Laundry

I decided that since today the only really productive thing I did was laundry I'd tell how I do it.

First, I separate my clothes into colors vs. whites. I also do the kids separate. And towels separate. And sheets separate.

Then I pick the water temp according to what I'm washing.
whites = hot
towels = hot
sheets = hot
kids = warm
colors = cold

I basically figure that the more germs that need to be killed the hotter the water. With the exception of the kids clothes and that's just because I don't want to shrink all their clothes in the hot water. So warm has to cut it. And I definitely don't want to do the colors in hot because they'll for sure shrink. (I've made that mistake. Try telling your 6'4" husband why his pants and sleeves are all too short.)

I pick the load size and start the water going. I add my detergent. I prefer Tide with Bleach or Tide with Downy. I add color safe bleach to the whites, towels, sheets and kids clothes. Killing those darn germs again! I also add liquid fabric softener. Downy. I use the blue one. Not sure which smell it is. Then I load my washer. I generally load it as full as I can, stuffing included! I figure that the more I can cram in the less number of loads I have to do.

I only do laundry on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

With the drying I just throw the clothes in there with a fabric softener sheet, Downy again, and turn it on. Make sure to always check your lint trap and clean it out. Fire hazard if you don't.

Cleaning my washer:
Occasionally I'll clean my washer to make sure it's doing it's best. It works hard so I don't have to. I will just run it empty with detergent, vinegar and good old fashioned chlorine bleach and hot water. I usually have to take the liquid detergent and bleach compartments apart and scrub them with a toothbrush.

Cleaning my dryer:
I just scrub my lint tray with a toothbrush under water.

I also make sure to wash the tops and under the lids with a washcloth to make sure I've cleaned up any stray detergent, lint and dust off.

Maybe some day I'll post my super-special secret stain remover trick. I can get most anything out. I'd do it now but I'd have to run upstairs to get the names of the products I use.