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Bachelors guide to laundry
The answers to the age old mystery of doing laundry revealed!
Until recently a woman in your life(a lady friend or your mother) has always taken care of your laundry, now you are single and living on your own, here are a few laundry basics that will keep your clothes clean and impress future ladies.
Laundry starts when you take your clothes off. Instead of heaping them on your bedroom floor invest in a hamper with two compartments, one for darks and one for lights. Having a hamper makes the trip to the laundry room easier and keeps the path to your bed open for the ladies.
Darks and lights should be separated so that colors don't bleed into each other and so that garments are washed at their appropriate temperature. Lights should be washed at a higher temperature to avoid those nasty yellow underarm stains and darks should be washed in cool waters to avoid losing their color. A simple rule to follow is: Lights - warm/warm, Darks - cool/cool
If you don't want an item to pill or shrink do not put it in the dryer, so always remember: "when in doubt, take it out." When taking items out to air dry, lay flat anything that could stretch on hanger. Otherwise it is always a safe bet to dry clothes on medium heat and if you are in a rush, high heat for a shorter amount of time.
As a bachelor, you should opt for liquid detergent and Bounce sheets. Liquid detergent is easier to carry to and from the laundry room and if the water is not the perfect temperature you do not have to worry about it not dissolving and leaving marks on your clothes. Now it may sound ridiculous but women love the smell of fabric softener and it sticks around in your clothes, towels and sheets longer. Place a sheet in your dryer every time you run a load, it will pay off. You can also pop a sheet in the base of your trashcan or anywhere in your place with a not so desirable aroma to improve the smell.
When buying clothes remember to keep it simple, buy things that can be washed (no dry-clean only) and spend a little more on items that are wrinkle free, they are 100% worth it. As a bachelor you can look good without ironing, you just need to remember to hang these items fresh out of the dryer. When purchasing clothes always check the tags to confirm washing instructions.
Tags can be broken down into five symbols:
Bucket - the bucket indicates that a garment is machine washable and at what temperature based on the degree noted inside the symbol or the number of dots. No dots or degree means normal, one dot is cool, two dots warm and three or more means hot.
Iron - the iron indicates that a garment can be ironed and at what temperature on the same principles as the bucket, based on degree inside or number of dots. As a bachelor this information is nice to know if you choose to iron but as mentioned spend a little more and opt for wrinkle free clothing.
Square with symbol inside - the square is slightly more complex than the bucket or iron symbols but it indicates your dryer setting. A plain square with a circle inside indicates that your dryer can be hotter than hell and it won't damage a thing, one dot inside the circle is low, two - medium and three - hot. If the circle is completely shaded in dry with no heat or "air fluff." If the square contains no circle and just a horizontal line that means "lay flat", three vertical lines means "drip dry" and a half circle at the top means "hang dry".
Triangle - the triangle means an item can be bleached. Bleach is not part of a bachelor's laundry routine. For reference the triangle has an "x" through it, it cannot be bleached but as a bachelor you shouldn't even own bleach.
Circle - the circle means a garment can be dry-cleaned, similar to the triangle, if there is an "x" through it, it cannot be dry-cleaned. If you take items to a dry-cleaner they will check the tags for you so you really can't screw this one up.
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