Expert Laundry Hacks To Chase Away Your Wash Day Blues

Ashley - February 25, 2023

Adulting is hard work. You have to hold down a job, wash your kitchen all the time, and keep up with your piles of laundry before they turn into mountains! Laundry may not be our favorite chore, but it is a necessity, and it’s something most of us want to do well. Whether you’ve just started separating your whites or still need a little motivation to do your best on laundry days, we have the hacks to help you out. These expert laundry hacks will teach you how to keep your whites white, eliminate tough stains, and keep your clothes looking fresh as heck. You’ll never experience a bout of the blues on wash days again once you’re armed with these genius laundry hacks.

Say Goodbye To Awkward Creases

Air-drying laundry is an excellent way to cut down on your energy consumption and save a little money on your energy bill. Unfortunately, clothes that are hung up on drying racks or clotheslines often form obvious creases where they were touching the line or held up by clothespins. You’ll never have to worry about those awkward-looking creases again once you start using the pool noodle hack! Simply cut along one side of a pool noddle and place it over your drying rack or clothesline. Then, lay your clothes over the noddle, and they’ll dry without any creases!

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Keep Your “Almost Dirty” Clothes Organized

Everyone has a table, shelf, or chair where they pile up clothes that aren’t dirty enough to stick in the hamper but aren’t clean enough to return to their dresser. This pile of clothes tends to grow quickly and you’re sorting through a mountain of half-clean laundry before you know it! Instead of dealing with a cluttered space and a pile of questionable laundry, use a clothesline in your bedroom, closet, or laundry room to keep the clothes you plan on re-wearing organized. You can get a few more uses out of your favorite shirt or pair of jeans without leaving them crumpled up on your desk. Not only will this help your space feel more organized, but it will also keep your clothes in better shape!

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Use Aluminum Foil Instead Of Dryer Sheets

So, it’s laundry day. You’re in your comfy sweats and preparing for a full day of catching up on household chores. You grab an overflowing basket of laundry and suddenly realize you’ve run out of dryer sheets. Don’t despair! Instead of making a trip out to the store, run to your kitchen instead. Grab a sheet of aluminum foil, crumple it up, and toss it in the dryer with your wet clothes. This amazing hack will save you time and money because the aluminum foil works well to eliminate static, and it doesn’t have to be replaced with every load. Each bundle of foil should last for about six months!

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Make Lint Disposal Easier

Not every laundry room is large enough to accommodate all the laundry-related supplies you need. Are you tired of carrying all the yucky lint from the dryer into another room just to throw it away? Well, there are plenty of options that will work even in a small room. You could attach a small box to the wall for collecting lint, just like what’s shown in this picture. If you don’t have the wall space for that, then consider placing an empty box of tissues on the shelf for collecting lint. This will give you an easy spot for tossing lint without taking up valuable space.

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Use A Dry-Erase Marker For Delicates

It can be difficult to keep track of your delicates and other clothes that can’t go in the dryer when you’re doing a full week or two worth of laundry. This is especially true if you’re responsible for other people’s laundry, so this hack will be a lifesaver for parents, partners, and caregivers. Grab a whiteboard and a couple of dry-erase markers, and take note of which clothing items can’t go in the dryer. Use a different color marker to represent each person in the home, so you’ll never question whose grey shorts are dryer safe and whose aren’t!

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Save Money With A DIY Spot Treatment

You can buy spot treatments in the cleaning aisle of most stores and supermarkets, but the cost of those treatments will really add up over time, especially if you work in a messy environment or have kids who love to jump in muddy puddles. Instead of spending your hard-earned dollars on expensive spot treatments, use this DIY hack to make your own. All you need is a little baking soda and white vinegar from your kitchen pantry. Sprinkle a little baking soda on marks and stains, then add a few drops of white vinegar. Let the ingredients sit and work their magic for a while, then wash them as normal. You’ll be super impressed with this hack!

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Eliminate Even The Stubbornest Wrinkles

Sometimes it seems like laundry doesn’t come out as unwrinkled as we’d like. There are a few simple things that can cause your clothes to come out of the dryer with wrinkles. Overloading the machine is the most common cause of stubborn creases, but there’s an easy solution to fix this. First, remove some of the extra clothes from your dryer. Then, toss in a few ice cubes and turn the machine back on. The heat will cause the ice cubes to melt and turn the water into steam, which will effectively steam all the wrinkles out of your clothes.

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Avoid Messes And Save Room With Mason Jars

Who hasn’t dealt with the drips and spills that come with trying to pour your laundry detergent into the bottle’s cap to measure out the perfect amount of liquid per load? It’s an awful mess to clean up, especially when you’re already working your way through a cleaning to-do list. To avoid the messiness and save room, grab a couple of mason jars with dispensers just like the ones in this photo. Fill one up with laundry detergent, another with bleach, and another with fabric softener. Then, keep your big jugs of detergent and other laundry products out of the way and use these jars for easy and mess-free detergent dispensing.

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Photo Credit: carsonandlindsaybay.blogspot.com

Restore Shrunk Clothes

It’s tough to keep track of all the clothing items that come with special washing or drying instructions. Try as you might to keep up with everything, there are times when you’ll wash or dry a favorite shirt or pair of pants incorrectly. When you pull out a brand-new shirt and realize it’s shrunk- don’t panic! There’s a super simple way to save your clothes. Just soak the clothing item in a bowl of warm water and hair conditioner, then let it sit for several minutes. The conditioner loosens the fibers in the clothing, and the warm water helps it expand back to its previous size! This tip is a life-saver and will make you very popular with your friends when you share it!

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Never Lose Your Socks Again

There’s something about washers and dryers that always manage to make some socks disappear. Every time you do laundry, you’re bound to find a few socks without their matches. How does this happen? Well, no one knows why socks disappear in the wash, but there is an easy way to prevent it! Grab a mesh bag to use just for your socks. You can keep your socks in the bag during the wash and dry cycles, so you’re guaranteed to get all the socks that you put into the wash back out!

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Use A Salad Spinner for Delicates

It seems like such a waste of water and electricity to run a full load of delicates when you only have a handful of items that need to be washed. A great alternative is to use your salad spinner for your delicates! Just fill your salad spinner with detergent and water, add the clothes, and give the clothes a wash. When you’re done, the salad spinner can double as a gentle dryer for their delicates. It will remove the water without damaging the delicate fabrics.

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Use A Template To Fold Clothes Quickly And Easily

Folding clothes can be the worst part of laundry day. In fact, plenty of people end up leaving their clothes in the basket for days after washing until they’re all wrinkled and need another trip through the dryer. Make folding more fun and easy by using a cardboard template. This is an especially great idea for parents who want to get their kids involved in the process. Just take a square of cardboard and create cuts on the sides and a fold in the middle. Then follow the steps shown in the photo to get perfectly folded clothes!

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Find The Perfect Load Size

Finding the perfect load size is essential to getting your laundry thoroughly washed and rinsed. Filling up your washer too much can prevent your clothes from getting properly cleaned. Washing too few clothes is inefficient and wasteful of water and energy. Washers should be filled to roughly 80% capacity. This is the ideal load size for water and energy usage and getting your clothes properly cleaned.

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Get Rid Of Sticky Messes Easily

Bubble gum and other super sticky substances are very difficult to remove from fabrics. In fact, there’s a high possibility of damaging fabrics when you try to pull or tear a glob of gum off your clothes. Rather than deal with a sticky, stubborn mess, use this trick to easily remove the gum. All you need are some ice cubes and a butter knife. Take the ice cubes and rub them on the piece of gum until the sticky substance has solidified. Then, pry it off with the butter knife! This method is super easy and guarantees you won’t damage your fabrics while removing the mess.

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Keep Your Washer Clean

Have you ever noticed your washer developing a musty, unpleasant odor? Washing machines are breeding grounds for bacteria thanks to their wet, humid environment and the steady diet of dirt, food, and other debris from your clothes. Regularly cleaning your washer is the best way to eliminate bacteria and keep your machine working properly. You should clean your washer at least once a month. Some models make it easier by offering a self-cleaning mode, but if your washer doesn’t have this, don’t panic! Head to your bathroom and grab a cup of mouthwash. Pour the mouthwash into your washer and run a normal load. This will freshen up your machine while eliminating any germs and bacteria.

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Eliminate Ring Stains

Whether it’s your workout clothes or your casual clothes, everyone’s dealt with stubborn ring stains. Ring stains often form in areas where sweat gathers, such as in the armpits or around the neckline. When this happens, a regular wash isn’t always enough to completely eliminate the stain. Rather than go out and buy a fancy spot treatment for your clothes, try this method instead! Just grab your bottle of shampoo and dishwashing liquid, and pour a few drops of each on the stain. Let the dishwashing liquid and shampoo sit on the stain for several minutes, then throw your clothes in the wash. They’ll come out looking brand new again, and you’ll never know the ring stain was there in the first place!

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Keep Cashmere And Other Natural Fabrics From Shedding And Pilling

How disappointing is it to pull your cashmere sweater out of the closet and realize that it’s already beginning to shed after only one wash? There’s an easy way to prevent this and keep your sweater looking brand new! After washing, place your sweater in an airtight bag and put it in the freezer overnight. This will shrink the fibers and help prevent that awful pilling and shedding. You’ll massively increase the lifespan of your clothing with this hack.

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Bye, Bye Grease Stains

Grease stains are tough to remove, especially when they’ve built up on certain fabrics over time. Your favorite dish towel, cooking apron, or cleaning cloth has probably fallen victim to the power of grease at some point, but there’s no need to throw these items away! When you’re dealing with a stubborn grease stain, all you need is a stick of chalk. Take the chalk and rub it on the grease stain until there’s a good pile of chalk dust on the fabric. The chalk dust will neutralize the grease and make it easier for your washer to lift the grease out of the fabric. After using the chalk, wash your cloths and aprons like normal. Your “kiss the cook” apron will last a lifetime with this trick!

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Home Remedies For Every Stain

You could go out and buy different spot treatments or stain removal sticks, but that gets expensive and takes up valuable space in your laundry room. Instead, learn what home remedies are available for every laundry stain you encounter. Oily substances can be removed with a bit of starch or sweetener. WD-40 works miracles on acidic substances like tomato sauce. Use a mixture of water and salt to remove coffee or wine stains. And if you’re dealing with some particularly potent odors, toss some baking soda in the washer to eliminate them for good!

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Keep Black Clothes From Fading

Black clothes are always in style, and everyone has a few favored pairs of black shirts or pants they want to hold onto for as long as possible. Unfortunately, black clothes are prone to fading over time, and the color wears out the more frequently you wash them. Well, instead of reducing how often you wash your clothes, we have a trick that will help you keep their perfect color without using dyes. Simply add a few shots of brewed black coffee or tea into the washer during the rinse cycle (without the grounds) to give your laundry a boost of color. This trick works perfectly on shirts, dresses, pants, sweaters, and socks.

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Photo Credit: housekeeping.wonderhowto.com

Freeze Your Clothes When Skipping A Wash

Have you ever needed a skip laundry day and realized the sweater you were planning on wearing the next day has an unpleasant odor attached to it? Don’t panic just yet, because you still have time to fix this! Place that sweater in a sealed ziplock bag and stick it in the freezer overnight. This will help eliminate any odors and give you another opportunity to wear the sweater. Just don’t try to replace your usual laundry days with this method because it will only work a couple of times before the smell beats out the power of the freezer.

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Get Your Clothes Smelling Fresh

Removing stinky odors is one of the best parts of doing laundry. There are so many fragrances to choose from when you shop for laundry detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets, etc., but sometimes it can be difficult to find that perfect scent. Many people prefer a softer fragrance, but sometimes that fragrance doesn’t stick to your clothes very well. An easy solution is to add 10-15 drops of essential oil into your washer to guarantee a fresh, pleasant fragrance. Scents like lavender, tea tree, and lemon work well and smell amazing!

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A New Way To Separate Clothes

Most people are familiar with the traditional way of sorting laundry by color. You have separate baskets full of whites, lights, darks, and blacks. This is a great way to prevent color bleeding or fading, but it’s not always necessary. If you aren’t worried about your clothes fading or bleeding into each other, then try this new way of separating your clothes. Place all your work clothes in one basket and all your casual clothes in another. Or, separate your clothes by how soiled they are into different baskets. This will give you an idea of the strength you need to wash each load and will help you keep your clothes nice and clean.

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Reduce Your Drying Time

Why is it that dryers always seem to take forever? Even when you’re running a regular load, drying time seems way too excessive. If you want to cut down on your drying time and make your laundry days run more efficiently, then you have to give this hack a try. The next time you switch your load into the dryer, throw a dry, clean towel in with the wet laundry. The friction of your wet cloths tumbling against the dry towel will speed up dry time and leave your clothes ready to go much quicker!

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No More Wrinkles In This Dryer

Even when you do everything correctly, your laundry doesn’t always want to cooperate. How many times have you pulled freshly cleaned clothes out of your dryer and realized they were still covered in awkward creases and wrinkles? Well, you’ll never have to worry about that again once you learn about the tennis ball trick! Toss a couple of tennis balls in the dryer with your next load and be amazed. The tennis balls will tenderize your fabrics and easily remove any creases or wrinkles. Your clothes will look professionally laundered after this trick. Just make sure to fold them right out of the dryer or they’ll end up with creases eventually anyway!

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Make Your Towels As Soft As Clouds

Stepping out of a hot shower and wrapping yourself in a soft, fluffy towel is pure heaven. It’s the perfect start to every day or the perfect, relaxing end to a super busy day. Either way, having super soft towels ready to go is absolutely a necessity! Have you ever noticed that towels become stiff and uncomfortable after several washes? This is because the cleaning chemicals in laundry detergent and fabric softener get stuck in the fibers and create that uncomfortable scratchiness. To combat this, pour a cup of white vinegar into the washer the next time you’re doing a load of towels. You’ll be amazed at how soft they come out!

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Get Rid Of Wrinkles On-The-Go

Have you ever dashed out of the house while running late for an important meeting or coffee date? Ever noticed once you arrived at your destination that your carefully chosen outfit was covered in wrinkles? Yeah, it’s happened to us, too, and it sucks! Here’s how you can prevent that from happening again! Take an empty spray bottle and pour in a few cups of water. Then, add a teaspoon of hair conditioner and a tablespoon of white vinegar. Swirl the mixture together until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Then you can use this spray anytime you need to quickly de-wrinkle your clothes. Keep a spray bottle at home, in your car, and in your travel bag for easy access.

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Use Vodka To Eliminate Odors

Lots of people keep vodka at home for making mixed drinks when having company over, but there’s another use for that bottle sitting in your freezer. Vodka has an incredibly potent smell, and you may even feel a little tipsy just from inhaling its scent, but this will work to your advantage on laundry day! Use the powerful scent of vodka to eliminate super tough and stubborn odors from your laundry. Simply pour some vodka into a spray bottle and give your clothes a spritz before tossing them into the washer. You’ll be amazed at how well this trick works! And your clothes won’t come out smelling like vodka, we promise!

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DIY Color And Dirt Catchers

Not everyone wants to take the extra time to sort their clothes by color. It’s a time-consuming task, and if you’ve never had a red sock dye your clothes pink before, then you probably think it isn’t worth the effort. However, there’s an easy way to prevent colors from bleeding in the laundry that doesn’t involve separating your clothes by color. Instead, create these DIY color and dirt catching cloths. Just mix together washing soda and water, then soak a clean towel in it for several minutes. Let the towel dry, and then toss it in the washer with your next load. It will protect against color bleeding and catch small debris that falls off your clothes, so it doesn’t fall into your washer.

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Save Your Pairs of Socks

Washers and dryers are black holes for socks. Seriously, people probably buy more packages of socks to replace the pairs lost in the laundry than pairs that have gotten worn out! It’s a crazy, unexplainable phenomenon, but we have a tip to help you prevent this from happening. Just grab a set of sock clips like shown in this picture or use simple wooden clothespins to clip each pair of socks together. You can put your socks through a regular washer and dryer while keeping them clipped together. This will ensure you never lose a single sock again! Unless, of course, the washer and dryer sock monsters decide to snack on your socks anyway.

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Keep Track Of Stains

Treating stains before you throw your clothes into the wash is super important. Forgetting to treat the stains can result in the stains becoming permanent, and then you can never wear that favorite shirt out of the house again! It’s helpful to develop a system that allows you to keep track of stains so you don’t have to worry about carefully checking each piece of laundry before tossing them into the washer. Hang up a small clothesline in your laundry room, bathroom, or whatever you have a little extra space. Then, when a piece of clothing becomes stained, hang it on the line with a clothespin to remind yourself to treat it before washing. You can even use different colored clothespins to color-code the stains!

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Homemade Lint/Hair Remover

Anyone that lives with pets will love this trick! Have you ever done a load of washing and realized the drum of your washer was covered in hair? Yeah, it’s super important to use a lint/hair remover on your clothes before throwing them in the wash. It will help get your clothes extra clean and prevent your washer from getting stopped up. However, if you don’t have a lint remover on hand, you can always make one yourself! Simply grab a paint roller and wrap duct tape around the roller. This is a super efficient, easy hair removal tool that you can use over and over again. Just replace the tape with a new layer when it starts to lose its stickiness.

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Simple On-The-Go Stain Remover

There are plenty of pens and other tools you can buy to remove stains while you’re out and about, but why spend money on that when you can use something you already have at home? Shaving cream works well for many things, including giving you a smooth shave and removing stains from most fabrics. Grab a travel-size can of shaving cream to stick in your car or purse and pull it out the next time you spill coffee on your favorite sweater when you’re out. Just apply a little shaving cream to the stain, let it sit for a few minutes, wipe away the stain, and then blot at the fabric until the stain is completely gone.

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Don’t Let Hard Water Hurt Your Machine

Many people live in areas with hard water, and it’s usually easy to tell if you’re dealing with limescale build-up. You’ll often see hard water spots on dishes you’ve washed by hand or you’ll notice a ring of limescale builds up in your toilet. Hard water can prevent your washing machine from working at peak efficiency and can even prevent your clothes from getting properly softened during the wash cycle. The best way to extend the life of your washer and protect your clothes in this instance is to grab some anti-limescale powder or tablets. Add them to your washer once a month to prevent a build-up of limescale and other hard water deposits.

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Always Put The Detergent In First

Many people are in the habit of pouring laundry detergent directly on top of their load of clothes. However, if you’ve ever taken the time to read the instructions on your laundry detergent, you’d realize you were going about this all wrong! It’s essential to either put your detergent in the machine’s detergent dispenser or add it to the drum before your clothes. This allows the detergent to mix with the water as the machine fills up and gets properly dispersed. Adding detergent after your clothes can cause an uneven distribution of soap and leave some of your laundry not properly cleaned.

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