How I Do My Laundry Like A Pro

Washing and ironing are not my favourites things to do, but I prefer them over hand-washing and spending loads on dry cleaners. This made me develop a pre-laundry or more of a shopping strategy - to buy clothes that are machine-washable. Well, that's not always the case, but modern front-loading washing machines have a "hand-washable woollens" cycle, which is gentle enough for hand-wash-only clothes. Here are the rest of my tips.

• Separate whites from colourful clothes. This looks like a no-brainer, yet you can take a good laugh next time your bf complains about his pink-dewed underwear.
  
• Use the right detergents. Powder, liquid, capsules - they are all great, depending on that you use them for. For example, I wash my bed linen with powder on high temperature. The powder detergent has bleaching agents and dissolves well in hot water. My favourite black and colourful clothes, however, go on lower temperature and liquid detergent, because in this case powder won't dissolve and would leave white residue, probably some discolouration too.
  
• Turn clothes inside out before washing. This prevents colour fading and pulled threads. Also, close all zippers, velcro straps and bra hooks. You can put them or delicate or small fabrics in a washing bag, too.
  
• My preferred method is line-drying indoors - out of direct sunlight. You can use dryer as well. Just be careful with label instructions about temperature and don't over-dry, because it may cause fabric damage and colour fading. Same issues may occur in case of line-drying dark/colourful clothes in direct sunlight for too long.
  
• Again, as with drying, iron the clothes according to label instructions. Start from cottons and then move onto synthetics, if you need to. I don't iron my synthetics, unless they're really wrinkled. I prefer to dry them on a hanger or flat on a towel, so they don't need ironing afterwards. I iron from the inside out where possible to prevent the annoying "shine" and colour fading. For collars, sleeves, pocket lids and other, I put a tea towel between iron and clothes. Another tip I have is to iron heavy natural fibres like linen while slightly damp. This can work on very wrinkled dry clothes too, if you don't have a steam iron - just spray with distilled water and don't turn heat to maximum.

 Sometimes labels get worn or cutt off. So if you don't have time to do your laundry and your professional maid is doing it for you instead, make sure you give the right instructions. You can ask her for stain treatment tips, too. Really, who can give better advice than a domestic cleaner - she does that for a living.