Adding Reply Topic How to Do Laundry Membername   Not a member? Sign Up Free (takes 20 seconds) Password   Forgotten your password? Post Font: Verdana Arial Black Georgia Comic Sans Impact   Size: Tiny Normal Big Huge   Color: Default Dark Red Red Orange Brown Green Olive Cyan Blue Dark Blue Indigo Black [ Check Spelling ] [ Post Preview ] [ LiveTags ] FAQ Keyword Search: Post Options Favorites Manager Notify me of new replies to this topic by email Notify me of new replies to this topic by private message Original Post dreamweaver Posted at 9:07 pm on Aug. 16, 2006 I know some people go to school without the first idea on how to do thier own laundry, since mom or dad had done it for them throughout high school and such. So here's a small tutorial on getting started. I know there may be various ways people do laundry, so this is just a basic way of doing them without any complications. *Make sure to check tags on clothing.  Some will say dry clean only, dry on low heat, wash in cold water only, etc.  Make sure you follow the directions or you will ruin your clothes. 1.  Sort your laundry into three piles; lights, darks, and reds/really darks (the red dye in the clothes sometimes gets off onto other clothes).  Sometimes, you may be able to just get away with two piles; lights and darks.  I usually put grays in the whites because I dont have very many, but use your own judgment. 2.  Treat stains if necessary.  Make sure you read directions before using!  I've heard so many bleach related incidents where people put too much bleach in thier clothes. I personally avoid bleach altogether and just use the bleach pen or a stain remover pen. 3.  Follow directions on the washer before you put any in.  Most washers in schools require that you pay, so make sure you have the right amount of money in quarters or however.  Even some new ones take cards, but that depends on your school.  So make sure you check it out before you do any laundry at all. 4.  Put a capful of laundry detergent into washer.  I recommend liquid detergent just because the powder will stain your clothes if you have to close the lid before you turn on the washer (the powder sticks to clothes and could fade the clothes). 5.  Put clothes into washer.  Make sure you do not stuff your clothes into washer or overfill.  Some washers have a thing in the middle that sticks up- use it as a guide to not go over the top of it.  If it doesn't have one, use your best guess.  Just make sure there's plenty of room for the clothes to move around in the water. 6.  Follow directions on the washer to turn it on.  For a normal load of laundry, just set it to "Normal" and medium heat.  Sometimes you will have to play around with the settings to make sure you get your clothes washed the way you want. 7.  Wait until it's done... 8.  Open the dryer up and take clothes out of washer and into dryer.  Throw in a fabric softener sheet (or two or three, but not the whole box) with them. 9.  Close door and follow directions on the dryer.  Just make sure the settings have medium heat.  Also, you might have to add more quarters into the machine to make sure your clothes are dry. 10.  Wait some more... go ahead and put another load in the washer if you have some. 11.  Fold your clothes and put away.   Hope this helps in a way.

Replies trizzle Posted at 12:22 am on Oct. 1, 2009 thanks! hella needed this SingDanceRunLife Posted at 7:52 am on July 11, 2009 Quote: from RedNoir at 1:56 am on July 11, 2009 Quote: from SingDanceRunLife at 7:15 pm on July 10, 2009 I've been doing my own laundry for 5 years, and I can tell you that most of what the OP wrote is absolutely unnecessary. I never sort my clothes by what the tag says, and always wash in warm-cold water (setting on my washer). Sorting by color? No. Just don't wash intensely colored clothes that are new with your whites. Detergent? Read the bottle...it'll tell you how much to use. You don't even have to think! Then just set the washer to the regular cycle and wait. you should sort by color or your clothes will get ruined. Sorting doesn't take long. You are not in pre-school you know your colors. Sorting takes like 2 minutes. I've never had anything ruined. Sorting by color is a waste of time and energy...why would you do 2-3 loads when you can do just one? No reason. And yes, I do know my colors, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to wash them separately! RedNoir Posted at 10:56 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from SingDanceRunLife at 7:15 pm on July 10, 2009 I've been doing my own laundry for 5 years, and I can tell you that most of what the OP wrote is absolutely unnecessary. I never sort my clothes by what the tag says, and always wash in warm-cold water (setting on my washer). Sorting by color? No. Just don't wash intensely colored clothes that are new with your whites. Detergent? Read the bottle...it'll tell you how much to use. You don't even have to think! Then just set the washer to the regular cycle and wait. you should sort by color or your clothes will get ruined. Sorting doesn't take long. You are not in pre-school you know your colors. Sorting takes like 2  minutes. RedNoir Posted at 10:52 pm on July 10, 2009 I usually do 2 loads, lights and darks. But, here are 4 choices for you. You can't go wrong with this. -lights (whites, and light colors) washed with warm water or hot water -darks (blacks, grays, jeans, and other dark colors) washed in cold water -whites (whites ONLY, if it has and logos or anything it will not go in here.) think white undies, white socks, plain white tees, etc. I don't do this all the time, only when my whites start to get dingy. washed in HOT water with a little bit of bleach - REDS (in all caps! reds need their own load. or else you will ruin your clothes, light or dark. Mayny red items bleed.) The load should include everything red, orange and pink. These 3 colors are perfectly safe to wash together. COLD WATER ONLY!!! When using cold water, use liquid soap, because powders do not really break down in cold water, and you might have to wash your clotes teicw to get rid of soap grit. Really, I hate powdered soap.I would always use liquid. Oh, and if the liquid soap is blueish, don't wash whites in it. Even if you let the soap dissolve in the water, it can still make your whites dull. Woolite is always a good investment. They make it for lighter colors too. The bottle will last forever. Only use a bit! Always look at the tags, if it's hand wash only, dry clean only, FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. And mattress pads... wash them, BUT DO NOT DRY THEM!  If you do, it will get all fried and crispy and ruined.... Red Noir SingDanceRunLife Posted at 7:15 pm on July 10, 2009 I've been doing my own laundry for 5 years, and I can tell you that most of what the OP wrote is absolutely unnecessary. I never sort my clothes by what the tag says, and always wash in warm-cold water (setting on my washer). Sorting by color? No. Just don't wash intensely colored clothes that are new with your whites. Detergent? Read the bottle...it'll tell you how much to use. You don't even have to think! Then just set the washer to the regular cycle and wait. RedNoir Posted at 6:24 am on April 23, 2009 I've been doing laundry since I was a little girl. But I know this will help the rich/spoiled people, or the people who always have their mom do everything for them. baller23 Posted at 12:44 pm on Feb. 11, 2009 Post from this position was omitted due to content violations hheartstrongg Posted at 8:33 pm on Dec. 3, 2008 this is awesome! i definitely didn't know how to do laundry my first time. my best friend had to show me one weekend, haha. austin s23 Posted at 10:25 pm on Nov. 26, 2008 thanks ;) bornonmars75 Posted at 4:28 pm on Nov. 6, 2008 if you are smart enough to get into college you should be able to do a load of wash Aleesha Marly Posted at 11:59 pm on Oct. 14, 2008 Nothing...because I have plenty of time to do it myself and it's only a one bedroom apartment. If I can't keep THAT clean, then I have no hope.....To be fair to your question, though, assuming someone needed the help, you could probably say 20 bucks a week...I dunno, it really depends on all that would need to be done and the size of the apartment...... Aleesha Marly Posted at 5:56 am on Oct. 14, 2008 My laundry sink is really backed up... I got all of the water that was stuck in sink and poured Draino in there. The liquid didn't go down the drain and there's more water in the sink than before.What the heck is going on? What can I do..?Thanks..! sxybrnnjn Posted at 1:07 am on Sep. 15, 2008 well the washers on my floor weren't working for like two days, so we were kinda freaking out... but here at NMU, laundry is free, so its cool, cause i know alot of places you have to pay for your laundry so that would suck.. seeing as i'm broke. JustTony Posted at 3:53 pm on Mar. 14, 2008 wow, some people should have taken home ec in junior high lol, but yea definatly can do my own laundry, gotta do it until I get rich and have a latino house maid who I will pay highly and have fiestas with on weekends...lol StickySweet Posted at 1:23 pm on Nov. 2, 2007 And if you're cheap like me, getting free samples to do your laundry can help save money. I recently used the new Pure Essentials samples from Tide and they are great. Here is the website: https://pureessentials.offerprocessingcenter.com/ Most recent 15 of 36 previous replies displayed.