Community Chat

[Judaline]

Everything today says 'wash in cold water.' Why? Are they afraid it will shrink? Will it shrink??? I just don't get it. I like to wash in warm water. 

So I lay my sweaters out nice and flat, and when they dry rough as a board, I put them in the dryer for 5 minutes to soften. Works great but it's just another step in doing laundry.

[songbird]

Always lay it flat to dry.  If that's what it says, tha's what I do. I have a dryer rack. It's mostly sweaters.  I have a lot of them, mostly pull over.  I wear a short sleeve tee under them so I don't have to wash my sweater every time I wear it. My bras that I change daily goes in a laundry bag in the weekly wash.  Hang up to dry in the bathroom.  Gets dry quickly in the winter.  I pull them down dry by half an hour later. 

Remember, damage to clothing is done in a dryer. NOT the washing machine.

[Rockycoast]

Yes, I lay whatever it is (usually sweaters or expensive blouses) flat to dry. I have a mesh “lay flat to dry” thingy that’s fits over my bathtub where I lay my sweaters. I also have a large laundry room fold up thing that you can hang items not put in the dryer and drape on top. Paid a lot of money for some items. Not going to ruin them by putting them in the dryer.

[Trailrun23]

My frontload dryer came with a rack to put sweaters or other things that need to lay flat to day. Love it. I sometimes don't use it for the lay flat to dry things but it works really well...I uually resereve it for things with embellishments on them.

[arrabella]

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@mormel20 wrote:

When you have clothes that say "lay flat to dry" do you ever try to put them in the dryer anyway?   I am washing something right now and I am toying with the idea of the dryer instead.  Do you ever do it? Does it harm the clothes? 

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My dryer came with an insert that snaps in and I use that all the time for flat to dry items

[monicakm]

@mormel20 

I never put any of our good clothes, meaning anything we wear out of the house, in the dryer. I would think a lot of dryers, mine included, come with a drying rack that goes in the dryer. I doubt I ever used it and I guess have thrown it away. It's been years since I've seen it.

[monicakm]

@Desertdi 

You're not afraid of the dust and floating allergens that can get on your clothes? I've never understood people that love to hang their bed sheets on a line to dry because they like the fresh smell. I wouldn't mind the fresh smell but I would mind this stuff floating in the air that would stick to them.  when the Setting Sun is just right you can see that the air is full of dust particles and tiny insects.  I bet that's really bothersome to someone with allergies.

[Desertdi]

@monicakm

Clothing ONLY hangs outside on the porch.  Linens and other stuff go in the dryer. 

I do my laundry around midnight, because of the blazing sun.   

We have overnight heat near 100° and single-digit humidity in the summer ,  so it doesn't take much time to dry...either way!!       di

[NYCLatinaMe]

Hi @Judaline  Garments can be washed in cold water because laundry detergents now are made to work in cold water.  Warming the water does not necessarily make garments any cleaner, but it can damage them.  So heating the water may just waste energy.  Water heaters are often the most energy-intensive appliances in the home, second only to heating and cooling systems.  If you pay for the energy, you save $$$.

[shoekitty]

@mormel20   I don't use dryer as a rule for many reasons. There are some synthetic fabrics you will rue the day they ever set 5ft near a dryer. They wrinkle, permanently sometimes.  Some will shrink some items can become limp and ratty. I had one item, from QVC. Years ago actually fall apart in pattern pieces. It said do not dry, I was in hurry, tossed in dryer.  Well the top was sewn with acryllic thread or some kind of clear plastic thread, it melted and that was that. I guess they were experimenting with this thread back then so they could use in factory on all color fabric. 

 
I go extra mile for my clothes I really like, because in the is day n age, it's soooo hard to find things I like. I use woolite, delicate cycle and even most of cotton dryable tops and jeans I hang dry to preserve color and newness. I also pay a lot more as I buy sustainable, made in USA clothes.  90% are all washer dryer friendly, but I still like tomkeep them new looking. Sometimes I toss in dryer a few minutes before hang drying to smooth fabric, or I finish up a couple minutes in dryer