Washer and dryer! Laundry tips welcome!

[Penelope]

It's Dr. Bronner's castile soap. The company's message is all about "transcending religious and cultural divides." They etch the message "All-One" into their bars of soap. There's a bunch of gobbledy-gook on the wrapper; it really borders on incoherency. I might start shopping for other brands of castile soap for the future.

[Chestertonian]

i love castile soap..... used to wash everything with it, even my hair.

my wife on the other hand, has 300 bottles ..... shampoo, conditioner, face soap, body soap, left elbow soap, right elbow soap, foot soap,

don't even get me started on the moisturizers

there's face moisturizer, the face moisturiziner that goes over the first moisturizer.  day cream, night cream.  wouldn't be surprised if she had a different cream for every canonical hour of the day

then there's foot cream, hand cream,


but with me, it's simple.  castile soap. 

[Greg]

Yeah. The company that makes the soap has a terrible philosophy, but I felt sort of good about using the soap because we had to grate it up and destroy the stupid message that was etched into it.

what message could possibly be o a soap?

i didn't realize soap w as s o philosopphical

It's more soaphism that philosoaphy

[Hannelore]

It's Dr. Bronner's castile soap. The company's message is all about "transcending religious and cultural divides." They etch the message "All-One" into their bars of soap. There's a bunch of gobbledy-gook on the wrapper; it really borders on incoherency. I might start shopping for other brands of castile soap for the future.

Someone should email them and tell them that the Church already transcends cultural divides. And if everybody converts, then religious divides will be transcended, too. 

[moneil]

I love Dr. Bronner's Castile liquid soap.  My local food co-op carries the different varieties in bulk so I'm not putting packaging into the land fill, I just refill the same container.  I mix some with a body shampoo they sell in bulk and use that as my all in one soap / hair shampoo in the shower.

I've not thought of trying to "make my own" laundry detergent, might try it sometime.  A few years ago Consumer Reports had a review of laundry detergents.  Tide was toped ranked in "holding dirt in the wash water rather than it settling back out".  I work on a dairy farm and my work clothes get REALLY dirty, so I've stuck with that brand.

I line dry as much as I can.  Even in the winter and temps in the 'teens it is amazing how much moisture will still come out of the clothes, especially if there is a slight breeze.  It really cuts down on dryer time.  In late spring – early fall the dryer never gets used, unless there is rain.  EXCEPT, bath linens are somewhat stiff after line drying.  When they come off the line I put them in the dryer on low heat for like 5 minutes and they soften up.  I have heard from several sources (including Consumer Reports) to never use fabric softener on bath towels and wash clothes.  The softener will coat the cotton fibers over time and they will loose their absorbency.  I wonder if this would be true for diapers (?), but I don't know.  I'm guessing the dryer softener sheets wouldn't have the same effect (?) but I don't know about that either.

Vinegar rinse, as has been mentioned.

Oxiclean for bad stains (sometimes need to make a paste, work it into the stain, and let it sit for a bit), peroxide to whiten things.  I use chlorine beach for some things, but many white clothes say on their label not to use chlorine bleach.

If I'm washing really dirty things, like work clothes or shop rags, I don't follow with whites in the next load.

I iron and starch my dress shirts and hankerchiefs.  Otherwise I'm not that fussy.  Tossing casual shirts and slacks in the dryer for like 5 minutes takes out a lot of wrinkles after line drying.

I've gotten a lot of tips from this book: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-boyfriend-barfed-in-my-handbag-and-other-things-you-cant-ask-martha-jolie-kerr/1115811869?ean=9780142196939

[drummerboy]

I was watching this UFC pre-fight show and there was this one fighter from Latin America living and training in the states, and it showed him in his tiny cheap apartment washing his clothes in the bath tub (just put them in there with hot water, used his hands, and hung them to dry).

[Penelope]

I have heard from several sources (including Consumer Reports) to never use fabric softener on bath towels and wash clothes.  The softener will coat the cotton fibers over time and they will loose their absorbency.  I wonder if this would be true for diapers (?), but I don't know.  I'm guessing the dryer softener sheets wouldn't have the same effect (?) but I don't know about that either.

Yep, that's also true about cloth diapers. There are specific procedures for washing cloth diapers to ensure that they don't lose their absorbency, which is super important, I'm sure you can imagine. 

Thanks for all the other tips, too!

[Hannelore]

I was watching this UFC pre-fight show and there was this one fighter from Latin America living and training in the states, and it showed him in his tiny cheap apartment washing his clothes in the bath tub (just put them in there with hot water, used his hands, and hung them to dry).

When I was in Rome for a semester, everybody got really good at handwashing their clothes in the sink (no bathtub) and hanging them out to dry over the hotel's balcony. At first we were scared that the maids would rat us out to the Sisters who ran the place (nothing scarier than a Sister yelling at you in Italian), but they were really nice about it. 

[Melanie_T]

Remember....to ALWAYS clean the filters....I do this after every wash, particularly the dryer. It will prolong the life of these 2 items, it will ensure your wash is optimal, and lastly you will be amazed at the crud it collects.


Melanie