⬆️: [[Household Cleaning]]
#### How to Do Laundry
##### How Often To Wash Our Clothes
These are tendencies, not rules.
###### Gym / Workout Clothes
Anything that gets sweat-soaked should be washed after each wear. If the clothes are made of performance material or are worn for low-impact exercise, we can go every few wears. Wash the gym bag about once a month.
###### Office Clothes:
- Suits need to be dry cleaned after four or five wears.
- Button-down shirts: 3-4 wears (especially if we wear undershirts)
###### Casual Clothes
- Jackets and coats: once each season, twice if they're worn every day or if you spend time in a city or the outdoors
- Down, wool, and canvas don't always need to be handled professionally, but leather and suede often do
- Winter hats, scarves, and gloves, clean once a month
###### Intimates
- Underwear, socks, and undershirts: every wear
- Pajamas and robes: four-ish wears
- Bedsheets: weekly
##### The Basics
- The machine should be, at maximum, about 2/3 full.
- Use cold water, it uses much less energy and is easier on clothes.
- For most of us, especially with quality modern machines, the shortest cycle is enough. Adjust as needed.
- Hang-drying is better for clothes than using the dryer and saves a significant amount of energy. If you want to use the dryer, drying on low is normally enough. Adjust as needed.
##### Strip Clothes
Not even the washing machine will get everything out. We can do this whenever we feel like it, for whites, lights, or colors. It's hilariously gross.
- Fill a bathtub with hot water
- Add [[🛠 Clothes Stripping Mix]], and clothes
- Stir every hour for 4-6 hours
- Giggle at how gross the water gets.
- Drain and run clothes through the washing machine as usual.
##### Clean a Washing Machine
- Bleach and brush in and behind the seals
- Leave the door open after using until dry
- [[🛠 Household Cleaning Mix]] on the interior glass
- Some front loaders have filters (like a dishwasher) in a front trap door. Open and drain the hose into a big bowl, wipe/vacuum the filter. Rinse in water and bleach.
- Clean the detergent drawer, they can sometimes be removed
- Check the manual. Some recommend using 1 cup of bleach and running the "Clean Washer" cycle monthly.
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