Laundry Hacks and Tips to Clean Clothes Effectively

By using these simple laundry hacks, you’ll get rid of stains and have fresher clothing. These easy tips and tricks will also keep the washer and dryer running effectively to save time and money.

Why are clothes cleaning tips and tricks necessary? After all, isn’t it enough to put your dirty clothes in the hamper then wash and dry them?

If it were that simple, you wouldn’t end up with half your jeans shrunk. And you wouldn’t have a wardrobe damaged by stubborn stains left by coffee, wine, toothpaste, and other mishaps.

Clearly, there are many laundry tips to learn. Some of the advice below might even help you save money.

Washing Machine Hacks

One big way to save money is to have a long lasting washing machine that runs efficiently. Most people often forget or don’t realize that washing machines, like the clothes that fill them, need cleaning.

Just think about it. Some of the yucky dirt, grime, blood, sweat, and particles from previous loads stays in the machine.

Therefore, you’ll save money by cleaning your machine because if you don’t you may end up needing a new one. But your clothes will come out cleaner too.

Which begs the question? What’s the easiest way to clean a washing machine?

One trick is to run an empty cycle without clothes where you add a combination of baking soda and vinegar where you normally put your detergent. For best results, use white vinegar at a six-percent solution. Add one-half cup of baking soda. Make sure to run the cycle on hot wash.

After the cleaning cycle is done, it’s not quite time to take pride in your accomplishment. Instead, you need to grab some Q-tips or a microfiber cloth and clean the really tough to reach nooks and crannies.

Now that you’re washing machine is in tip top shape, it’s time to learn easy tips and tricks for doing the laundry.

Laundry Tricks For Fresh Bright Clothing

Who doesn’t love clean clothes? But for some eco-conscious people, bleach is a controversial topic. If you go on Clorox’s website, the company will tell you that it’s perfectly safe because the chemicals don’t survive sewage treatment.

However, even if that’s true, there’s no denying that breathing in bleach can be very irritating. So what can you use instead of bleach? Try adding sodium carbonate, better known as washing soda. You can find it at Walmart and other low-cost retail stores.

One of the best ways that’s often overlooked for preserving the colors of your clothes is to to wash them inside out. Pretty simple, right?

Sodium carbonate, listed above, isn’t the only salt that can help with the wash. Regular table salt (sodium chloride) specifically helps prevent colors from fading.

A lot of laundry hacks focus on preventing color fading. But what about darks? Here’s one way to keep black looking beautiful: add a couple cups of coffee to the wash cycle! Seriously! The coffee will act like a natural dye.

For grease and grime you can rub on a little lemon juice. The constituents in lemon break down trapped dirt and leaves your clothes smelling lemony fresh! You can also use lemon juice to remove stains.

White chalk can also be used to pretreat grease. Simply rub the chalk onto greasy stains and the powder will absorb the grease. The stain will be much easier to remove by the laundry detergent in the wash cycle.

Another great tip is to use vinegar in the wash cycle to soften fabric and get rid of odors.

Laundry Hacks and Tips For Stains

Accidents happen, especially if you have kids. So you’ll need to know how to get rid of soiled spots and stains.

The method you use will depend on the type of stain you are trying to tackle.

Blood

But certainly, there’s no way to get rid of blood stains, right? Rubbing hydrogen peroxide can get it out.

Sweat

As for embarrassing armpit stains? Again, it’s lemon to the rescue. Add some baking soda for even better results.

Grass

What about grass stains? Should you just throw away your jeans if you get down and dirty in the field? No. Instead, try removing the stain with vinegar.

Makeup

Is there anything that can be done about makeup stains? Yes! Apply a thick layer of shaving cream and rub in before washing it.

Chalk can also help remove lipstick.

Red Wine

Now here’s a crazy laundry hack for red wine stains: rub white wine on it.

Dirt

As for dirt stains, all it takes is applying some dish soap on the outer and inner layer of the fabric. Let the soap set for a couple minutes and then scrub with a dish-cleaning pad.

Dryer Hacks

Most people use an electric or gas dryer because it’s not always practical to hang clothes out to dry. But line drying is the most economical method so give it a try if you have the time and line space.

Laundry Tips To Avoid Wrinkles

For those using a modern day machine, be sure to follow these tips for drying effectively and preventing wrinkles:

• Remove your clothes as soon as the dryer cycle is done. This might sound obvious but if you want wrinkle-free clothes, it’s important not to let the clothes sit after tumbling. This assumes that your clothes are dry.
• Don’t fill up the machine. The part of the dryer that you place clothes in should not exceed two-thirds full. Otherwise, they won’t tumble well making them harder to dry. It can also cause more wrinkling while drying.
• Ice cubes can take the wrinkles out. If you do have wrinkle, throw a few ice cubes in with your dry clothes. Then run the dryer on the hottest setting to steam the wrinkles out. For best results, don’t use too much ice.
• Try using aluminum foil instead of dryer sheets. One rolled-up ball of foil can last for several months.
• Invest in wool dryer balls. They are a great natural alternative to dryer sheets and fabric softener. Plus, they last for years!
• Toss in tennis balls. If you don’t want to buy dryer balls, you can use tennis balls instead. That’s right, try adding two or three balls into the dryer with sheets, pillow cases, and even small comforters. This will result in faster-drying and fluffier bedding.

How To Prevent Shrinking

First off, you must always read the care label on your garments. That will tell you exactly how they should be washed. Cotton, linen, and wool are especially prone to shrinking.

If you aren’t sure how an item should be washed, stick to the following washing and drying methods:

• Wash in cold water. Since heat is the main reason that fabrics shrink, you’ll want to avoid high temperature in the wash cycle.
• Dry on the lowest heat setting. Some dryers even have an “air dry” setting that doesn’t use any heat.
• Skip the dryer and air dry the item. Hanging your delicate items outside to dry is the best method. You can also use indoor clothes drying rack.

What if an item in the dryer already shrunk? Is there anything you can do? You might be able to fix it with this trick:

1. Soak the item in lukewarm water and hair conditioner for a couple hours.
2. Rinse the excess water off and try to manually stretch the item out.
3. Allow the item to air dry on a line or rack.

Laundry Sorting Tips

If you have the space, it’s better to have a laundry sorter with three bins rather than a single hamper. That way, your items will already be sorted when a bin gets full.

When sorting laundry, keep like colors together and like fabrics together. Dirty laundry should be initially categorized by color: whites, lights, and darks. Then when you have a large bin dirty laundry in one color category, go through and sort out by fabric.

Sorting By Color

Light colored items can be stained if washed with darker colors. That’s why it’s really important to only wash dark colored items with other dark colors.

White items like underwear, socks, and T-shirts can be washed together. You can even throw in some lighter colors of off-white, yellow, pink, and blue with whites if the color isn’t strong.

However, you really should wash all your light colors in a separate load from whites. Light colored items are those in lighter shades of pink, blue, green, lavender, and yellow.

All items in deep shades of purple, blue, green, black, brown, and gray can be washed together. It’s best to wash dark colored items in cold water because hot water can release more dye from the fabric.

Sorting By Fabric Type

Heavier items like towels and denim should be separated from lighter items like linens and silks. You also don’t want dry a heavy lint producing item like towels with a fabric that attracts lint such as dark corduroy pants.

It’s a good idea to wash delicate fabrics in mesh laundry bags. You may also want to put smaller items like socks in these netted bags so they don’t get lost among larger items.

Folding Clothes

If you haven’t heard of the KonMari fold, you must check it out! Just watch the video below to see how to master it.

Once you’ve practiced this folding method, you’ll be able to fit a lot more items in your drawers and closets. It’s the best way to keep clothes organized in a drawer so you can see everything from the top!

The KonMari fold is also a great way to fit more items in your suitcase when you need to pack for a trip.

Now that you’ve learned how to save money using these laundry hacks, you may be interested how teenagers can make money.