A New and Exciting List of Laundry Dos and Don’ts
You might think of one thing every April 15th…laundry.
Yup, it’s National Laundry Day again, and we’re certain you’re ready to dedicate a few hours of time today to learning more about laundry than ever before.
No? Got something else on your “to-do” list every April 15? That’s fine; go deal with that. We’ll be right here, ready and waiting for you when you get back.
Okay! Done with that other chore? Good, now it’s time to roll up your sleeves or change out of them completely and into your chore-doing-duds because today it’s all about mastering some authentically helpful laundry dos and don’ts.
Not Your Grandma’s List of Laundry Tips
We won’t give you a standard list of tips and tricks. Those are the old “dime a dozen” things, and you already know most of them. Sadly, some of these “tips” may be inaccurate because there’s so much misinformation on the interwebs.
Like what? Vinegar, for one. Go online to look for lists of must-have ingredients for your laundry arsenal, and you’re likely to find white vinegar at the top of most.
While it can be used for brightening, freshening, softening, and even removing low-pH stains like tea or coffee, the problem is it can be used too much or too often. Yes, it can kill mildew and mold and even eliminate some product buildup that leads to odors, but there’s a caveat. There are times when even just a little is too much.
So, why put it to use at all? To answer that, we need to look at fabric softeners.
You Don’t Want or Need Fabric Softener – Honest!
Fabric softeners are very, VERY bad. The pros over at Consumer Reports agree, saying: “never use fabric softener—it’s a waste of money. Not only can it irritate sensitive skin, but it can also leave a layer of residue on your clothes and reduce the absorption of your towels.”
Did you know that it is fabric softener that can cause some items to smell bad? This comes from a waxy coating that most softeners deposit on fabric, leading to stinky, albeit fresh laundry! That same residue also leads to mold growth, which only adds to the stinky issue.
That leaves us with the question of how to get those same fabric softener results sans the actual fabric softeners. White vinegar comes to the rescue, but not all the time.
In another article about what NOT to clean with vinegar, those same experts at Consumer Reports note that vinegar “can damage the rubber seals and hoses in some washing machines …[and] can literally melt hoses, causing leaks and thereby possibly all kinds of additional damage to the house… front-load washers are especially susceptible to vinegar-related damage.”
So, where’s the new and exciting laundry tip in all of that?
It is this: Skip those costly and harmful bottles of fabric softeners (and the little fabric softener sheets)[1]. Instead, go for a scented laundry product (we have some eco-friendly suggestions below). If you can’t go without fabric softener, why not opt for something just as good? Like what? How about a homemade recipe? The experts at TODAY provide this simple recipe for a DIY fabric softener:
“All you need is two cups of warm water, a half cup of baking soda, and a half cup of white vinegar. Start by mixing the warm water and baking soda, then slowly pour in the white vinegar…If you want it to smell good, you can add a few drops of essential oils.”
Pour this into the fabric softener compartment and NOT directly on the clothes. This dilutes the solution further as it enters the machine as part of the rinse cycle. You won’t get a vinegar odor if you use the right amount in the mix, and it makes damage to the machine less likely.
Think of Vinegar Like a Gremlin…Follow the Three Rules
Just remember that there are three huge rules to using vinegar in the laundry. According to Better Homes & Gardens, these are: Never use it at the same time as chlorine bleach as this leads to dangerous fumes, never use it “as a part of your regular laundry routine, as the acid in vinegar can damage seals and hoses in your washing machine, causing leaks.” Thirdly, avoid over-using it in anything that features elastic such as gym clothes as repeated saturation can weaken the strength of the elastic.
What if you are a die-hard fabric softener user? Go ahead and use it (don’t say we didn’t warn you), AND always follow the instructions on the bottle. That usually means using a lot less than you think is needed and diluting it or adding it into the proper compartment on the machine.
Use a lighter hand and skip softeners every other load. As one expert noted, “Using it all the time stays in your clothes, and then it stays in your machines…which can not only shorten the life of your machine, but also your fabrics.”
Remember that some items should never meet up with fabric softener as they tumble around your washer. Those items include kids’ clothes, towels or anything made of microfiber, and any sort of athletic gear with moisture wicking. Anything that may get near an open flame is also not a good companion for fabric softener as it is flammable.
Then there’s the biggest laundry do: Clean the washing machine AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH. This is true whether you use fabric softener or not.
A Mean Cleaning Machine Gets Cleaned
Front loader, top loader, or all-in-one…it doesn’t matter. The most important tip to the best laundry is to start with a clean machine.
Hold on, you might think, isn’t a laundry machine FULL of soap and water all the time/ Shouldn’t it be the squeakiest of squeaky clean things? Well it isn’t.
The pros over at HGTV say this: “soap residue and minerals in commonly used detergents are apt to build up in the washing machine, and over time, you might notice that your clothes just don’t seem to get as clean as they used to.” And this will be true whether it is a small load of delicates or a massive pile of towels.
The good news is that you don’t have to take a day off work to disassemble and clean the machine. It takes only a cleaning agent of your choice and running a cycle or two to get the machine clean. The cleaning agents can include:
Bleach (1/2 cup in bleach compartment)
Peroxide (2 cups to the tub)
Vinegar and baking soda (3-4 cups in the tub, stopping the cycle briefly to soak and then adding ½ cup backing soda to complete the cycle)
Cleaner tablets (follow instructions)
Borax and washing powder (See the Home Depot method at the link)
As you might know, a basic approach is to start with the empty washer, set it to a warm or hot water cycle, and pour in your cleaning agent. Some cleaners work best if you stop the cycle and allow the cleaner to soak the tub for an hour or less. Then, run the rest of the cycle to finish. You’ll also need to manually clean the gaskets on the doors and the doors themselves.
Just use a spray bottle with a household disinfectant and spray the inside or underside of the door or lid. Clean inside the lip or gasket and the different detergent or bleach cups. A soak with hot water and a scrub with an old toothbrush can help loosen debris and get the cups deep cleaned.
Yes, it is that simple and should be done at least once each month. Some lucky washing machine owners will find they can just ask the machine to perform a deep clean per a pre-set cycle. Just tossing in the agent takes care of the first step. Manually cleaning the doors and gaskets is always done by hand, and some ask that filters get changed and small reservoirs drained.
The point is to get the machine clean and keep it that way to avoid any odors, mold or mildew, or less optimal cleaning results.
One Last Way to Level Up the Laundry
And when you want even more bang for your buck in the laundry department, we have a final laundry secret to share. You may already know about this, and you are almost certain to have it in your home.
Baking soda.
There, it’s out. We said it.
Baking soda is a remarkably valuable tool in any laundry room because it is an alkaline that alters the pH of water (raising it by a little). It can be used to:
Pretreat stains just by making a paste with a bit of water and applying it to a stain OR by sprinkling directly on a grease stain and allowing it to sit and pull out the oily residues
Boost the effectiveness of detergents or chlorine bleach. This means using fewer formulas just by adding ½ cup of baking soda to the wash.
Skip the bleach altogether. If you would rather whiten clothes without using bleach, that ½ cup of baking soda tossed directly into the wash tub can whiten your light-colored and white clothing, including household linens.
Undo a big whoops. Ever left a pen or marker in a pocket and then tossed it into the wash? Likely, you’ve wondered how to undo this biggest of whoopsies. Rewash the load at the hottest temperature possible and add a full cup of baking soda to the tub. It can erase a lot of those stains and scrubs down the inside of the machine to prevent the next wash or two from getting marks from your previous whoops!
Unstain white clothes were accidentally washed with colored clothing by adding baking soda, salt, and detergent in a warm wash. Stop the cycle and allow it to soak, and then run the rest of the wash cycle.
Cut odors and stains from acidic materials. Some of your laundry’s worst odors (including urine and stains) can be removed with baking soda. It uses its neutralizing powers to destroy odor and can even counteract stains from things like acidic cleaners if washed immediately after the spill.
Softens hard water. If you know your household has hard water, using ½ cup of baking soda in a wash cycle reduces its negative impact on items. It prevents the dinginess common to hard water washes and leaves it looking brighter.
Clean delicates by soaking them in a quart of water into which ¼ cup of baking soda has been dissolved. Let them soak briefly, rinse them out, and air dry to keep them clean and fresh.
Prevent nylon from yellowing by adding baking soda to wash and rinse water in the machine.
Baking soda can really level up your stain-fighting, odor-removal, and special laundry capabilities. The list above is just a tiny bit of what it provides. It can also erase perfume stains and blood stains, get chlorine out of bathing suits, strip new clothes of any chemical finishes, and even treat some suede and leather items.
Celebrating National Laundry Day
Now, you have a list of laundry tips that even your grandma may not have known. Eager to learn more? Discover the many wonders of laundry and stain removal with our free little guide – “Don’t Panic – The Oak Hill Dry Cleaner Guide to Stain Removal.”
You can also celebrate National Laundry Day by organizing your very own FREE weekly home pickup and delivery service. No need to commit to weekly visits. We can tackle the laundry for you – even if it is just this week’s piles or every week's – and return it to you all clean, fresh, and folded. How you celebrate today is up to you. You can focus on that other April 15th chore, or you can start improving your laundry game today.
Here are our recommendations[2] for the most important tools in any laundry room.
White vinegar Affiliate link
Baking soda Affiliate Link
Stain stick or remover Affiliate Link
Liquid dish soap (it will be diluted into a spray bottle) Affiliate Links
Soaking tub Affiliate Link
Liquid or powder detergent Affiliate Links
Enzyme booster OR Color-safe oxygen booster Affiliate Link
[1] Don’t just toss out any laundry products you have on hand right now – yes, we are telling you to forgo using them, but you can worsen their potentially negative environmental impacts by throwing them in the trash. Most laundry products can be diluted and poured down the drain, but what a waste! Instead, seek out a local laundromat or freebie site and just give it away. While we dislike advocating the use of such products, we hate seeing them thrown undiluted and unused into the local landfill or waste cycle. Be sure you keep the fabric softener in its original packaging and ask permission to leave it as “free” at the location of your choice.
[2] As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases.