10 Essential Laundry Tips & Tricks

Disclosure: These laundry tips and tricks are brought to you by a sponsored promotion for SheSpeaks and their advertiser P&G.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If there’s one task I look forward to the least it’s laundry.  Seriously, boys use up so many more clothes than girls, and I have 3 in my house.  While my hubby is pretty awesome and tends to tackle this task; at least his own clothes.  I’ve come up with some tricks over the years to speed up this chore.

Checkout these 10 essential laundry tips and tricks to make laundry day and breeze, and keep your clothes looking like new.

Pre-Sort- Save time on laundry day and keep extra baskets on hand.  Each person gets their own darks basket; for some reason there tends to be more of those, and one lights basket for the whole family.  On laundry day take it a step further and sort your laundry into shirts, pants, and undergarments (socks and underwear).  This not only makes putting away laundry faster, but helps dry clothes quicker too.  By sorting into piles of similar bulk those fancy sensor dryers will work better.  No more damp jeans to lay out to finish drying.

Pretreat Stains- It’s bound to happen, but what’s the best way to treat a stain.  Most importantly catch it early and pretreat right away, and if possible wash quickly.  Use this handy chart to conquer your toughest stains and make your favorite blouse and baby clothes like new.  When in doubt pretreat stains with detergent.

oil→chalk
red wine→white wine
grass→vinegar
ballpoint ink→toothpaste
makeup→shaving cream
pit stains→ dish soap+baking soda+ hydrogen peroxide
sunscreen→ baking soda or baby powder

Lost Socks- Banish lost socks for good with this simple trick.  Store dirty socks in a mesh bag.  On laundry day simply close the bag up and toss into the wash and clean like normal.  It’ll make sorting laundry a cinch and you’ll never be left with a stray.

Protect Your Clothes-  Clothes go through a lot in the washer: twisting, stretching, and rubbing up agains each other.  Softener helps prolong the life of your clothes, plus the fresh scent of Downy makes them smell great too!  Downy is more than a softener though; conditioning, strengthening, and lubricating each fiber to protect garments from the friction and agitation of a typical wash cycle.  So that means my basic black shirt stays darker longer, and my favorite comfy sweater is protected against pilling and fuzz!  Clothes no longer lose their shape, but bounce back to their original store quality.

Quick Dry- Pop a clean dry towel in with your wet clothes for the first part of the dry cycle.  It will absorb the moisture quickly cutting down on drying time.

Goodbye Iron- Prevent wrinkles by giving each garment a good shake before placing in the dryer.  The spin cycle is meant to remove excess water, but it also bunches up clothing tightly in the process.  By shaking out your clothes, taking extra care to straighten out hems and collars you’ll save yourself from ironing generally wrinkle free items.  By lubricating each fiber Downy Fabric Conditioner also helps with this process, keeping clothes fresher longer and preventing wrinkles.

Keep it Clean-  A clean dryer is an efficient dryer.  Clean the lint trap after every cycle.  Once a month clean the exhaust vent and deep clean the vent compartment.  Use a lint removal tool to get down deep and grab all the excess lint.  Not only will this allow your dryer to run more efficiently it is also a safety precaution.  A dirty/lint filled dryer can cause a fire.

Quiet Down- There’s nothing louder, except maybe a tantrum, than tennies bouncing around in the dryer.  Simply tie a knot and close the door with the shoes hanging gently on the inside of the dryer.  Not only will it get rid of the sound of shoes knocking around in the dryer, but it will prolong the soles of your shoes and protect your dryer from damage.

Don’t Wait-  Time is of the essence.  We’ve all done a load and left it in the dryer overnight, or (ahem) days, or even left a pile in the basket in the corner of the room.  No one likes folding, but doing this important task as soon as the dryer dings can save time in the end and prevent a stack of ironing.  Sort and fold your laundry into the basket right out of the dryer, and keep a shower rod filled with empty hangers in the laundry room to take care of the hanging right away.

Fold it- Quickly fold t-shirts with this handy and FREE folding board.  It’s as easy as 1-2-3.  Find directions to create your own here.

In short take care of your clothes and they’ll stick with you.  Grab Downy Fabric Conditioner at Walmart and Walmart.com for an everyday low price to protect and prolong the life of your clothes.