Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with laundry

How can I minimize the amount of lint on my clothes?

grouse — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:32:05 -0800

How can I minimize the amount of lint on my clothes? I use a communal washer and dryer in my apartment complex.

Should I use drying sheets? I've used them before and they didn't seem to make much of a difference. I was using the cheapest generic ones available—does the brand matter? Can I cut them into quarters as suggested her?eg What about using fabric softener during the wash cycle?

I do a separate wash for my Smartwool socks and towels as these seem to generate much lint. It's worse if one washes the socks inside out as Smartwool suggests, so I've stopped doing that.

Is it more effective to use a lint roller before washing rather than after?

Other suggestions?

Maximum laundry, minimum space

exceptinsects — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:22:13 -0800

What are your experiences using a combination washer/dryer? I am thinking of buying one for my very tiny new house, but somehow it seems too good to be true! Do they really work? Is there a brand you've tried that you like?

It would have to fit in a space that's 23"X25". (Can face either direction)

First it was an embarassing medical problem, now it's an embarasing laundry question

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:26:42 -0800

How to removie anal suppository residue/stain from the crotch in my underwear. It's bad enough that I've developed hemmeroids that hurt, now I realized that the treatment (anal suppositories I take at bedtime) are slowly ruining my underwear. Mostly what I'm noticing is that even after stain treatment and washing them, crotch is becoming progressively more stiff/starched from the suppositories. The only suggestions I've found online are how to get diaper rash balm out of diapers, but I'm pretty sure that's a completely different compound than the suppositories I'm taking. Worst case I'll have to buy new underwear, but I'm not sure yet how long I'm going to have to do this treatment/be completely healed.

Tiny washing machines -- any good?

brandonjadams — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:32:35 -0800

My wife and I are looking for a v. small washing machine for our rented apartment. I've seen a few units which you can wheel into the closet after doing the laundry but I'm not sure how well they work. Any thoughts?

Desudser?

pwnguin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:34:37 -0800

How can I clean the soap out of my (laundry) washing machine? We have an out of warranty front-loading washing machine, a Whirlpool Duet (ghw9200l). Recently it's started failing to pump out water; after trying for a while it moves to an error state showing F-02 and beep. The water has suds which is unusual, even when I just run a rinse cycle with no soap or clothes.

I'm running rinse cycles, but google queries suggest adding some "desudser." Is there such a thing, and is it better than just rinsing? If so, where should I look to buy it?

Crayon in the Dryer, 3x Over

theichibun — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:13:54 -0800

I washed some clothes with a crayon in a pocket. Now I've got yellow crayon spread out across my clothes. But it gets better. The clothes weren't getting dry and I kept putting them through the dryer. 3 times total, never noticing that the crayon stains were there. How can I get rid of, or at least minimize, the problem so I get some of my pants for work back? I've tried ironing with a paper towel and putting them through the washer with various combinations of OxiClean and other stain fighting products. At first running them through the washer seemed to be helping (cold/cold just in case maybe using warm water somewhere would help), but the last time I tried that I didn't see it getting any better. I also saw no good coming from the ironing method.

Due to my schedule the clothes have now been sitting in my room for about a week since the incident. Probably not a good move, I know. Do I have any hope of fixing the mess this late in the game?

Shirt-ironing hacks?

Bardolph — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:29:42 -0800

How can I get faster at ironing shirts? We're talking standard men's cotton dress shirts, and I'm currently averaging an abysmal 15-20 minutes per shirt, with the shirts not looking all that great by the end anyway. (I'm using my $10 WalMart iron from college, but answers to this question seemed to suggest that the iron doesn't matter that much.) I think part of the problem is that I'm constantly having to change the position of the shirt on the ironing board in order to get all the little crevices (underarms/wrists/etc.) pressed. But it could also just be that I suck.

I got into this to try to tighten our recession budget, but my time's got to be worth more than $5.25/hr, right? If you've managed to break that elusive three-shirt-per-hour barrier, would you mind sharing what (equipment, techniques, hacks, irons, boards, approaches) worked for you?

LOUD washer end-of-cycle signal

amro — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:42:48 -0800

How do I turn off the earsplitting, wakes the dead end-of-cycle signal on my clothes washer? My Kenmore front-loading washer has a long, loud end-of-cycle signal, and for the life of me I can't figure out how the heck to turn it off (i.e., keep it from going off at all). I do not need and do not want a signal sounding to tell me that my laundry is done. There must be a way to make it not sound, right? Here is the manual, and here and here are photos of the front of my washer. Please hope me.

Keeping my laundry hair-free?

meerkatty — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:02:38 -0800

Do you have tricks or tips for keeping hair off your clean laundry? I have long hair that sheds a lot. And I'm currently being treated with chemotherapy which is making me shed even more. When I pull my clean clothes or sheets out of the dryer rogue strands of my long hair cover everything. Is there a way to prevent this?

I use a Bounce dryer sheet in my dryer, clean the lint filter religiously and just had my dryer serviced. Using a lint brush afterward is pointless because the hair is long and difficult for the brush to pick up and using a lint brush on things like king size sheets is a nightmare. Thanks!

Creased and wrinkled shirt seams out of the dryer.

dino terror — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:55:05 -0800

Some of my t-shirts always come out of the dryer with severe wrinkles / creases on the seams around the waist or sleeves. Shown here. What am I doing wrong? It's always the same shirts. The first shirt it happened with was a cheapo t-shirt so I thought it was the quality of the shirt and it just shrunk in a weird way. I just bout a few newer shirts (one Nautica and one American Apparel) and the same thing happened to them. Everything else comes out of the laundry fine. I thought it was because I was overloading the dryer but I don't think that's it.
I wash with cold water with no extra settings on and I dry on low heat with no extras on. If I iron the wrinkles out they just come back after the next wash.

Looking for Canesten Hygiene Laundry Rinse (antifungal and antibacterial laundry detergent add-in) or clone in the USA

tra — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:16:03 -0800

Are there any similar products to Canesten Hygiene Laundry Rinse that I can purchase in the US (Fry's, Walmart, Albertsons, Safeway, Walgreens, CVS etc) I'm an Aussie living in the US. Back in Oz we have this stuff called Canesten Hygiene Laundry Rinse - it's antifungal as well as antibacterial, which is a fantastic idea when you consider the concept of washing your stinky socks or sweaty underwear or pillowcases with an antifungal agent added to the regular laundry detergent. I hunted for a clone of this in several major retail supermarkets in the US to no avail. When I asked some people at work, they all unanimously said that they'd use bleach for the purpose. Is that the final answer or is there something similar to Canesten that I can use? Or can I get Canesten Rinse cheaply via mailorder here, rather than the old man blowing fifty bucks a pop to send me two containers across the pond every few months? I don't want to use bleach because I've read that it doesn't actually kill fungus. Plus, I value the integrity of my clothing's colour.

Alternate solutions welcome, as long as it doesn't involve squeezing a tube of miconazole into the wash each time..

FWIW I'm in Phoenix.

Don't frames da stainz!

raider — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:48:01 -0800

Any laundry superstars out there? I need to clean a very precious item.. Short version: is there a miracle stain removal product/process for a shirt that doesn't require total immersion?

Long version: I'm an Oakland Raider fan. Big one, if you didn't guess by my name. And I have this Ken Stabler jersey that a pal I've never met sent to me from England. It's old and this style (vintage) has never been available in North America

I wore it well for years and it was treasured but in a ratty kinda way. Last year I flew across the continent for a game and me, my jersey and Ken Stabler intersected at a hotel bar.

So now it's signed and invaluable (to me). But faded and worse, stained. All over the place. It wasn't until I took it to get framed that I realized how bad the staining was. Grease, mayo, whisky, you name it... this shirt has seen good times. The back is ok but the sleeves are nasty.

Dry cleaning is out of the question as I can't lose the autograph (above name on the back so just below collar)

Jersey is (faded) black, 100% cotton.

Any ideas better than household spray stuff?

Cheers

My clothes will thank you.

beandip — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:29:08 -0800

I am clueless in the laundry room. I know nothing about stain removal and very little about sorting, what settings to use on my washer, what needs to air-dry, how to prevent things from shrinking, etc. Teach me how to do laundry like a grownup! I am embarrassed to admit this, but when I was growing up, my mom did all the laundry for the household. In college, I would throw all my clothes in the wash together in one giant load once a week. Things would turn grey over time but at least it all got clean. If something got a noticeable stain on it, I would generally throw it out. When my bras got ratty and worn-out after a year or so of frequent use, I would go get new ones. I have lost a lot of cute clothes to shrinkage as well.

But now, I am an adult with an office job that requires nicer clothes. I can't afford to throw out a shirt just because I spill my lunch on it or splatter something on it while I'm cooking supper. I have a house with a laundry room in the basement, a washer and dryer all my own, and an enormous concrete laundry tub. I want to take the time to learn to wash things right.

So... I have a lot of questions. How should I sort - whites/lights and darks/jeans? Should I be throwing some bleach in with the whites? What gets washed on hot and what gets washed on cold? Should I be washing my bras all by themselves and hanging them up to dry? How do I prevent shrinking of new clothes? I know you are supposed to treat stains differently depending on what causes them, but I honestly have no idea what to do beyond rinsing, rubbing some extra soap on, and hoping for the best.

I feel like most of this is common sense stuff that I just never picked up on. Please help!

One passport, freshly washed

Alterscape — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:53:40 -0800

I just put my (non-RFID, US) passport through the laundry. It's soggy, wrinkly, and the cover is no longer stiff, but everything's still legible. I'm planning to travel to Beijing for about a week in October. Do I need to be panicking about getting it replaced?

Baa Baa Wet Sheep?

DarlingBri — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:09:19 -0800

Sheep get rained on all the time, so I can launder this sheepskin rug, right? How do you launder yours? We inherited a sheepskin rug from a relative who is moving house.

I don't know very much about it and even less about sheep. It's white and semi-fluffy, semi-matted on one side, and white suede(?) on the other side. It's all one piece and sort of... sheep... shaped, in that I can tell where the skin was cut from the head, legs and tail.

As it is now being used as a dog bed (for an ecstatic dog who is in love with her new friend, the sheep) I would like to launder this object. We have laundered previous, inferior, synthetic dog beds about once a month.

The interpipes seem to have various, conflicting instructions for care of these things, so I would like to know how you launder yours. I am most interested in preserving its thickness for the comfort of the hound, and less concerned with its fluffiness or indeed, whiteness.

My boxer thanks you.

Smells like clean spirit

bradly — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:35:35 -0800

Can someone identify the clean soap (or other laundry product) smell I keep noticing among hispanics? For years and with dozens of encounters (with those from various latin countries) I have experienced said smell.

Characteristics of the smell: simple, sweet, soapy, clean

There may be slight variations, but from what I can remember it is basically the same among those who I've met, so I assume there is one (or a small number) of products that are most commonly used.

Thanks in advance!

What's the wholesale laundry service like?

dyerfr — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:38:42 -0800

Where can I find an overview of the Dry cleaning/laundry business? Some level of detail with respect to costs and cost structure of having the clothes shipped offsite would be great. So I have this idea for a business - it would presumably leverage existing 'wholesale' laundry services... you know, the ones that do the actual cleaning for the retail establishments where you drop off your clothes. My limited understanding is that the place you drop off is - sometimes, at least - not the place the actual laundering takes place.

I don't need chemical cleaning, but 'regular' laundering.

If I was to leverage one or more of these wholesale shops, what might I expect to pay - structure (trip charge, per item, etc)... The wholesaler would need to pick up the clothes from one or more locations, take them to their laundry service, and return them in a matter of (probably) 8 or less hours.

Any help from the hive mind would be appreciated!!

Is my washer causing clear oil stains?

Tim McDonough — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:44:40 -0800

I know that if a Chapstick goes through the wash, it will stain my clothes, but could identical stains be indicative of a washing machine malfunction? The stains in question look just like baby-oil stains, not grease or motor-oil. The research I've done so far suggests that a washing machine seal break or leak would result in a dirtier type stain, more grease-like. We don't use any kind of fabric softener or dryer sheets, so I've ruled those out. Thanks in advance!

Back-friendly carrying products?

Bardolph — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:42:34 -0800

My mom has back problems, but insists on line-drying her wash, which means lugging a heavy laundry basket out to the line almost daily. What sort of cart, basket or carrier can I purchase that would help her schlep the wet clothes more easily? Difficulty: must be compatible with stairs. Bending over is also somewhat problematic for her, so ideally this would be loadable/unloadable at waist height or higher. Basically, a small waist-high cart able to be pulled up a half-flight of stairs and over about 20 yards of grass would be ideal, but I'd also love to hear about easy-carry baskets or carriers, if such things exist. Thanks in advance for any/all suggestions for solutions here!

Out, Out, Damn Spot

EmpressCallipygos — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:25:25 -0800

How do you remove a stain....if you don't know what the stain is? I have a white rayon tunic shirt which long ago developed some mysterious brown stains on the front. It almost looks like I dribbled tea down the front. Except - I didn't. I just pulled it out of the closet one day and noticed all these drips of an unknown stain on them.

All I can think is: I used to live in an apartment where the "closet" was open space under a platform loft bed, leaving all my hanging clothes open to random weird floating gak in the air from inside or outside. So this stain could be ANYTHING.

I've tried stain spray, I've tried diluted bleach, I've tried Oxy-Clean; it's still rather stubborn. I even got desperate and tea-dyed the whole shirt to see if the rest of it would take on the same hue as the stain, but...that just made the stain a little darker too, so you can still see it. Researching all the "stain removal tips" web sites out there require you to know what the stain is first, but....I don't know.

Help?

Help me get our yellow pillowcase white again (without bleach).

gchucky — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:13:15 -0800

Laundry Filter: Help me get our yellow pillowcase white again (without bleach). We have a white pillowcase that has taken on a rather strong shade of yellow as of late. I put it through the wash but that didn't help, so I didn't dry it. I'm hoping to avoid using bleach on it 'cause I don't own any, and I've accidentally stained a few things over the years.

So what alternative solutions are there to get this pillowcase back to its original color - or do I have to use bleach?

Shrinkage as a Positive

judomadonna — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:57:22 -0800

After three washes-and-dryings I want some new 100% cotton t-shirts and boxer shorts to keep shrinking but I get the feeling they're not gonna. Am I right? I'm between an XL and XXL when it comes to t-shirts and boxer shorts -- XL is a little too snug and XXL is a little too roomy. I buy XXL in both in the hopes of shrinking them. I wash in hot and blast 'em in the dryer and, yes, there's been shrinkage, but not enough for my liking. After doing laundry last night I tried on one of the t-shirts and pairs of boxers and didn't see/feel a difference. Clothes get to a point where they'll stop shrinking no matter what you do, right? Any suggestions?

Laundry Mess

mdwiffle — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:41:23 -0800

I just did a small load of laundry and a pen (without cap) was in it. Am I screwed?

The clothes (all light colors) now have blue pen marks all over. Any suggestions for how to remedy this? Will I need to individually clorox each pen mark?

All suggestions are welcome!

How can I keep my clothes from fading?

Four-Eyed Girl — Sun, 31 May 2009 16:25:02 -0800

How can I keep my clothes from fading after washing them? Most of my clothes end up fading over time after they have been washed several times. It is most noticeable with my black clothes, but it also happens with my bright colored clothes. I recently bought some clothes, and I don't want this to happen to them. What can I do to help fight the fading process and keep my clothes looking somewhat new?

Wrinkly Shirts and Linty Towels

phrakture — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:48:09 -0800

[LaundryFilter] I need help de-wrinkling and de-linting my clothes and towels! This is kinda two questions in one, but I expect they are related.

a) I have a few shirts that I love, but react as if they were made of paper whenever I wear them. They come out of the dryer fine, but after hanging for a bit, they end up looking like tissue paper (small, fine wrinkles). Ironing has the same effect - looks nice for a matter of minutes, but they seem to spring back to tissue-paper state.

Any tips for ways to keep things less wrinkly (including shirt collars on button-up and polos) and save me some ironing time would be appreciated. Think buying one of those fabric steamer things would help?

b) In a similar manner, I have some towels that always seem to get lint all over me when I dry off. I like the towels, but the lint factor is annoying. I've tried drying them in a drying repeatedly, shaking them out, and a few other things, but it doesn't work. How does one de-lint towels like this?

So yeah. Help me figure out my laundry issues and I'll give you a cookie.