Airing Our Dirty Laundry: 6 Laundry Mistakes We All Make!

Experience doesn’t equate to perfection, so even if you’ve been doing laundry for as long as you can remember, mistakes are easy to make. Let’s talk about some common myths and mistakes that people make while doing their laundry, and how you can avoid them.

Overloading the Washer

If you have got a few extra clothing items and plan on washing them all in one go, don’t! Overloading can not only cause your washer to malfunction, but might also leave your clothes unclean because the detergent couldn’t get even coverage.

Sorting Lights and Darks in Two Categories

Putting all the whites in one load and all the darks in another is a smart idea, as long as you only own black and white clothes and garments. Most of our clothes vary in color, though, and even the ones with the lightest colors can spread their dye to others.

You’ll also need to sort out heavy fabrics like jeans from lighter fabrics like satin and silk to keep the delicate fabric intact.

Ignoring Discoloration

New clothing often sheds color when washed the first few times. The smart choice is to hand wash new pieces once or twice to see if discoloration is happening. If you don’t want to make the extra effort of washing them individually, get a small white cloth piece and wet it. If the white color is unaffected when it’s rubbed on a spot, it’s safe to put the clothing item with the rest of its color group.

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Putting Detergent Before the Load

A common myth when doing laundry is that if you put in water and detergent before adding the clothing, all the items will soak fully in it—yielding better results. This isn’t true, though. The right method is adding all the articles of clothing, then putting in water, and then adding detergent.

You should also never put detergent directly on a garment without water.

 

Overusing Detergent

People think that the reason their clothes are coming out with stains and spots even after washing and drying is that enough detergent wasn’t used. Not true!

There’s a clear difference between quality and quantity. While a high-quality detergent will clean up everything when used in its normal amount, a low quality won’t even do so when you overuse it. So if your detergent is run of the mill, adding more of it in the washer isn’t going to make a difference. In fact, it might even damage the fabric and leave soap irritants on it.

Taking the “Dry Clean” Label Too Seriously

Dry cleaning can be expensive, not to mention all the trips you have to make to and from the dry cleaner’s store to get it done. The care labels on clothing are added to ensure their maximum safety and preservation, but not all garments with a “dry clean only” label need to be strictly dry cleaned.

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Silk, linen and other natural fabrics can be easily washed at home with the same outcome. The trick is to use a mild detergent and gently rub it on any stains and spots. Remember that hand washing will yield much better results than a machine wash.

Other items like leather jackets, suede, or clothing full of accessories and embellishments definitely need to be dry cleaned to protect their delicacy. If you’re a resident of New York, Queens or its neighboring areas, our company provides dry cleaning services at affordable rates. Keeping in mind the busy schedule of our customers, NY Organic Dry Cleaners also provides free pickup and delivery services.

If you have suffered from any clothing mishaps, you can also avail our  Clothing Alteration NYC service and talk to our experts in case of any queries or questions.