Don’t make these 7 most common laundry mistakes

Aug 14, 2019. You’ve just bought a fabulous new grey (expensive) shirt and worn it only once but it has a small oil stain on it. You put it in the washing machine with your towels and socks and when it comes out, not only is the oil stain still there, but your shirt has towel lint all over it too! Urgh!

Learning some basic laundry tips will keep your clothes and bedding looking good for much longer, and since you have made the investment, you may as well enjoy them for as long as you can.

Here are the most common mistakes we make when it comes to washing our laundry.

Laundry Mistake 1: Don’t rub stains vigorously - go gentle

It would be normal to think that rubbing vigorously is the right way to go with stains, but actually it does the opposite. It agitates the fibres and makes the stain set in deeper, and it also wears out the clothing fibres potentially leaving holes in your clothing. Rub gently with a white cloth (the last thing you want it colour transfer from the cleaning cloth to the clothing) and the quicker you get onto the stain, the more chance you’ll remove it.

Laundry Mistake 2: Don’t leave zippers undone - zip them up

Zip up your zippers on pants and jackets as the teeth will snag other clothing items and damage them. It will also keep the zip intact and stop it from stretching and getting out of shape on the clothing.

Laundry Mistake 3: Don’t leave shirts buttoned up - unbutton on front and cuffs

You’ll lose your buttons faster if you leave the buttons done up. The button holes will get pulled in the washing cycle by the buttons and loosen them up. We all know that finding buttons that match can be impossible!

Laundry Mistake 4: Don’t chuck all your clothing in together - sort colours and materials

Washing darks and lights will eventually make your light coloured clothing look grey and washed out. Better to keep them separate. But this is not enough. Don’t wash heavy materials like canvas and denim with light weight cottons either, as the more delicate fabric will get stressed and possibly tear.

Laundry Mistake 5: Don’t put heavily stained clothes in the machine - treat first

If you don’t treat the stain first, it may not come off and worse, it will set with the agitation of the washing cycle and remain on your garment forever! Not what you want. Let’s protect your clothing investment. Make sure you take a little extra time and treat the stains first, by pre-soaking or using a stain remover.

Laundry Mistake 6: Don’t throw socks in loose – keep them together

Did you know we lose at least one sock each month and around 1264 over a lifetime? 

It's a phenomenon not so hard to solve! So many single socks and no mates. There is no sock gremlin running away with them, they simply get lost with all the other clothes. Put socks in a garment bag and this way you will always be able to find them.

Laundry Mistake 7: Don’t prematurely destroy your lingerie – wash separately

You may not have time to handwash, so put your lingerie – bras, undies and other under garments – into a garment bag and wash them on their own, on a gentle cycle. It might seem like a small load, but with our energy saving washing machines and fast cycles, you’ll have them done in 20 minutes and keep them looking good for longer.

For more on basic laundry tips, read our blog about Laundry Tips 101.

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