Every now and then I'll hear someone say that they take very good care of their clothes. I know my grandmother does. Her clothes always look brand new, yet she does her own laundry except for the drycleaning.

So, how exactly DO you take extra special care when laundering your clothes? How do you all separate your loads. I separate lights and darks, as well as gently washing or handwashing delicates. But I'm sure there has to be a good way to keep your clothes, towels, etc looking fresh and new.

So, for those of you that take "very good care" of your clothes, what is your secret?

By Feona on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 08:09 am:

Since using Tide, I find my clothes cleaner (less spots)

Sometimes I put dawn on kids grease stains.

I like Mary ellens for white clothes. So I don't have to bleach the entire item or load.

By Coopaveryben on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 08:36 am:

Always check for spots and make certain to pre-treat.

Line drying instead of the clothing dryer helps keep them from fading. Not leaving them sit in the washer when they are wet also helps keep them from fading. Blacks, hang dry.

Turning them inside out before you wash keeps fuzz balls and discoloration from the outside.

Seperating of course. Some people serperate by colors and washing temperatures.

But who has time for all this, I think I am doing going pre-treating and sorting. I have a pile so high if it were to colopse on me I could be crushed in the fall or sufficate before I burrow my way out.

By Sue3 on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 08:40 am:

My girl friend swears by not drying her clothes in the dryer.
and like Chrissy said,turn inside out.
LoL Chrissy,I have alot of laundry today also.

By Eve on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 09:25 am:

I seperate just like you, Amy.

I turn jeans inside out--it keeps them from fading. Especially when you pay so much money for the perfect faded look. LOL!

I line dry a LOT. All of my DH's work clothes and his sweater, all get hung on a drying rack. I have also been line drying all of my DD's Gymboree clothing. (I am thinking of selling it on Ebay and it gets more if it's line dried. It does still look brand new) I also line dry all of my sweaters too.

It doesn't take me too much longer to hang a few things. I have a HUGE drying rack that holds everything.

My DH wants to purchase this: The Maytag Neptune Drying Center.
http://www.carlsonsappliance.com/maeldrce.html

By Palmbchprincess on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 10:58 am:

I want to start line drying, the clothes always looks and smell nicer. My luck I'd forget they were outside and let it rain! Anyway, good question Amy, I never even thought to turn the clothes inside out before washing.

By Janet on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 11:30 am:

I always have to line dry my dd's jeans and shirts, since they seem to shrink if I don't (and they are form-fitting enough, thank you!) The thing I have trouble with the most is sweaters. I put them in the gentle cycle, then lay them out to dry, but the sleeves always seem to get L-O-N-G-E-R each time! Even when I set the washer's spin cycle for slow/gentle. Is there a trick for sweaters? I'm with the rest of you. I get so tired of sorting and sorting... not only jeans and whites and colors, but then the sub-groups, like pinks and reds and blues... Yuk!

By Mommyathome on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 12:32 pm:

I separate the same as you Amy

I line dry the kids clothes that I feel I paid a lot for (Gymboree, Storybook, etc.)....keeps them from fading. They still look brand new. When they start growing out of them sometimes I slack off and put them in the dryer. But, during their major wear I always hang them to dry.
We always line dry jeans because they last so much longer that way.
I'm still looking for a great way (other than bleach) to keep my whites really white.
I like to use Gain detergent and softener because it smells so good to me, and the smell stays for a long time.

By Pamt on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 01:19 pm:

I sort into whites, darks, and light/medium colors. I have to dry clothes in the dryer---could never line dry because of DS's allergies. If you have allergy-prone kids line drying is a big no-no. Plus I don't like how "crunchy" the clothes feel when they are line dried.

By Kaye on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 03:07 pm:

My sis in law takes really good care of her clothes. She washes everything in cold water, does small loads and super sorts. Her tshirts are 10+ year old and look brand new. Not me, everything gets washed in as big as load as possible, I do lights and darks, I am just not that picky!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 04:07 pm:

I'm really not that picky. Jeans get washed separately until they don't run anymore. I try to at least do lights and darks. I really don't do loads by colors. Light colors get thrown in with whites. I mostly just want to get laundry done, not spend forever doing it. Hubby is even less picky than I am, but nothing ever gets ruined.

My nursing uniform tops I was hanging in the bathroom all last summer. It seems the 100% cotton ones do better that way. They still need to be ironed, but the wrinkles aren't baked in that way. The ones that have more polyester in them go in the dryer. Sometimes I hang them anyway.

The trouble is, the shelf in my closet must be old and very saggy in the middle. That is where my uniform tops are hung. I hang them on plastic hangers in the bathroom, but then have to transfer them to wire hangers to hang them up. With saggy shelf, I can't hang stuff with thick plastic hangers, only thin metal ones. Would be easier to just leave them on plastic hangers. DH says we can flip the shelf around rather than buy a new one. I think we should just buy a new one, or just buy closet hardware and redesign closet in the first place, so we don't have one long shelf and one long hanging rod. Can't you see too tiers of hanging shirts? His shirts on top and mine on bottom, etc? Would love a redesigned closet!

Okay enough rambling now!

By Coopaveryben on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 04:09 pm:

If you line dry and you don't like the "crunchy" feel you can bring them in and turn the dryer on fluff and it will take it right out, without applying any heat

By Karen~moderator on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 06:02 pm:

I sort like this:
jeans
darks
lights
whites
towels

If there are *new* reds, those go into a separate load

If I have delicates, those go into a separate load

Fabric softener or dryer sheets in everthing except towels.

Bras don't go in the dryer, period! Ditto *nice* panties and lingerie.

I do dry most of our jeans in the dryer, but there are a few between us all that I dry partially and then hang.

Pants, sweaters, shirts and t shirts get dried for a few minutes and hung to dry.

Towels and linens are dried all the way in the dryer.

My biggest problem is also finding a way to keep whites looking great. Bleach eventually makes things yellow or grayish, Oxiclean doesn't work. I was using Biz with my regular detergent and soaking overnight, but I usually don't have time to soak overnight we have so much laundry. I've been putting liquid Cascade in with the whites and even some of the lights.

But I have to confess something. I *pride* myself on doing *good* laundry....DH teases me unmercifully about it! LOL But when our house guest was here for Mardi Gras, we went out to eat and he got grease on a medium blue shirt he was wearing. Coincidentally I had spilled perfume on a blue shirt I had planned to wear. So that night I told him to give me his shirt and that *I* would get the grease stain out. DH was singing my praises, told him *If K can't get it out, NO one can!* Well, I ruined BOTH of our shirts! Stupid me, I put liquid Cascade directly onto the spots and guess what? The spots ended up bleached, hence 2 ruined shirts! I was so embarrassed and upset with myself. I should have stuck to Resolve for those spots. My friend swears by Goo Gone for grease spots, so that's my next purchase.

By Cheekymama on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 05:10 am:

One thing that hasn't been mentioned (or I missed it if it was) is, use liquid detergent instead of powder detergent. The powder granules are actually slightly abrasive to the fabrics, and over time it makes them look more "worn"-looking.

By Coopaveryben on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 02:11 pm:

My DH is customer service at a Very large applaince manufacturer he had to take laundry classes..hahaha. (you would think this would be a good thing..it's not). We argue over the liquid verses powder all the time. They told him liquid doesn't break down as well and doesn't clean as well, I tend to disagree but am passing the word. When you put in your detergent you should always do it first of course and add as hot of water as you can before adding the clothes to "activate" the detergent. When the water has had time to cover the soap you can switch to whatever temp. you like and then add clothes. Always buy name brand, I have always prefered Tide.

By Amy~moderator on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 06:28 pm:

Anita and Chrissy, thanks. I think I am going to switch from powder Surf to liquid Surf. I love Surf, it always leaves the clothes smelling wonderfully. And I'm going to try what you said, Chrissy, about putting the detergent in and then running hot water before putting in the clothes.

By Palmbchprincess on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 10:38 pm:

Amy, Chrissy is saying powder works better (I think) And Chrissy, thanks for the info, I'm going to try powder (If I'm reading that correctly) and start putting the soap in first. As a matter of fact, I've got some laundry to do!!!

By Amy~moderator on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 11:34 pm:

No, Crystal, she said her dh took a laundry class where they told him that liquid doesn't break down as well as powder, but she said she tends to disagree. I tend to think that Anita is right about the powder being abrasive to clothes and may cause clothes to look more worn over time.

Chrissy, as far as putting in the detergent first and then running hot water over it, are you talking about liquid or powder detergent, or does it matter?

By Amy~moderator on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 11:36 pm:

Okay, I went back and reread my above post, and I sounded a little snotty...didn't mean to, sorry...LOL

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 11:47 pm:

If you already have hot water in the washing machine, what do you do with the clothes that say wash in cold water, wait for it to cool? I'm confused. I tend to do most of my wash in cold water, since then I don't have to wash the tags. Towels I would rather do all by themselves and then I do them in hot.

By Amy~moderator on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 01:12 am:

I was wondering the same thing, Dawn.

By Palmbchprincess on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 08:57 am:

Oh, I see, you are agreeing with her, not the class. Don't mind me, I'll just be picking daisies out in right field!! LOL

By Amy~moderator on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 09:02 am:

ROFL I've been using powder for awhile now, and I want to see if using liquid instead makes any difference.

By Coopaveryben on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 02:25 pm:

The hot water is for powder and liquid. He swears powder works better, I like liquid because I can use it to pre-treat.

The hot water is just enough to cover your detergent and make it disolve, it's not very much at all, and then you switch to cold or whatever you are using. I didn't believe him at first and then I saw it as a hint on the Tide box, I'll just keep that secret to myself.

By Amy~moderator on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 03:10 pm:

Thanks Chrissy!