The first own household is a big challenge for many people, but especially for men. For the first time it means washing and drying the laundry yourself.
Fortunately, there are some tips that will make it easier for you to separate the laundry and wash it according to the sorting. We'll show you what to look out for so that your laundry survives the wash cycle unscathed.
Separate laundry: The most important condition for washing clothes
In order to get the laundry properly clean, you should not wash all the laundry items together. The temperatures, as well as the required detergents, sometimes differ very significantly from each other.
In principle, there are two types of sorting, which overlap and complement each other. On the one hand, you can separate the laundry on the basis of sensitivity. In addition, you can select the laundry by color to prevent staining as far as possible.
Laundry separation according to sensitivity
Here you will find the main types of laundry and their treatment:
- Underwear: Ideally, this is washed at 60 degrees from a hygienic point of view. However, fine panties and bras are often made of materials that do not allow this and can therefore only be washed at 30 degrees with a mild detergent. Always use a laundry bag for briefs with lace and bras. Boxer shorts made of cotton, on the other hand, are rather insensitive.
- T-shirts, sweaters and pants: For most garments, a temperature of 30 to 40 degrees is recommended. In addition, a color detergent is recommended.
- Blouses, shirts and dresses: Rather fine garments should only be washed at 30 degrees with a mild detergent. In addition, these should have more space in the washing machine. In this way, you prevent intense wrinkling and shorten the subsequent time you have to plan for ironing. Clothes are best additionally secured in a laundry bag.
- Towels and bed linen: For hygienic cleaning, you should wash towels and bed linen at 60 degrees. These always come into direct contact with the skin and absorb many skin flakes as well as sweat.
- Functional clothing: Sportswear can often only be washed at 30 degrees. A sports detergent is suitable here.
Tip: Get a split hamper to separate your laundry more easily and not have to sort before you wash.
Sort laundry by color
New garments in particular have a tendency to stain. Therefore, always read the manufacturer's label before cutting it out of your clothes. It often makes sense to wash them separately, at least during the first wash cycle, as the risk of discoloration is highest at this time.
Basically, the following color sorting is suitable for washing clothes:
- white and light linen
- yellow and orange laundry
- red and purple linen
- blue, green, gray, brown and black laundry
In the case of mixed colors, it is best to use the largest color portion as a guide.
Attention: There are garments that lose color with each wash due to the dyeing process. You can always wash these only separately.
Differences between individual detergents: what do I need?
We have compiled the most important detergents to wash your laundry for you in the following list:
- Heavy duty detergent: It is suitable only for white laundry, because it contains bleach. At the same time it is very strong and also designed for higher temperatures up to 95 degrees.
- Color detergent: A color detergent is usually designed for temperatures of 20 to 60 degrees. It is suitable for normal colored laundry items that are not particularly sensitive.
- Fine detergent: In principle, this is a special color detergent. However, the cleaning effect is somewhat less, as it is gentler. It is therefore often used for blouses and fine shirts, but is also suitable for washing clothes.
- Detergents for wool and silk: The two materials are very sensitive and can not tolerate strong detergents or high temperatures.
- Sports detergent: Ideally, you should wash functional underwear with a sports detergent. This has a fairly intense scent and ensures intensive cleaning at low temperatures.
The loading of the washing machine: how full can the drum be?
When doing laundry, you can follow the principle that fine garments require more space than insensitive laundry items.
In a wash cycle with towels and bed linen, you can thus fill the drum completely. However, you should never squeeze the laundry.
The same applies to a filling with T-shirts, pants and sweaters. For shirts and blouses, which belong to the easy-care or delicates category, the drum should be about half full. Sportswear also tends to require a little more space.
If you wash wool and silk in the washing machine rather than by hand, fill the drum about a quarter or a third full to preserve the delicate fabrics.
Program settings: Is only the temperature decisive?
In addition to the temperature, the duration, the amount of water and the number of spins play an important role. For boil wash and color wash, little water, high temperatures and high speed are used.
The setting of the easy-care laundry function leads to a decrease in the temperature as well as the speed and an increase in the amount of water. The same applies to the functions of the delicate wash and the hand wash program, whereby the values continue to decrease and the amount of water increases.
Tip: You save energy with an ECO program. However, the time for washing laundry will be longer.
It is best to hire a professional cleaner to do your laundry
Sorting clothes every week, then washing them properly and ironing them at the end can be exhausting and very time consuming. A professional cleaner would not only wash your clothes properly, but you will also have much more free time. Find easily and quickly through suuber.ch your ideal house maid at top terms.