Do you find your clothes wear out too quickly or the colors fade or change from what they were originally when you bought them? It could be how you are caring for your clothing.
I am rather tall, 5'11', so it can be tricky to find clothes to fit to begin with. For as long as I can remember doing my own laundry, there were certain items, I never put in the dryer or else they wouldn't fit when they came out. For instance, 100% cotton pants and 100% cotton shirts. If one accidentally snuck in with the others on the way to the dryer, the length of my tops would shrink up sometimes 3-4 inches in length and the arms would shorten 2-3 inches. Pants would be instant high-waters! Awful! It was a blessing when capri's came in style. At least I could shorten them a bit more and still salvage them. Anyway, the point of this ramble is that I noticed the items I would hang dry lasted much longer than the items going through the dryer.
Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating that you put out your underwear on the clothesline strung across the backyard for the neighbors to see. Although, sun dried bed sheets to have a certain appeal, here in Florida, the sneaky rain shower is too much to have to worry about. I just use the sturdy plastic hangers with metal hooks that many of the department stores offer to send home home with you with your purchases. (Make sure you don't use the cheapy metal ones from the dry cleaners or they will, over time, leave rust marks on your clothes. Not good!) I hang them on the shower rod, a towel bar I mounted under a cabinet next to my washer, and even the guardrail for the stairs if I need extra room. If you don't have a strong shower bar, there are clotheslines you can install, like you might see in hotel rooms, that you can stretch across your tub/shower opening or any other small area you want to put it. Even inside the house, the clothes dry fairly quickly. I have gotten to the point where with the exception of towels, socks, most undies, and a few items that have seen the wash so many times I could care less if they died, everything else gets hung to dry. A quick shake, slip or clip it on the hanger, hook it on a clothes hook I installed on the wall next to the dryer, a quick smooth down with my hands to minimize wrinkles, and off to be hung to dry. As little as an inch or two between each item is enough to get proper circulation and they are dry in a few hours. Saves my clothes and my dryer runs significantly less. If you get some items that have too much of a wrinkle that you can't smooth out, (P.S. I really don't like to iron) after drying, I just toss them in the dryer for a quick spin in the touch up cycle for about 20 minutes on medium heat and fold right away. Looks like I spent time ironing. Not!
Another thing I don't use is fabric softener. Dryer sheets are awful for your clothes! The most noticeable example I remember is an exact same pair of olive colored shorts that both Mom & I bought at the same time. She had been using liquid fabric softener, and I was using the sheets. After a few months, my shorts had morphed to puke brown! Now, I don't use any fabric softener except regular good old white vinegar, if I need it at all. It's cheap and works great. Tip: A good use for the fabric sheets, if you want to use them up, is to use them to clean the bugs off the front of your car. Just wet and rub and the stuff somehow makes them come off easier. Then rinse. Voila!
I also make my own laundry soap, but I'll save that info for another post. I've rambled on long enough already. Have a great day!
I've never liked the idea of dryer sheets or fabric softener but sometimes feel like certain items could use a little softening. I'd like to try vinegar. Do you put it in at the beginning of the wash or with the rinse and how much vinegar to a full load? Congratulations on your new blog! Looking forward to your laundry soap recipe.
ReplyDeleteHi, Virginia. My washing machine has a separate opening to put in the fabric softener before you start the wash. I put the vinegar in there. I guess if your machine doesn't have the designated spot, add the vinegar in however you normally would add regular liquid fabric softener. A tablespoon or two is generally enough in my HE machine. You might need a little more for a standard machine. And in case you were wondering, no my laundry doesn't come out smelling like pickles. :o) Just nice and clean. FYI, many times the items that could use a little softening feel that way because of the laundry detergent you are using. There are so many chemicals in most laundry detergents, that it actually makes your clothes feel like some kind of fabric softener is needed to make your clothes feel like they should.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa, I'll try it! Just recently I've been reading about the many uses of baking soda. One use is to add it to the wash. It is supposed to be a cleaning booster and softener. Have you ever tried that?
ReplyDeleteBaking soda is one of the ingredients in my laundry soap recipe. It really helps with hard water, like we have here in Florida. Besides boosting the cleaning power and softening the clothes, it also aides in rinsing the dirt and soap out of the fabrics during the rinse cycle.
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