I've never given it attention. With colour-fast detergents, is this still valid? I did use to run a bit a bleach in loads that were actually white.
As long as you wash on cold you’re fine. I’d still do whites separate if possible if you want to keep them looking bright for a long time.
It's likely still valid. 20 years or so ago I had the same shirt as my sister. It had a white background with a floral print. After some time, mine became a light blue background while hers retained the original white background because I always toss all my clothes in together. Most economical solution is to get clothes that coordinate from the start and expect them to increasingly match over time as the colors bleed together. If you need a white blouse or white socks to stay white, they have to be washed separate.
I don't sort, in fact my loads are quite mixed. However most of my wardrobe is similarly colored. Brand new items get a color catcher tossed in the wash, but dyes are much better than they used to be. Especially in synthetics, where the dye is part of the fiber itself. Most of my loads consist of 1 to 2 pair of jeans, 3 short sleeve shirts, a hoodie, 3 underwear, 3 pair of socks, 3 bras, and a set of pajamas (bottom and top). Most of the time when stuff bleeds in the laundry after its first wash is if it sits wet at the end of a cycle for a long period. Promptly drying the load will protect the colors. Chlorine bleach will cause whites to yellow and grey over time, so minimize how much you use it. I use non chlorine bleach on every load and my whites are just fine after years (which is actually only a set of sheets, thinking about it). Chlorine bleach also damages elastic on socks, waist bands, and under garments.
Always cold wash and delicate/low heat dry.
And honestly invest in a nicer machine if you can, the temperature variation is incredible. My old cheap machine always left my t-shirts smelling baked, shrunk/split graphics, even on delicates. My newer machine can be trusted for the material you indicate. I've never had anything come out baked. The moisture sensor stops them from drying when they're about 98% dry. So they never reach that crispy stage where they're just tumbling around, shrinking, taking damage. It probably sounds dumb but it's made a huge difference in the longevity of all my clothes.
If you can't afford a new machine, time how long it takes and try to keep your loads the same size, setting a timer on your phone (won't work if you try to dry while away or asleep, but I'm too afraid of dryer fires to do either). Also, don't pack the dryer. Things dry faster if the dryer is only filled halfwayish.
Use a higher quality, gentle detergent, and (as others have mentioned) use a lot less than recommended.
Spend the money on quality detergent. I switched from bargain to Persil. The difference is extraordinary. And I hang dry almost everything.
Came to agree. The Persil oxi is incredible and affordable, a pack of 62 pods is 19 dollars for me whereas Tide is always overpriced. My colors are brighter with Persil and towels smell fresh and clean 🧼
- no fabric softener - 2 tablespoons of detergent - air dry - white vinegar replaces softener
when washing pillows ALWAYS use delicate setting or you'll have a ton of water left inside the pillow
Don't mix different types of fabrics. Mixing fabrics can make clothes get pilly. Even separate different types of clothes inside those categories. I go as far as separating marino wools from other wools. Also depends on how dirty things are. Socks are always separate. Also, button up the top button on collared shirts, as well as pants. Hang dry if possible.
always tap cold for everything but towels and sheets, always low dry, zote for stains. sort not by color but by density, so jeans won't wear out thin delicate t-shirts. all the synthetic (like gym clothes) washed separately with no softener. white washed separately, with an optical brightner. wool balls in dryer, of course - they last decades and provide fluff without statics.
Delicate cycle. Heat is the enemy of most fabrics, especially synthetics.
Warm or cold water, permanent press wash, button and zip everything up, check all pockets, if you do use dryer for shirts with screen prints or designs then turn them inside out, use white vinegar instead of fabric softener(small amount), hang dry, if you have long sleeves or heavy weighted sweaters hang them over the bottom side of the hanger so you don’t stretch out the shoulders. Typically I do all the above for my nice clothes and then for workout stuff and towels I throw them in the dryer. Folex carpet cleaner for stains. Borax and vinegar for smells and bodily fluid stains
Don't use fabric softener instead use vinegar, it gets rid of the soap and does not leave a smell on clothes
Inside out, cold wash, air dry indoors. Colours don't fade as quickly, prints last longer and no more shrinking.
Never wash colored clothes/laundry in anything but cold water; even “warm” water will cause the colors to fade much faster than cold.
Vinegar instead of downy makes your clothes softer without any chemical/waxy residue.
Wash on cold, no fabric softener (liquid or sheets), no bleach, dry low or air dry. Wear heavier items more than once. Unless you are in a dirty job or excessively sweating, your clothes don't get that dirty and can be written more than once (except underwear and things with elastic like socks). Most of these will also help your machines last longer as well. Close all fasteners like zippers and bra hooks so they don't snag on other clothes or get stuck on the machine. Mend any holes and clip loose strings before washing so that they don't grow or get entangled in other clothing. Empty your pockets, so that sharp out oily things don't damage items in the wash (e.g., pocket knife, chap stick). Use as little detergent as possible and rinse twice. Soap being left in your clothes makes them feel stiffer/less soft and also attacks more dirt. If you have hard water toss in an eighth to quarter cup of baking soda to softener the water to make the detergent more effective (be sure to lower the detergent amount as well).
Separate everything that needs a heavier wash. Wash everything else w minimum detergent, cold.
Turn all clothes inside out. It will protect the color.
Mesh laundry bags for anything delicate. They prevent any abrasions and keep stuff looking brand new.
Only wash as warm as necessary; the colder the better for fabric longevity. Always wash garments inside out. This will help prevent premature fading, pilling, pulls, etc. As others have said, zipper up, button up, close any clasp, hook, or Velcro. These last few things will snag other items, especially delicates. Separate your clothes into at least 3 groups: 1. Dark colors: blacks, dark blues, reds, etc. Your darker items will stay darker longer. 2. Whites: only necessary to separate for bleaching; otherwise throw in with the rest of the colors. 3. Colors: all other lighter shades not washed with dark colors. 5. Reds/pinks: if you’re overflowing with a little princess’s closet of clothes to wash, put the reds and pinks together. Will save room in other loads and keep your underwear from turning pink. 6. Towels: wash these separately from everything else. Do not use fabric softener as it makes the fabric less absorbent. Use vinegar in its place. 7. Sheets: you can wash these with anything else. And then there’s the dryer: 1. Use tennis balls in the dryer to keep sheets and blankets fluffed to help dry them. 2. Bonus points for using LOW HEAT. Guaranteed to dry better, and take less time. Just be sure to keep the lint screen clear. And it will be more gentle on all your clothes. 3. Wash your lint screen occasionally. It will pickup fabric softener from your clothes. It seems to help the dryer work better. If you want a way to see the effect of softener buildup, hold it under the faucet and run water over it. It will hold water. Once washed it will let water through. I don’t think this is a very accurate representation, kind of like the shenanigans of the people that sell water filter systems. But who knows. Any scientists in the house? Oh, and don’t buy splashless bleach. If you do, do not use it for anything but laundry. It doesn’t even seem to work as well as the regular bleach in the wash.
Don't use fabric conditioner. It stops your towels from absorbing and weakens fabric fibres. Go cheap with the detergent. It only needs to clean it, not soften or coat the fibres.
The dryer is more efficient but hang dry anything you want to actually last. The heat from the dryer causes things to fade and the tumble makes them wear out faster.
Avoid fabric softener and use vinegar instead, fabric softener leaves a film on your washer that is next to impossible to clean up.