My Four Favorite Laundry Hacks
Sometimes you come across a solution to a problem that doesn’t actually exist. Viral videos will have you believe that you should mix large amounts of chemicals in the toilet or fill a deep fryer with water to clean them out. You should do neither one nor the other, namely because it is dangerous; other cleaning methods may be harmless, but they are unnecessarily labor intensive or questionable in their effectiveness. After a few encounters with these so-called tricks, it’s easy to become suspicious of all viral advice. However, there are a few laundry tricks I use that have really saved me time or maximized my results.
The easiest way to clean your washing machine
Before we dive into laundry tips, you need a clean base to start with—a dirty washing machine is no good for cleaning clothes. I’ve tried several methods and prefer to pour a little baking soda into the drum , then add a cup of vinegar to the detergent tray and run an empty load. This hack is available on all social networks and it works. After washing, the clothes smell fresh, the machine looks newer and does not cause any side effects. Vinegar can’t replace all the store-bought cleaners you need around the house, but it does what washing machine cleaning tablets do for a lot less money.
Always store towels separately from clothing.
Once the car is freshened up, it’s time to tackle the clothes. The first piece of advice I swear by, but only recently discovered, is to never wash towels with your regular clothes. I used to think it was an arbitrary rule that would cost me twice as much time and money if it forced me to do two washes for no reason, but there is a reason for it. There are actually several of them. First, washing them all together can cause towel lint to appear on your clothes. Secondly, drying them together can be a real challenge. I recently noticed that my clothes had a funny smell after they came out of the dryer, but couldn’t figure out why until I saw someone on Reddit mention that since towels hold much more water than clothes, drying them all together means that you will dry them all together. over-dry shirts and pants by essentially lightly setting them on fire while they spin while waiting for the towels to dry. When I started washing just the towels separately, the smell disappeared. As fall approaches, I’m going to start washing heavier items—sweats, sweatshirts, sweatpants—in a separate load for the same reasons.
Throw white tennis balls in the dryer.
Throwing a tennis ball or two into the dryer has long been recommended to soften fabrics and even speed up drying time. What is not always mentioned, however, is that some tennis balls, especially new ones, can transfer their neon dye to your clothing . To be on the safe side (and still achieve the softness you want), use white tennis balls instead.
Top tips for removing creases from laundry
Frustrated that my clothes were coming out of the dryer all wrinkled, I went looking for a hack and came across what at first seemed like a dubious suggestion on TikTok : When the dryer finishes, throw two ice cubes in there and start it again. for 10 minutes. The idea is that as the ice melts, your clothes will be steamed – and this is true. When I did this, I noticed a reduction in wrinkles; You can also do this with any clothes that need a quick fix before you wear them, whether you’ve just washed them or not.
Of course, you can also use an iron, but I don’t have a traditional clothes iron. However, I do have a hair straightener and have been using it to straighten clothes in a pinch for years. It works great if you treat it like a regular iron, monitor the temperature, adjust it according to the care instructions on the label, and place a protective cloth between the plates and clothing when necessary. This is especially useful when you’re traveling because the iron takes up very little space in your bag (and you might have been planning to take it with you anyway).