Your washer and dryer are two of the most important appliances in your home. They’re what keep your sheets clean, your towels warm and fuzzy, and your clothes fragrant for the right reasons. You’ll want to do everything in your power to keep you laundry units running optimally. Here’s a guide on how to get the best out of your laundry machines.
Check the Labels
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All the clothes you purchase come with inner tags that offer information about the material used. The manufacturers of these items suggest the best ways to launder the products they create. Foolishly, many people ignore those tags and instead fall into bad habits. Laundry is not a one-size-fits-all task. Pay careful attention to these instructions.
Take note of the labels for your most expensive items in particular. If something says delicate, it’s easy to separate the item into a separate load. The minimal cost of extra laundry detergent is an expense you get back in the end by increasing the lifespan of your washer and dryer. If something says dry-clean only, you can still hand-wash it, but such materials should never go in laundry appliances. They could liquefy, leaving permanent gunk in both machines.
Maximize Your Equipment
When you buy your appliances, do some research to discover which ones are the most energy-efficient. The government places such importance on this issue that they award the Energy Star to washers and dryers that consume the least amount of water and energy per cycle. You can save up to 64 percent less water and 75 percent less energy per cycle with Energy Star You’ll also save a modest amount on your utilities each month. Over the life of the machines, the amount of money you save might match your initial investment in the products.
One other way to lessen the amount of energy you use is to run multiple loads consecutively. Some people do the opposite, allowing the dryer to cool down between cycles. However, consecutive cycles allow your laundry to dry faster because the appliance maintains heat as long as it’s in operation. The second and subsequent loads will conserve energy since the dryer is already at the correct temperature. This strategy also reduces wear and tear on your dryer because it produces less heat.
Use the Right Products
Consumers have a tendency to choose a brand of laundry detergent and fabric softener and stick with them for a long time. Amusingly, there’s little difference between a brand name and a brand. In fact, analysts from Consumer Reports note that while Tide is a perennially strong detergent in their rankings, other brands with less consumer awareness provide much better bang for the buck. More effective products increase the lifespan of your clothing and linens.
You want to find a laundry detergent that works well but isn’t wildly overpriced like Tide. You should consider the wide variety of products from Amway as a viable alternative. These products are cost-effective, but they score well when compared against more expensive alternatives.
Smaller Loads Are Better
Human instinct drives you to try to wash as many clothes as possible in a single load. A person living alone can take care of all their laundry needs in as few as three loads: colors, whites, and towels. Don’t let the convenience of this tempt you, though. Your washing machine contains a lot of moving parts, and there’s a reason one of its settings is spin cycle. Once you shut the lid and start the machine, it spins the clothes in a way that mixes the water and laundry detergent to wash your clothes.
When you fill the loads too full, you make the laundry machine work harder. This situation is why your laundry occasionally gets twisted or stuck. Towels, blue jeans, and underwear, in particular, are susceptible to this. All you have to do to avoid it is run smaller loads of laundry. The machine will run safer and longer.
Keeping your washer and dryer running a long time isn’t that hard. Simply learn from the guide above and place a bit more thought into each laundry load.