Household Tips
StainsCleaningLaundryKitchenDampDIYPestsOrganisingWash cold and full, use less detergent than the cap suggests, and never tumble dry anything with a stain still in it.
Most laundry damage is not done by a disaster, it is done gradually by settings and products that seem harmless. Washing too hot, overfilling the drum, too much detergent and habitual fabric conditioner account for most of the clothes that wear out before they should.
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Every tip in laundry
Fabric conditioner. It works by coating the fibres in a waxy film, which is the same film that stops a towel taking up water. Wash them hot with a cup of white vinegar and no detergent to strip it off.
Thirty degrees for nearly everything. Sixty for bedding and towels when somebody has been ill, and for anything that has to be genuinely hygienic. Forty is a habit rather than a decision.
Around half what the cap suggests, and less again in a soft water area. Excess detergent does not rinse out, and it leaves a residue that holds dirt and smells.
Take them out the moment the cycle ends, shake each item hard, and hang it immediately. Creases are set by clothes sitting compressed and damp in a drum.
Cold water, a detergent made for wool, no agitation and no wringing. Dry it flat, not on a hanger.
One room, door shut, window open a crack, and ideally a dehumidifier. A full load of wet washing puts around two litres of water into the air of your house.
Wipe out the rubber door seal, clean the filter, and run an empty 90C wash with soda crystals. Then leave the door ajar between washes.
Household chemicals can be dangerous in combination. Never mix them, keep the room ventilated, and test anything on a hidden patch first. Full disclaimer.