Clothes washing tips or DIY for clean, white and fragrant clothes.

I would say that washing clothes is an elaborate art. It requires adequate planning and one has to use certain tricks and tips to get the washing done to the perfection. Whether one uses the washing machine or do it manually the basic principles would remain same. Let us go to the point wise queries and find their answers as follows -

a) Clothes are to be washed category wise. Coloured clothes are to be washed separately with less detergent and small wash cycles to avoid colour fading. Lighter coloured clothes can be washed for longer periods. Curtains and bedsheets are to be washed separately and require a longer wash cycles. A short wash cycle is around 20-25 minutes while a long cycle means something like 45-50 minutes. It includes everything from soaking to spinning and drying.

b) Soaking the clothes is one of the most common and effective way to get cleaner clothes. A lot of cleaning is done during soaking only and in fact some lighter clothes need not to be washed further if they are soaked for an hour or so. I myself have done this experiment with lighter clothes and it works. There are some precautions to be used for soaking. First is that we should not keep the coloured clothes with the plain ones as there is always a danger of colour moving from coloured clothes to the plain ones and then that stains can not be removed easily. Another thing is that as far as possible the heavy curtains and drapes are to be separately soaked as they, though look cleaner, are full of fine dirt which can affect the normal shining clothes. In some households there is a practice not to wash small and lighter clothes with the heavy curtains etc. It makes sense to do so.

c) Stain removal is the most difficult part of the laundry and only professional dry cleaners know the tricks of the trade. Still, there are some common remedies that we can try in our house. First thing is to wash the stain with water and then if it is a cotton clothe try to remove it with vinegar and the usual detergent which works in most of the cases. Do not rub the clothes much as there is a danger of getting it torn or damaged but do the process softly for a longer time. Stains are stubborn and take a long time for removal. For synthetic clothes, we have to try the detergent only. Putting some salt on the stain and then washing it also sometimes helps. Hydrogen peroxide is also a good agent for stain removal. Chlorine bleach is also used but mainly effective for cotton clothes. For ink stains sometimes glycerin helps in removing it.

d) Once the clothes are dried nicely then they are to be ironed and then to be kept in the wardrobe or rack meant for the purpose. I generally keep the room freshener blocks in the Almirah or wardrobe where I keep my clothes. It keeps them fresh and gives good smell also. Some people spray a little bit of room freshener spray but that is when you really like that much of strong smell.

e) During monsoon, we should use the clothes stand that has a lot of steel or aluminium rods parallel to each other and a lot of clothes can be accommodated there. Alternatively, some people tie a string in Verandah or Balcony slightly to inside so that the water drops during rains cannot reach the clothes otherwise they would become wet and would not get dried so fast.

Note: There is a big misconception that washing machine can wash clothes magically and one has to simply put the clothes in it and run it. It is not so. We have to use all the tricks of manual washing in the machine also by choosing the appropriate program in the machine. For example if the machine is not having soak function we should keep the clothes for some time in the detergent and water in the machine itself by keeping it off and then only run after the clothes are soaked well. No machine is able to clean the shirt collars or other such places in our dresses and it makes sense to do it manually by stopping the machine for a while. Practice is the only key to learn these things.

Whether you wash the clothes using a washing machine or you wash them manually, some common points are to be followed. Some important points which are to be followed are given below for your information.

1. Mild detergent is very good for most clothing items. A liquid detergent that is good for delicate clothing. For clothes made of silk and lace using a no-rinse detergent which are available in the market. This will not damage the clothes. Use a detergent with lanolin for wool or fine knit clothing.
2. It is advisable to wash dark colour and light colour clothes separately. If you wash them together the colour may bleed out from one to the other. New clothes should be washed separately.
3. Use two tubs. Fill in one tub water with detergent and the other tub with only water. First, fill with water and then only dip clothes in that. Never place clothes first and then water. First, dip clothes in water with detergent, Gently move clothes around. Do not scrub, twist, or rub the clothes in the water. Don't keep clothes in water for more than 4 or 5 minutes.
4. Then place the clothes in the tub with only water. Rinse the clothes by pulling them in out for 3 or 4 times. If still, the clothes are soapy rinse them again.
5. Avoid twisting clothes for getting them dried. Just hang them so that water will get dripped.

Everyone likes to save clothes and hence we have to be very careful about their cleaning, washing, drying etc. Talk about the questions you ask.

While washing washing machines, keep these things in mind -
Separate the clothes before washing them like washing more dirty clothes separately.
While putting clothes in the machine, first of all put big clothes and then small clothes and wash the clothes by opening them.
Clean the stained clothes by hand before putting them in the machine. Actually, by putting the stained clothes directly in the washing machine, the scars become darker.

If you wash clothes with hands then at that time -
Perhaps you have clothes that are very delicate to wash in the washing machine, which need to be washed only by hands. To wash clothes by hand, first start with choosing a good detergent that is not too harsh on the clothes. Then, use water and detergent to wash clothes properly. Lastly, dry the clothes thoroughly, so that they remain clean and damage-free.
If you have a new cloth that has been dyed or colored, then wash it separately in a separate tub or basin so that its color does not appear in other clothes.
Some things need to be kept in mind while washing clothes. Always clean the clothes upside down so that the color of the clothes does not fly.

Soaking the clothes -
The clothes should be soaked before washing. This makes the clothes shine by rubbing them in the clothes. Applying the detergent in water for about an hour, use the detergent according to the clothes. Mild should be used for delicate cloth and strong detergent will be fine for jeans an others.
Add a little lukewarm water to it, add detergent and then mix, then add clothes and leave it for some time


Tips to keep clothes fragrant -
To dry the clothes, it is important to dry them thoroughly after washing, then only keep them in the cupboard inside. In the wardrobe where you have to keep clothes, first wipe it dry with dry cloth. After that clean the drawer with camphor water. Let it dry completely. Keep clothes only after drying. If you want, you can also put a small camphor under paper in a cupboard. Along with this, you can also keep old packets of incense sticks in the middle of clothes.

Hope that will help you.

Washing cloth is not an easy task especially, white colour cloth and stained cloth. The cloth should keep separate on the basis of different category for a good washing. Coloured cloth, woollen cloth and stained cloth should be washed separately either you wash in the washing machine or manually. Oftentimes it has been seen that if you mix all types of cloth then colour goes to another cloth. As a result of it, all cloth becomes waste. The woollen cloth is to be washed in different detergent. You can apply lemon in stained cloth for removing the stain. Soaking is essential process for removing dirtiness from cloth. If you soak any cloth for half an hour then half dirtiness goes away. Strong detergent should use for normal cotton cloth and thick cotton cloth. Mild detergent should use for delicate cloth. I have noticed that some clothes need a hand wash only. So we should be careful at the time of washing according to its quality.