Heading off to college in the fall? Moving out of Mom and Dad’s house? Just want to learn how to do laundry to help out around the house? 

You’ve come to the right place!

Laundry is necessary for keeping your clothes clean and nice, and it’s not difficult to do once you get the basics down. We’ll go over those basics here in this handy laundry guide for beginners. Have a look:

Laundry 101: A Quick Guide for Beginners

1. Sort your clothes: We suggest sorting your clothes into three piles: darks, lights and a mixed load. Put all dark garments into the dark pile, white and off-white garments into the light pile, and gray and tan items into the mixed pile. You want to pre-sort your laundry so colors don’t bleed in the wash. For instance, if you wash a red shirt with white clothes, the red will turn the white clothes pink.
2. Pick a load: Depending on the washer, you may be able to select a load size (i.e., small, medium, large). Wash whites and lights in warm water and everything else in cold water. Hot water should only be used for disinfecting purposes, like with bath towels and washcloths. Start each load by letting water fill the tub, then add the detergent. Once the detergent fully dissolves in the water, add your clothes to the load. 
3. Set the load: There are various load settings, but you’ll probably be washing most on a normal load. There’s also a gentle load cycle option and a permanent press cycle for more delicate items.
4. Dry it: After the wash cycle is done, it’s time to dry. For sweaters and items you’re worried about shrinking, dry them at a low heat or hang them to dry. For things like undershirts and underwear, a hot drying cycle should be fine. Check the tag on garments to see how the manufacturer recommends drying them if you’re unsure what is best. 

Laundry may seem intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy to do — and it’s a great thing to know how to do!