My step-by-step guide to separating, washing & hanging out my laundry so everything is kept in tip-top condition...

Welcome to my bathroom and a huge mound of laundry!

I’m fairly obsessed with laundry. A flatmate of mine once asked if I was ill as I hadn’t done any laundry!

I’d like to talk you through how I use the washing machine, but most importantly how I hang out my washing to minimise creases, therefore lessening the need to iron!

First up, check the washing over completely.

Check pockets (I found a tissue and a metal screw in this laundry load!) and turn everything around the right way. Make sure sleeves are pulled out, and keep an eye out for anything that may need a pre-treatment.

Place like colours together. I like to have piles of dark, mid-colours and lights. For items like reds, it’s also worth keeping them all together if there is any chance that they may bleed dye.

I do also keep woollens separate and have written a blog post on how I wash my woollens with care, do check that out if you’d like to know more.

Once you’ve got your colours sorted, head on over to the washing machine! I like the laundry baskets from Ikea, they’re great.

Anything that has nasty marks I like to treat with Vanish spray before they go into the washing machine. It is so much harder to get stains out afterwards so do try to get them beforehand! Leave the pre-treatment on for 10 minutes before you load into the washing machine. If anything is really filthy, you may need to also incorporate a pre-soak.

Once you’ve popped everything into the washing machine, use your detergent of choice. I use Bold 2 in 1 and always purchase an enormous box from our local wholesalers as it lasts forever! I much prefer powder over capsules, and this incorporates fabric softener too so eliminates the needs for a plastic bottle of another product.

We have a Siemans washing machine and I like to use the Mixed Fabrics cycle. This is the one I almost always use, with the ‘Speed Perfect’ setting enabled. It is a 40-degree wash and the speed setting means more water is spun from the clothes, reducing drying time.

Once the machine has finished, get your laundry basket ready once more and begin to pull everything out carefully.

Give the drum a quick spin with your hand to make sure there isn’t anything hiding in there.

I’m not a huge fan of tumble dryers, except for using with towels as I think they make them wonderfully fluffy. For our clothes I mainly use a Sheila’s Maid - we have one in the laundry room and one above the Aga in the kitchen.

When hanging your items, always do so the right way round and not inside out. Make sure all sleeves are untucked, give it a good shake if needed and lay flat across the Sheilas Maid or washing line. Give it a pull taut, make sure it’s all laying as straight and flat as can be as this can actually eliminate the need for ironing!

If you have shirts to hang, pop them onto a hanger first before doing the same ‘pull taut’ trick and making sure they’re going to dry with as little creases as possible.

I do find that if you spend a little time at this point making sure you hang the washing out with care, you don’t have all the creases and you do really save time in the long run! Most times you can simply remove the dried garment from the line or Sheila’s maid, fold and put away! Heaven!

Do you have any laundry hints and tips?!

Love,