Laundry tips
Sorting laundry
1. Strumpsnodden
With Strumpsnodden, you never have to sort your socks. If you have tights to wash, those mesh bags made for underwire bras can come in handy.
2. Prepare your clothes
A little prep before washing makes things easier and saves both time and clothes. Turn pants and knit sweaters inside out, button the buttons and close the zippers. When you turn clothes inside out, they do not fade as quickly, they pill less and they keep their shape better. If a garment has Velcro, fasten it so it does not catch on and damage the other clothes in the machine.
Do not forget to empty all pockets, because ink from ballpoint pens, or a “washed” cell phone, is no fun at all. Always sort your laundry into groups: whites, lights, colors and delicates such as wool and silk.
3. Do not wash too often
Most of us wash far too often, which is extremely hard on clothes, and on your wallet and the environment too. Before you put a garment in the laundry basket, think twice: is it really dirty, or just a little less than fresh? Hanging it up to air out gets rid of stale odors; otherwise, a wash at a low temperature with just a little detergent may be enough. If your clothes are normally dirty, you can actually skip the pre-wash cycle.
4. Fabric softener
Fabric softener is mostly unnecessary, but it can be useful for synthetic fabrics that easily get static. On the other hand, it ruins some materials, such as GoreTex and elastane. Using too much fabric softener can also make garments in other materials pill.
5. Fill the machine
When you do wash, fill the machine up; otherwise, wait until you have more laundry. A half-full washing machine uses almost as much energy as a full one.
You can mix 30, 40 and 60 °C laundry in one load, as long as you let the most delicate garments decide the temperature. Sheets and towels come clean at 60 degrees, and everyday clothes do well at 40 degrees.
If you are not washing a full load, newer washing machines let you choose a setting that uses less water. A half load also means half as much detergent is enough.
6. Do not use too much detergent
Many people think more detergent means cleaner laundry, but that is not the case. Too much detergent just creates more suds, and the laundry may not rinse out properly, which can trigger allergies. Detergent packages usually list different amounts depending on whether you have hard or soft water where you live. Below is a list of average water hardness in some larger towns in Sweden. For a more exact figure, contact the water supplier in your municipality.
| Town | °dH | Town | °dH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alingsås | 4 | Lund | 4 |
| Arvika | 1 | Lycksele | 3 |
| Avesta | 5–9 | Malmö | 7 |
| Boden | 1 | Mariestad | 3 |
| Bollnäs | 3 | Mora | 4 |
| Borlänge | 8 | Norrköping | 4 |
| Eksjö | 4 | Norrtälje | 6–9 |
| Enköping | 15 | Nybro | 3 |
| Eskilstuna | 5 | Nyköping | 7 |
| Eslöv | 4 | Nässjö | 2 |
| Fagersta | 2 | Piteå | 1 |
| Falkenberg | 6 | Sala | 4 |
| Falköping | 3 | Sandviken | 4 |
| Falun | 1 | Simrishamn | 10–15 |
| Gävle | 7 | Skara | 3 |
| Göteborg | 3 | Skellefteå | 2 |
| Halmstad | 4 | Skövde | 3 |
| Haparanda | 1 | Stockholm | 5–6 |
| Hedemora | 9 | Sundsvall | 4 |
| Helsingborg | 5–6 | Söderhamn | 7 |
| Hudiksvall | 3 | Tranås | 4 |
| Hultsfred | 2 | Trelleborg | 8 |
| Hurva | 17 | Umeå | 2 |
| Härnösand | 2 | Uppsala | 14–17 |
| Hässleholm | 7 | Varberg | 6 |
| Jönköping | 3 | Vetlanda | 4 |
| Kalix | 1 | Vimmerby | 7 |
| Kalmar | 5 | Visby | 14 |
| Karlskrona | 3 | Värnamo | 8 |
| Karlstad | 2 | Västervik | 2 |
| Katrineholm | 4 | Västerås | 6 |
| Kiruna | 2 | Växjö | 3 |
| Kristianstad | 13 | Ystad | 8 |
| Landskrona | 4 | Ängelholm | 6–7 |
| Lidköping | 3 | Örebro | 4 |
| Linköping | 3 | Öregrund | 10 |
| Ljungby | 4 | Örnsköldsvik | 1 |
| Ludvika | 5 | Östersund | 2 |
| Luleå | 5 | Östhammar | 9 |
Read more about water hardness on Wikipedia (in Swedish)
7. Skip the dryer when you can
If you have the option, let your clothes air-dry instead of tumble drying them. You can save a lot on your electricity bill this way, since a dryer uses about 4 times more energy than a washing machine. Clothes also wear out faster in the dryer. If you have to use it, do not pack the dryer too full, or synthetic clothes will wrinkle, and never tumble dry wool or linen, because those garments will be ruined.
8. Choose the right detergent
You should have one detergent for whites and another for colors. Never use detergent for whites on colored clothes, because detergent for whites contains bleach. To make sorting laundry easier, you can get Strumpsnodden, and several laundry baskets marked with different colors too. If you have white sheets or other white laundry that has become discolored, you can add a little chlorine bleach to the detergent. It will look like new!
9. A laundry basket for everyone
One tip is to let each family member have their own laundry basket, which they then carry to the laundry room themselves and sort by color into large baskets there. Clip a couple of clothespins onto each laundry basket and use them to mark stains that need special treatment. Make sure everyone marks the stain before tossing the garment in the basket. In the laundry room, you can also hang a bag or keep a basket for clothes that need mending. A lot of clothes get thrown away for no good reason.
10. Wash with dish soap
Did you know that you can wash your clothes with “YES” dish soap, that it is gentler on your clothes and that it is also better for the environment? On top of that, it is much cheaper. One tablespoon of dish soap in the detergent compartment is enough for a full load. An old household tip for stains is to rub them with dish soap before washing, whatever you wash with afterward.
11. New and colored garments
If you are worried that new or other colored garments will bleed, you can put an old white towel or a worn-out sheet in the washing machine. The excess dye is absorbed by the towel or sheet, and the rest of the laundry is less likely to get discolored. You can also buy so-called “color catchers,” but they are fairly expensive, and an old white towel or sheet actually works quite well. Another old household tip is to add a little vinegar to the final rinse.
You can test whether a garment bleeds easily. Wet a hidden part of the fabric with warm water. Then place it between two dry pieces of white fabric and press everything together with a hot iron.
Good luck in the laundry room with Strumpsnodden!
If you have more tips, you are welcome to email us.