How to Load a Washing Machine the Right Way
Put detergent and water in the machine first.
Laundry detergent works best when it is completely dissolved. Pouring your laundry detergent into the machine before loading in the clothes gives the detergent a little extra time to dissolve before it starts the job of cleaning the laundry.
Unsnarl wadded up clothes.
Laundry detergent attaches itself to the grime which is washed away in the rinse water. Water and your detergent can’t penetrate through wadded up socks and tangled shirts which is why it’s important to untangle the clothes (and shake them out!) before placing them in the machine. While you’re at it, remember to check pockets for bits of paper and Kleenex, cell phones, and other items that aren’t machine washable.
Place the items in the machine one at a time.
For laundry detergent to do its magic, the laundry must be able to move freely in the machine. Placing your clothing and linens in the machine one piece at a time reduces tangling and also avoids the risk of accidentally dropping a tank top or undies over the agitator blade.
Balance the load.
For a washing machine to spin properly, clothes must be evenly distributed throughout the drum so that it is balanced. Mixing up light weight clothes with heavy ones (such as sheets with towels) or packing jeans on side of the machine and shirts on the other will throw the drum off balance which results in an incomplete rinse cycle. An unbalanced load can also ruin the washing machine along with the floor and walls as the machine jumps around the laundry room. To solve this problem, distribute the weight of the clothes evenly when loading the washing machine.
Avoid overloading.
As tempting as it may be to jam a bunch of clothes in a machine to save water and electricity, this strategy usually means that clothes won’t get as clean as they should. A simple test to see of you are overloading your machine is to pick out a brightly colored item of laundry during the washing process and watch it as it skims across the surface. The item should drop alongside the agitator paddle, disappear for a few seconds, and then reappear on the outer side of the tub, and back towards the agitator paddle again. If the clothes don’t move, then the machine is overloaded. Removing a few items will free up space so that the rest of the laundry can move freely during the wash and rinse cycles.
More by this contributor:
10 tips for saving energy in the laundry room.
How to prevent laundry from fading.
How to remove mildew odor from wet clothes.
