The Professional Expert

Laundry - Using the Dryer

Before you throw your clothes into the dryer, clean the lint screen. These are often located at the base of the door of the dryer. They can also be on the top of the dryer.

After putting the lint screen back. You can add your clothes.

Instead of adding them in one big clump, take the items out one at a time and shake them out a bit. This will help reduce the drying time and the wrinkles.

If there were any particularly nasty stains that you treated before washing, check on them now. The heat from the dryer may set the stain, so if it needs to be treated and run again, now is the time.

If you didn’t overload the washer, then your quantity for the dryer should be fine. Just like the washer, having too many clothes in the dryer increases drying time and decreases the dryer’s performance.

I personally don’t like fabric softener dryer sheets. They can leave oily spots on the clothes and are just one more layer of chemicals that I would wear against my skin all day (and night). They also reduce the absorbency of towels.

Most of your laundry can be dried at the normal setting. Towels will take a little longer than t-shirts. Take them out when they are just dry. Over drying just stresses the items.

The Permanent Press setting has an extra cool down time to help prevent wrinkles. But if you just take the clothing out when they are just dry, you won’t really have a problem with wrinkles.

Delicates should be dried on the delicate cycle. Washable wool should be dried with no heat. Better yet…these items should be air dried. I remember washing and drying my new wool sweater as if it was a t-shirt. After it came out of the dryer, I handed it down to my 6 year old cousin!

Tomorrow we’ll get out the iron…

Laundry - Using the Washer

Now that we have sorted and stain-treated the clothing, it is time to load the washer.

If there is not an obvious spot in the top of the washer for the detergent, then the detergent goes directly into the washer as the machine starts to fill with water. After you have added the detergent, then you can add your clothes.

If it is a newer washer and there is a spot on top for the detergent, then you can add it after you put your clothes in.

Either way, use the minimum amount needed to clean your clothes. The box or bottle will give you directions. I actually use a little less than recommended with very good results.
When putting the clothes in, fill the washer ¾ full of clothes. If you jam clothes in there, you may save yourself the time (and expense) of running another load, but the clothes won’t be clean, and you’ll have to do it all again anyway.

Evenly distribute the clothes in the washer. This will help the cleaning process.

Now let’s choose our cycle and water temperature:

Based on our sorted piles:

Towels and Linens – Temperature – Warm; Cycle – Normal/Heavy Duty

Socks, Underwear and Whites – Temperature – Hot; Cycle – Whites or Normal

Light Colored Clothes – Temperature – Warm or Cold; Cycle – Regular or Normal

Dark Colored Clothes – Temperature - Cold; Cycle – Regular or Normal

Permanent Press refers to clothing that has been chemically treated to resist wrinkles. It will say Permanent Press on the tag.

You may also have some items that would qualify as Delicate. These include lingerie, rayon fabrics, loose knits, hand washables, blankets and washable woolens. These should all be washed in cold water on the delicate cycle.

If during the wash cycle, you start hearing a loud thump, thump noise, the washer is out of balance. Open the lid and move the wash around to balance the load again.

Tomorrow we will dry the clothes…

Laundry Stains

Today we’ll talk about getting those stains out.

You don’t want to walk around with stains all over your shirt, do you? Now, do you??

The answer is NO! What would your mother say??

Now there are different types of stains and different ways to treat them. But here are some basics for a “fresh” stain…

• The sooner you treat a stain, the more likely it will come out.
• Use cool water with a white cloth (so the color doesn’t transfer to your clothing) to begin the stain removal process.
• Blot instead of rub. Rubbing mashes the stain into the cloth and makes it harder to get out. You are also more likely to spread the stain if you rub.
• Put some cornstarch on an oily stain to help lift it. Let it sit for about 15 minutes and then scrape off the cornstarch.

The stain sticks from the grocery store are probably fine for many of the stains you encounter. But, not all stains are treated the same.

Instead of rewriting all of the different types of stains and how to treat them here, follow this link to The Ohio State University Information Extension.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/outside/stainrem.html

Tomorrow we’ll talk about using the washer…

Laundry - Sorting

This week we will look into a topic generally thought of as pretty obvious, but also a necessity for self sufficiency…laundry.

First we will look at sorting.

The quality of the sorting process is essential.  If you have ever seen the shrunken wool sweater or pink underwear, you know what I am talking about.

The first items to identify are those labeled “dry clean only.” You will find that they mean it.  Dry cleaning is an inconvenience so the manufacturers will not put it there if it is not necessary.

Put the dry clean pile separate from the wash pile so you don’t accidentally ruin that expensive shirt.

The washable clothes need to be separated as well. 

We have four bins at our house:

Towels and Linens – If you have dark towels and light towels wash them separately for a while.

Socks and Underwear – If you have particularly delicate undergarments, you may want to put them in a zippered lingerie bag. You can find these at your local big box store. The wife normally hand washes her bras, but you may want to put them in the lingerie bag if you decide to throw them in the washer. At least clasp the back together so that it doesn’t get tangled in the agitator. Also, if you do have dark colors that might bleed, wash them with the dark colors for a while.

Light Colored Clothes – These are clothes that are either light in color or have been washed many, many times. If you have any kind of design on the garment, turn it inside out to keep it intact. My wife has a friend who turns all of her clothing inside out to reduce the wear and tear on the part you see. Not a bad idea, but a little too much work for me.

Dark Colored Clothes – These are your jeans, red t-shirts, black sweatpants or anything else on the dark end of the scale. If you want to preserve the look and color, it is not a bad idea to turn them inside out.  We actually separate out the blue/black/purple clothes from the red/orange clothes and run them in two separate loads.

Some materials are less prone to lose their dye.  Synthetic materials are dyed in the fiber that the fabric is made of, and do not lose their color, or fade.  Cotton and other natural materials fade every time they are washed, so they need to be kept with like colors.  They will also absorb colors fairly regularly.
You will want to separate for how dirty things are – for example stuff with oil or grease should be washed with like stuff, not with the dress clothes in case some of the greasy gets transferred.

Tomorrow we will talk about those stains…

Emergency Preparedness - First Aid

We will go into first aid during another week, but since we are covering emergency preparedness, it makes sense to cover a few basics that one may encounter during/after a natural disaster. We will cover bleeding, burns, bruises, sprains and, broken bones, and shock.

When you see that someone needs attention, first check the area to make sure that there is still not imminent danger. If the victim was electrocuted, does the power need to be turned off first? If something fell, are there other objects that need to be secured?

If someone needs professional medical help, send someone to get help. We will discuss more life-threatening situations in a later week. But here are some ways to help those in need.

In case of serious injury, The Red Cross suggests the following action steps:  “Check, Call, Care.” First, check that it is safe to help the victim, and then check the victim. For injuries requiring immediate medical care, call for help. Then care for the victim.

There are some steps that you can take to care for someone who is hurt, but whose injuries are not life threatening.

Bleeding

In order to control bleeding, cover the wound with a dressing, such as a gauze pad or clean cloth. Press firmly. Elevate the wound. Cover with a roller bandage, such as an Ace Bandage.

If the bleeding continues, add additional dressings and press against the artery at a pressure point.  Have the victim lay down with feet and wound elevated.

Burns

For burns, cool with cool water and cover with clean dry bandage.

Bruises, Sprains and Broken Bones

For bruises and sprains, try not to move the affected part.  Apply a cold pack or ice to the injury. 

If you think a bone is broken, support both sides of the break with sticks, pieces of wood, or anything stiff in order to immobilize the injury. Seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Shock

In case of shock, the victim will look very pale and will feel lightheaded.  Keep them from getting too hot or cold; elevate their legs above the head.  Do not give food or drink, as they may vomit.  If available, you may give ice chips for the victim to suck on.