Laundry 101 -Washing Machines
Do you understand all the settings on your washer? This article will help you select the right settings for your laundry to save time and love your clothes for longer. This laundry guide teaches what size, temperature, and cycle to use, which can save time, energy, and detergent. Finally, it will go over the best way to sanitize laundry.
Before you select a cycle, you should choose the size of your load of laundry. A small load of laundry would fill the tub about a quarter full, a medium load would be half full, and for a large load, it will be full. Be careful not to overload your laundry machine.
You should also select the temperature best suited for your fabrics. Cold water is best for keeping colours from bleeding, delicate fabrics, and cleaning lightly soiled clothing. Cold water will also save energy. Warm water is best used on synthetic materials and for garments worn close to the body like undergarments. Hot water is best for white cotton fabrics and things like underwear and socks or bed sheets. The rinse cycle should always be cold.
The most common cycle options.
The first cycle we will go over is the Delicate, Hand-wash, or Wool cycle. The Delicate option is the most gentle cycle and uses a lower speed of agitation with low spin speed. This cycle will prevent any stretching or ripping of fabrics due to the low spin speed as well. Suitable for undergarments, lace, silk, and wool fabrics.
The Rapid wash or Speed option is best for a refresh of fabrics rather than a complete cleaning. This cycle is not suitable for heavily soiled items or dedicates due to the high speed of the agitator and spin cycle.
The Normal, Permanent Press, Wrinkle Control or Dark Colours cycle is for average soil, and uses a high-speed agitator wash action with a high-speed spin. This can be hard on clothes
The Heavy-duty cycle is for jeans and towels, or heavily soiled clothing. This cycle uses a long wash cycle combined with high-speed agitation and spin.
The Bulky cycle is great for pillows, blankets, and rugs. This cycle allows items to soak in water and soap for a short time before starting the wash. This cycle uses a medium agitator and spin speed to prevent off-balance issues.
The Sheets cycle is for linens and large pieces of fabric, so they don't tangle by using a low agitator and spin speed.
The Whites cycle will dispense bleach at the right time to the wash and uses a high spin and agitator speed.
The Steam cycle is designed to remove wrinkles and refresh fabrics, and is not good for soiled fabrics.
Rinse and Spin; this cycle is not a cleaning cycle. It only uses water to rinse and spin the moisture from a garment. Great for swimsuits.
According to some researchers washing with detergent alone was not enough to kill viruses and germs. Some Washers now come with a sanitize cycle that uses extremely hot water to kill 99.99% of viruses and bacteria. If your washer doesn't have a sanitize cycle, add bleach to sanitize your laundry. Avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, spandex, and non-fast color fabrics. Use a 1/2 cup of bleach for an average size load. If it is an extra-large load, you can add up to a cup of bleach. Bleach does not damage clothes but may discolor non-color fast fabrics. Do not put direct bleach on fabrics, and bleach should be diluted in water with detergent before adding clothes. Alternatively, bleach can be added to the bleach dispenser of the washer. Most dyes are colorfast, do a spot test before using bleach.
When dealing with stain removal as part of your everyday laundry, think in terms of suiting wash temperature to the type of stain.
Think of stains in three categories: proteins, organics, and oily stains. Protein based stains, like blood, need to be washed in cold water or the stain will set. Normal every day dirt, in this case called organics, do best when washed in warm water. The current washing soaps are all optimized to work best in warm water and are concentrated to the point where only about a tablespoon is required. Lastly, oily stains must be washed in hot water as the heat and the action of the soap together are required to break down the oils.
The new line of washers from Maytag have a special cycle called “Extra Power” made to deal with all three types of stains in one load. The wash starts out cold, adds water to bring the temperature up to warm, and further in the cycle adds more water to bring the temperature up to hot. This makes stain management a breeze!