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Doing laundry is a basic chore. For some, doing laundry is a quick and easy task. But for those who are only renting out properties, they see it as a challenge. True, you can just bring your soiled laundry to any nearby laundry shop, but sometimes doing it by yourself is better.
In this article, we will provide you with 15 condo laundry solutions you should try to get the best possible results every time you wash your clothes.
1. Maximize space for your condo laundry room
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Living in a condo means creating condo storage hacks for the limited space. That is why knowing where you can squeeze in your washing machine is one of the things condo dwellers should think of. Bigger condo units usually have a separate laundry closet while others don't. As an option, you can ask your landlord if you can strategically place your washer in your bathroom or somewhere near it. That way, it’ll be easy for you to fill your washer with water and drain it after every wash and rinse.
2. Level your washing machine properly
This is to avoid unwanted noise and damage to your floor and appliance. You can place your washing machine on top of a pedestal with wheels so you can also easily move it around when needed. If you’re placing your machine on the bare floor, try to rock your washing machine diagonally if it is levelled. If it rocks, it means it is not yet properly levelled. Smartphones nowadays even have pre-installed levelling apps you can use to make sure your appliance is properly levelled.
3. Have multiple hampers for sorting clothes
Having multiple laundry hampers can help you get creative with your laundry sorting. You can go with the old-fashioned way of sorting whites, light, and dark-colored ones, or you can sort based on how soiled they are. Washing your heavily-soiled clothes separately prevent transferring the dirt to lightly soiled clothes.
Another laundry hack to remember is placing socks and other small clothing items inside a mesh bag so that you can easily pair them after laundry and you will not end up losing a sock.
4. Check clothing tags on directions for laundry
Clothes should be washed properly. Check your garment’s tags for clothing label symbols to get an idea of how it should be properly washed. There are clothes that are only meant to be hand-washed. Dry clean-only attire may have delicate designs sewn in and should not be tossed in the washer to keep its design in place.
5. Check all pockets, unbutton buttons, and zippers
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Before tossing in your attire to the washer, check all pockets for any loose change or items that can damage your washer and clothes. Shirts and clothing with buttons should be unbuttoned so as not to weaken the threads that hold up your buttons. Another laundry hack to remember is to zip your clothes’ zipper all the way up. Your other clothes can get caught in the teeth of a zipper during washing or drying and damage them.
6. Test if colors run before tossing clothes in the washer
There’s a simple laundry hack you can do to test if the color of your clothes bleeds. Using a mild detergent, moist a cotton swab, and dab it on a hidden seam of your clothing. If you see dye coming off and transferred to the cotton swab, do not toss it in the washer. You can separately hand wash and dry it so that it won’t bleed to your other items.
7. Add salt to your laundry to keep colors vibrant
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Repeated washing can dull the color of your garment. To prevent this, add a tablespoon of salt in your load. Chloride found in salt helps seal the colors in your clothes. You do not need to spend much to keep them in good shape. All you need is spoonfuls of salt.
8. Use vinegar to soften and deodorize clothes and sheets
Vinegar is one of the basic kitchen essentials that can be useful in doing your condo laundry. Vinegar can whiten, brighten, soften, and deodorize your laundry thanks to its acetic acid property.
There are many reasons why you should use vinegar in your laundry routine. For example, you can mix a half-cup of white vinegar with your detergent when you wash your clothes to get rid of any unwanted odors. Afterward, you can add a half-cup of vinegar to the final rinse to keep the color from fading. You can also use vinegar as an alternative to fabric softeners if you are not fond of the commercial ones sold in supermarkets. Adding vinegar in the rinse cycle can also prevent lint and pet hair from clinging to your attire.
9. Use less detergent
Using less detergent when you do your condo laundry will make your garments well washed, and it saves money. Using a lot of detergent will produce excess suds that can hold dirt removed from your clothes and transfer them on other areas such as under the collar where bacteria can build up. The detergent build-up in your washing machine due to using a lot of detergents can hasten the wear and tear of your machine.
10. Treat each stain ASAP and properly
Different stains can be cleaned effectively using different laundry cleaning hacks. The most effective way of salvaging it from unwanted stains is treating them as soon as you can. Waiting for your next laundry day might make the stain harder to get rid of. White bread can help clean lipstick stains, while hairspray and sanitizers can be used to clean ink stains. There are stain removal laundry solutions you can search online to fix that stain ASAP and properly.
11. Whiten white clothes the natural way
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White clothes can turn yellowish or grayish instead of looking bright white. Fill a pot with water and add sliced lemons. Bring this to a boil. Afterward, turn off the heat and add your white clothes. Soak it in for an hour and then wash them as usual. Following this simple laundry tip can brighten your whites and make them look brand new.
12. Reduce wrinkles
After drying your garments, hang or fold them immediately to reduce wrinkles and therefore, lessen the effort you need to exert when ironing them. Another laundry hack you can try is adding a clean damp towel in your dryer together with your clothes to create steam and lessen the wrinkles. Adding a clean dry towel during the drying process can also speed up the drying process of your clothes.
13. Unshrink clothes with conditioner or baby shampoo
Laundry mistakes can cause your garments to shrink. A condo laundry solution to unshrink them will only need lukewarm water, a bucket, and a hair conditioner or baby shampoo.
How? Fill the bucket with lukewarm water. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of hair conditioner or baby shampoo. Soak your clothes for 30 minutes. Afterward, wring it out, lay flat, and gently stretch it back to its original size. Afterward, hand wash your clothes to rinse off the conditioner or shampoo and lay it flat to dry.
14. Have a foldable drying rack
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Not everyone living in a condo has a dryer. To make sure they dry properly, have a foldable drying rack to air dry your garments in an organized way instead of hanging your clothes all around the condo. You can also place a drying rack in your condo’s veranda to let your garments dry under the sun. They can easily be stored away once your clothes are all dry and they won’t take up too much space in your condo.
15. Clean your washing machine and dryer
This is an essential step you should add to your condo chore list! Your washing machine and dryer can be a breeding ground for bacteria if not cleaned properly. Residues of soap, minerals, and chemicals from your detergent, fabric softener and stains from your garb can stay inside your washing machine. So always remember to rinse your machines properly and remove the lint filter bag at the side.
If you own a front-loading washing machine, add 1 liter of white vinegar to the detergent dispenser and ½ cup of baking soda to the fabric softener dispenser, then start the washing cycle. If you own a top-loading washer, run water in your washing machine for a couple of minutes. Then combine 1 liter of white vinegar and ½ cup of baking soda in the machine tub. Let it agitate for a minute then stop the cycle to let the solution soak in your washing machine. After an hour, let the cycle finish. To clean your dryer, wipe its insides with vinegar using a clean cloth. If you follow these simple condo laundry tips, your clothes are sure to stay clean and damage-free.
Doing laundry efficiently takes effort, patience, and a few ingenious and practical hacks. Are you looking to your laundry day yet? We bet you haven’t been this excited to wash your clothes!
