Daily Clothing Washing Methods and Tips

Some friends are very diligent and always wash clothes immediately after soaking. Actually, this practice is not scientific. Generally speaking, before washing, it is best to soak clothes in cold water for a while. This has several benefits: ① It allows dust and sweat attached to the fabric surface to detach and enter the water, which improves washing quality and saves detergent. The water's penetration causes the fabric to fully swell before entering the washing solution, squeezing dirt out of the fabric pores to the surface, making it easier to remove. ② Some poorly colorfast dyed fabrics tend to fade; pre-soaking helps detect these issues early, facilitating preventive measures during washing. The soaking water volume should be sufficient, and soaking time depends on the type, material, age, dirtiness, and colorfastness of the clothes. Generally, down jackets soak for 5-10 minutes, synthetic fiber garments for 15 minutes, fine wool garments for 15-20 minutes, coarse wool garments for 20-30 minutes, and blankets or wool sweaters for 20 minutes.

Four Taboos in Washing Clothes
1. Avoid prolonged soaking. Tests show that dirt in clothing fibers effectively penetrates water after about 14 minutes of soaking, making it easiest to clean. Soaking too long makes washing more time-consuming and laborious.
2. Avoid excessive detergent. Detergent only shows its proper surface activity at a certain concentration. If too concentrated, its cleaning ability weakens.
3. Avoid adding detergent during washing. Adding detergent during washing only dissolves it in already dirty water, losing its effectiveness.
4. Avoid mixing soap and detergent: Detergent is alkaline, while soap is generally weakly acidic. Mixing them causes neutralization, which reduces cleaning effectiveness.

Handling Color Transfer in Washing
High washing temperatures cause color transfer, so care should be taken during washing. If color transfer occurs, quickly lift and rinse the clothes up and down in the original washing solution, then rinse in cold water. If this fails, repeatedly lift and rinse the clothes in hot soap-alkali solution (around 80°C, slightly concentrated), then rinse with warm water. Usually, this removes the color transfer. If white clothes still show marks, use bleaching powder or sodium hypochlorite solution to clean.

Handling Color Fading in Washing
"Color fading" refers to some areas becoming lighter after washing. This is mostly caused by vigorous washing, uneven operation, uneven brushing, or high water temperature. Mild fading can be treated by laying the garment flat on a clean, smooth board, brushing gently twice, then adding a small amount of bleaching powder (half a tablespoon per 5 liters of solution) to warm mild soap solution, and quickly lifting and rinsing the garment several times in the solution. Severe fading requires re-dyeing.
When washing pure cotton velvet garments, first soak and pre-wash in a washing machine with cold water, then brush heavily soiled areas with soap. Brush gently to avoid local fading or velvet shedding. After brushing, wash with detergent at room temperature for 15 minutes, then rinse with warm and cold water, spin dry, and air dry.

Washing Denim Clothes
Denim clothes generally become stiff when wet, making washing difficult. For such garments, first soak in cold water, then brush with soap. After brushing, machine wash at an optimal temperature of 50°C for 15 minutes, then rinse and air dry.

Washing Down Jackets
The down inside down jackets absorbs water containing a large amount of detergent. During drying, the water moves to areas that dry faster, leaving water marks which are deposits of dirty detergent on the garment surface. To avoid water marks when washing down jackets, control detergent amount, slightly increase washing temperature, and rinse thoroughly to remove detergent residue. Also, pre-soak in clean water before washing and neutralize with acid after washing to help. If the down jacket is of poor quality, multiple washes are needed to clean the dirty down inside before marks disappear.

Washing Cotton and Linen Fabrics
The common cleaning method is washing with water. In hard water areas, due to high water hardness, about 20%-40% of residues combine with calcium salts during washing, greatly increasing detergent consumption. Using correct washing methods can greatly reduce consumption and improve cleaning quality.
(1) Boiling wash. Boiling removes oil stains and bacteria from clothes. It is simple and effective: immerse clothes in boiling water to sterilize and degrease. For heavily stained work clothes or grease stains, add some pure kerosene to the boiling pot. Alternatively, use the following method: add 8 liters of water to the pot, then add 100g soap, 30g soda (sodium carbonate), 30g silica gel, and 8ml kerosene, mix well, then put cotton and linen items into the pot for boiling wash.
(2) Bleaching. Bleaching cleans heavily soiled clothes, kills bacteria, and disinfects. It is simple, using bleaching powder or hydrogen peroxide. Steps: dissolve 10-15g bleaching powder in 5-8ml water to a paste, then add 1 liter water and let stand until clear. Then add 3kg clothes for bleaching. Using 3% hydrogen peroxide as bleach prevents damage to clothes. Use 10-15ml hydrogen peroxide in 2 liters water. To speed bleaching, add a little sodium carbonate, bicarbonate, or ammonia, keeping water temperature around 30°C. Heating water to 60-70°C shortens bleaching time.

Washing Silk and Wool Fabrics
(1) Valuable clothing such as suits and coats should be dry cleaned using gasoline as the cleaning agent. Using soap for washing will damage the garments, causing changes in style, size, and color.
(2) White woolen fabrics should first be moistened in a soap (or neutral detergent) solution before washing. When washing dyed woolen fabrics, they should not be soaked, and the washing water temperature should be controlled between 40-50 degrees Celsius. After soaking, woolen fabrics should be gently wrung out without vigorous rubbing. Rough woolen fabrics can be gently brushed.
(3) After washing woolen fabrics, rinse several times in clean water at about 30 degrees Celsius until almost no detergent residue remains.
(4) To neutralize alkaline residues on woolen fabrics, add 12-25 milliliters of white vinegar to a bucket of water, then soak the woolen fabric in it, and finally rinse with clean water. Woolen fabrics treated with vinegar solution will be bright as new, soft, and have a good luster.
(5) When washing wool blankets, heat the water to boiling, add 250 milliliters of soap solution and 1 tablespoon (about 11 milliliters) of borax. After fully dissolving, soak the blanket in it. After soaking for 6 hours, rub the dirtiest parts of the blanket with the cleaning solution at 40-45 degrees Celsius. After cleaning the dirtiest parts, rinse twice with warm water, then wash several times with cold water until all soap residues are removed. After drying, iron the blanket through a sheet with an electric iron at a moderate temperature.
(6) The washing method for natural silk fabrics such as silk is the same as for wool blankets. Rayon has low strength and should not be rubbed or beaten with a wooden stick. It can only be soaked in water with detergent for 1-2 hours and then rinsed until all detergent residues are removed. To remove dirt or acid stains from silk fabrics, add 1 gram of ammonia solution mixed with 1 liter of water or 1 gram of sodium carbonate mixed with 1 liter of water to the soaking liquid during the first soak. To keep silk colors bright, add some vinegar to the water during the final rinse, soak the silk for 5 minutes, let the water naturally drain, then dry wrapped in a clean, dry sheet. When washing rayon fabrics, keep the temperature around 40 degrees Celsius, and iron at 80-100 degrees Celsius.

Washing woolen clothes with water
Woolen clothes are mostly suitable for dry cleaning, but if water washing is necessary, the following points must be noted:
1. The soaking time for woolen clothes during water washing should not be too long, ideally completed within 5-10 minutes.
2. The washing temperature should not be too high, and soaking in hot water is not allowed. Generally, water washing temperature is controlled around 40°C to prevent wool fabrics from hardening, shrinking, and losing elasticity.
3. Woolen clothes have poor alkali resistance and cannot use high concentration or concentrated strong alkaline detergents. Generally, low-alkaline or neutral detergents are used. The concentration and amount of alkali solution must be determined according to the quantity and degree of dirt on the woolen clothes.
4. When hand washing, apply even and moderate force to avoid pilling or fuzziness during washing.
5. After washing, especially during the final rinse with clean water, add glacial acetic acid to the water at a concentration of 0.2-0.3% (2-3 milliliters per liter of water), then rinse again. This removes (neutralizes) residual alkali in woolen clothes, restoring softness and luster to the fibers.

Choosing between water washing and dry cleaning for clothing
Laundry methods mainly include water washing and dry cleaning. Whether water washing or dry cleaning, the principle is to remove surface dirt from fabrics without affecting fibers and colors. Laundry workers must understand that not all clothes can be dry cleaned, nor can all clothes be water washed. For some clothes that can be both dry cleaned and water washed, the choice should be based on the characteristics of each method.
Compared to dry cleaning, water washing has three main advantages:
First, water washing costs less. Water washing uses water as the main raw material and adds some detergent during washing. Dry cleaning uses and consumes dry cleaning agents such as perchloroethylene and petroleum solvents. Comparatively, a ton of water costs only a few yuan, while a kilogram of dry cleaning agent costs several yuan.
Second, water washing has higher cleaning power. Although water itself has less wetting effect than dry cleaning agents, it has stronger dissolving ability and can dissolve detergents mainly composed of surfactants. During washing, it performs wetting, emulsifying, and foaming functions, effectively removing dirt. Dry cleaning agents can only dissolve a small amount of surfactants.
Third, water washing is the most environmentally friendly. Green laundry is now advocated, and water washing, recognized as ecological cleaning, is more environmentally friendly than dry cleaning. Whether petroleum dry cleaning machines or fully enclosed perchloroethylene dry cleaning machines, they are relatively older and reduce some pollution indicators, but petroleum and perchloroethylene are organic solvents that affect the environment and human health.
The advantage of dry cleaning lies in its ability to clean garments that cannot be washed with water. This is mainly reflected in the fact that garments after dry cleaning do not shrink, fade, bubble, or deform. For some protein fibers and viscose fiber garments, water washing causes significant shrinkage, resulting in a smaller appearance after washing. Most garment colors are dyed using some water-soluble dyes under high-temperature conditions. Therefore, water washing easily causes fading. Since dry cleaning agents are insoluble in water, dry cleaning garments are less likely to shrink or fade. Some garments have shaped glue interlinings; if washed with water, the water-soluble resins in the glue will cause the garment to delaminate and bubble after washing.
In summary, the choice of washing method for garments should be based on the type and nature of the fabric fibers, the characteristics of the garment, and the conditions of the laundry shop, selecting an appropriate washing method. The scope of water washing by garment fiber includes: cotton, linen, and synthetic fiber fabrics. For example, cotton fibers are bundle fibers with strong stain absorption and relatively low shrinkage rate, so water washing can be chosen. Down jackets can only be water washed and not dry cleaned; dry cleaning wastes solvent and does not clean well. The main reason is that petroleum dry cleaning causes the down to clump and harden. Dry cleaning applies to viscose fibers (such as rayon), wool, and silk garments. These types of garments shrink severely if water washed; for example, silk garments fade easily with water washing, and artificial leather garments tend to crack and harden with dry cleaning. When using perchloroethylene dry cleaning, plastic items on garments (such as buttons) should be removed.
In short, as a qualified laundry worker, one must not only have skilled techniques but also rich work experience to ensure the quality and quantity of garment washing.