Help Me Do Laundry!!!

[chuddo]

like everyone said:

-cold water, good detergent, i dry everything on medium heat.

send really nice shirts and nice sweaters to the dry cleaner.

i also wash my towels and whatnot in hot water.

[GrandmaStabone]

So I will:

1.) Wash towels, underwear and socks in hot and dry on hot

2.) Wash everything else in cold on a gentle cycle if available, drying on a medium setting.

3.) Use 2 fabric softener sheets

So...

1.) What do I do with Jeans?

2.) what are some good detergents

[gorie]

for shirts that you're really concerned about shrinking, it's probably best to hang them and let them air dry after you wash.

[GrandmaStabone]

UPDATE:

Okay, I got everything in, and have only 2 remaining questions:

1.) The dryers in my apartment building have the following settings; normal, perm press, delicate and no heat. I am going to dry the towles, underewar, socks, etc. on "normal", but what setting would be best for the load of shirts (the load washed on cold)?

2.) I am still unsure of what setting to wash/dry jeans on.

[Voltron87]

i have a lot of the same problems. ive found the best way to avoid shrinkage is to dry them for 10-15 minutes at most and then air dry. though air drying stil leaves shirts kind of wrinkly and stiff. i hate it when that happens, it happens a lot to cotton shirts. cold water?

[smokingrobot]

dry your clothes that will shrink (sweaters) by laying them on top of the dryer while drying something else (like boxers and socks) inside the dryer.

also, you can hang dry stuff in your closet, although heavy items like sweaters will become oddly shaped.

oh and dont forget to clean off your dryer first.

[MrTrik]

I like that all temp cheer or all temp all.

Everything is washed on cold wash/cold rinse or warm wash/cold rinse.
I will use hot if I have a whole load of nothing but white and nothing I'm worried about shrinking or damaging.

Downy in the wash cycle if you have a washer with a dispenser seems to be better for me than sheets in the dryer. Not so much for static cling though.

Also, if you live in a house soft water can make a huge difference. It helps the detergent work better and also is easier on the clothes.

I only use high heat in the dryer on towels, blankets, sheets. Always medium otherwise except a load of sweaters. If you choose to dry them at all in the machine I'd go low heat on that.

Any collared button down shirt I own goes to the dry cleaner for laundering or dry cleaning depending on requirements on the label. This is due to the fact I'd rather pay someone to get my shirts pressed and crisp since I won't iron anything ever.

[touchfaith]

Oh yeah, I should probably mention now that all of my suggestions are in theory.

I actually just toss everything in together and wash on hot because...well...I don't care about clothing much.

[img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[GrandmaStabone]

On the dryer, I have normal (which I assume is high heat), perm press and delicate. Between perm press and delicate, which would be medium heat and which would be low?


Also, I have a pile of jeans behind me right now just waiting for someone to tell me how to best wash/dry them...

[RollaJ]

delicate will be low heat

It aint easy to [censored] up jeans in the wash, when drying dry 1/2 way to avoid shrinkage