Do you wash your own clothes? No? Whether you take them to your mother’s or the launderette or your wife/girlfriend does them all for you, you’re going to have to start at some point. As well as helping to make sure your clothes are always pristine looking and last longer, learning how to use a washing machine will get some serious kudos with the ladies. After all, they want to be your girlfriend/wife, not your mother! Here’s our indispensable guide to using a washing machine…
Separate your clothes
This is the first crucial step. All clothes are not the same! Dark and light clothes should be washed separately, so you should separate them accordingly. Coloured clothes should go with the darker clothes. Your white pile should be made up of clothes that are pure white or only have a little bit of colour on them. Otherwise, you risk colours leaking and dulling your whites. And, you wouldn’t want that would you?
Check the labels
Once you’re an experienced washing machine user you will have to do this less often as you’ll be able to rely on your experience, but as a beginner, it’s worth looking at the labels to ensure you don’t wash your clothes incorrectly and risk ruining them. Most clothes are OK to machine wash, but if it says ‘hand wash only’ or ‘dry clean only’ then you’re going to have to put these aside.
Set the temperature
Cotton and very dirty clothes you can wash in hot water, whereas for those silk boxer shorts, you might want water that is somewhat cooler. For most regular, coloured washing, 40 degrees is usually absolutely fine to use. Beware though, wash the wrong type of clothes in a temperature that is too hot and you risk the colours of your clothes running and looking like you’ve become some sort of free-thinking, new age hippy who lives in a flower power caravan.
Set the program
Your washing machine will have several different programs. These will be a combination of washing, spinning, and rinsing cycles. Consult your handbook to find out which one they recommend for different types of washing. Out of the 15 or so options you’ll have on your machine, you’ll probably never use any more than 3.
Add your clothes
A nice easy bit this. Simply dump your clothes in the drum. Don’t overload it though, as you risk overloading your washing machine. If you do this, the best-case scenario is that your clothes don’t get washed properly. Worst case scenario is that you’ll break your washing machine and you’ll be facing a stiff repair bill.
Add your washing powder/liquid
Don’t skimp and buy cheap washing detergent. We’d generally recommend you use a liquid, as these are a little bit kinder to your clothes. It’s also worth thinking about a fabric freshener too, adding this will make your clothes smell even better, for longer.
You can add your washing liquid in several different ways, usually one of two, either by pouring it in the pull out front compartment or by pouring it in a little container that comes with the detergent and placing it in the drum with the clothes. Simply follow the guidelines that are on your washing liquid packet. Then close the door.
Turn on your washer
And, that’s it! Now that wasn’t too difficult, was it?