I had hit some pretty hard times and had to wash all my clothes by hand for a while. Here are some tips I learned from that time. Fill the bath tub with hot water, put the soap in first, put the clothes in. Let them soak for about an hour, then use a new toilet plunger and plunge for about ten miutes. Do the same to rinse, your clothes will be the cleanest you have ever seen them!
I always want to follow systems. By this I mean I always want to be systematic and not just do the work carelessly and be negligent. In my response to this, I do all the measures assigned and follow all the instructions. And to avoid mix up of colors extracted from some colored clothes that could stain some white clothes, I separate the colored one to those that are plain white and those that shouldn't be stained.
I really don't pay too much attention the colors. When I was living alone I just put all in together (except new clothes that I knew that lost ink) and I never had a problem, I think that when we wash under a certain temperature there is not such a problem. My wife does most of the laundry now, so I don't call those shots anymore.
I wash delicate clothes by hand as well as our costumes we use yearly from fairs. I use too, but it is just easier now to throw it in the washer. I just use cheap laundry detergent, though soon, I hope to start making my own. I also usually just throw all the clothes together. If I am afraid something will bleed I wash it with the towels until I am sure it won't ruin the other stuff. I have turned my husbands undershirts pink once.
I think that the best way to save money doing the laundry is cutting the detergent dosage to half. I mean, that's a recommended dosage and of course that the manufacturers want us to spend as much as possible, but that isn't really necessary and in fact it's bad for our health because the water doesn't remove it all and can cause allergies.
It makes a huge difference when you separate the clothes. For example, I don't wash my towels with my work clothes because I don't want lent to get onto my clothes. Also, I separate my bras from washing with my clothes because they can get tangle together and ruin the back piece of my bra. Certain pieces are very fragile and require special type of washing. So as time consuming as it may seem, it's really not that bad. I just want to keep the quality in my clothes for as long as possible.
I sweat a lot and my white undershirts get this yellow taint on them. My grandma showed me a way to soak it in this special solution of bleach and water for almost 2 hours or so. Then you rinse it and repeat if necessary . Usually one soak is good enough. Then she machine washes it for me. The garment looks brand spanking new. It is important to use diluted bleach as it is more effective. Whether you are disinfecting or whitening clothes bleach diluted in water is more effective than concentrated bleach.
When it comes to house clothes and if the fabric won't smear it's colors on the other clothes, then I just put both the colored and the white clothes together. I'm more careful and finicky when it comes to outside clothes though. And as for the detergent, I don't really follow the recommended dosage, I just gauge how much I will be needing for this certain wash cycle.
I love the way my wife as put me aside in what concerns doing the laundry, she doesn't want me to do anything haha. I wish she would do that in other domestic tasks as well, but it seems that it's only clothes, don't ask me why, I used to do them when I lived alone.
