How to Do Your Own Laundry Properly

Quick version Check the care label, sort by color and fabric weight, wash most loads in cold with the right amount of detergent, and treat stains before you run the dryer. Clean the lint filter every single time.

Laundry is one of those skills everybody assumes you picked up somewhere. Done well, it makes clothes last years longer. Done badly, it shrinks sweaters, turns whites gray and, in the worst case, starts a dryer fire. Here is the routine the pros agree on.

Start with the care label

US law requires most clothing to carry a care label, and the FTC’s Care Labeling Rule says it must give at least one safe way to clean the item. The symbols look cryptic, but you need only a few: a tub (washing, with dots for temperature), a triangle (bleach), a square with a circle (tumble dry, dots again for heat), and an iron. A hand in the tub means hand wash. An X through any symbol means do not.

Sort two ways, not one

• By color: darks, lights and whites. Wash new dark or bright items, especially jeans, on their own the first few times.
• By weight: towels and jeans beat up thin T-shirts and delicates. Heavy and light items also dry at different speeds.

Load and wash

1. Empty pockets and zip zippers. Turn jeans and printed shirts inside out to protect the color and the print.
2. Pretreat stains. Work a little stain remover or liquid detergent into the spot and let it sit for a few minutes.
3. Do not overfill. Clothes need room to move. A drum about three-quarters full is a good rule.
4. Measure the detergent. Use the line on the cap. High-efficiency machines need HE detergent.
5. Pick the water temperature. Cold for most loads, warm for towels, bedding and heavily soiled items.

Dry without the damage

• Check stains before drying. Heat can set a stain for good. If it is still there, treat it and wash again.
• Use the lowest heat that works. Low or medium for most clothes; save high heat for towels and sheets.
• Air-dry what the label asks for. Sweaters go flat on a rack so they do not stretch.
• Clean the lint filter every load, and have the dryer vent cleaned out periodically.

What the pros say

• Melissa Maker, creator of Clean My Space, writes in her detergent guide that “using cold water and getting a clean load in the first go is the most responsible way to launder,” and that detergent sheets and refillables are, for now, “less potent than regular detergents.”
• ENERGY STAR, the EPA’s program for energy-efficient appliances, points out that most of the energy used for washing goes to heating water, so cold washes save money with little or no cleaning penalty for everyday loads.
• The US Fire Administration, FEMA’s fire prevention agency, found that failure to clean was the leading factor in home clothes dryer fires (31 percent, 2018 to 2020).
• The CPSC, the federal product-safety regulator, warns that single-load detergent packets are a poisoning risk for young children and should be stored up high, sealed and out of sight.

Gear that helps

Do this this week

• Read the care labels on the five pieces you wear most
• Sort one week of laundry by color and by weight before washing
• Measure your detergent with the cap line instead of guessing
• Clean the dryer lint filter, and check the vent hose for kinks
• Move detergent packets to a high shelf if anyone small visits