Hand washing clothes brings to mind the eternal image of cute Cinderella washing clothes. The times of beating clothes to submission are long gone. Automatic washing machines and dryers are the new fairy godmothers for all who have lost their backbone to pain.
But still, in today’s world of convenient machines, there are some scenarios when you have to hand wash your clothes. I bet you have encountered atleast one of them.
Which clothes are hand washed?
A particular dress is very precious for you and you do not trust your machine or dry cleaner to do a better job than you.
All the clothes if your washing machine has gone on strike or when the machine is simply not there.
Your socks, underwear, t shirts or sweaters, clothes made of delicate fabrics and beaded fabrics. And fabrics with special finishes.
All the clothes where the manufacturer says ‘hand wash only’ on its label
Clothes when you are backpacking on a budget.
But if you are not careful when hand washing, you risk the loss of your favourite dress. But you can get good results if you will follow the following steps
Tip 1. Prepare your clothing for a wash
This involves
- removing any pins or other removable fastenings.
- Unbutton all the buttons.
- If you are washing clothing in dark colours, they had better be washed inside out.
- I also tie up drawstrings so that they are not lost inside after a wash.
Tip 2. Check for any stains in the clothing
- If there is, spot cleaning is the way to go before fully washing the dress.
- Use a pinch of detergent on the stain and leave for 2 -3 minutes and see if the stain will work off.
- You can also try a stain remover pen.
Check out this post “How to get out tough stains naturally” for home remedies to remove stains.
Tip 3. Separate light clothes from dark clothes
Bleeding colours from other fabrics is horrible. To prevent this, ensure that you are not washing different dark coloured clothes together. Check out this post on preventing color bleeding.
Lint from light clothes latch on to dark clothes and make them look horrible. Checkout this post on 15 ways to protect dark clothes from lint
Tip 4. Do not use very hot water
Warm water is great for hand washing but not necessary. Cold water is best for the clothes you feel is going to bleed. But not hot water. Never hot water. It is disastrous to your hands and your clothes. Hot water will make your clothes fade as well as shrink.
But you may dissolve the detergent in hot water and then add cold water to make it lukewarm.
Check out this post on preventing color fading from clothes.
Tip 5. Use appropriate detergent
Which detergents are used for handwashing clothes?
Look for detergents specifically designed for hand washing or delicate fabrics and also are gentle on the skin. Use a no-chlorine detergent.
For wool wash, you can use wool-specific detergents.
You can also buy a Newborn and Baby 2-in-1 Hair & Body Wash.
Check out this post on the different types of cleaners you can use for cleaning clothes.
Tip 6. Soak
A little soaking is good for your clothes but not more than 5 minutes. Oversoaking can result in fading colours of the fabric.
Tip 7. Prevent sagging and stretching
Washing by hand is usually good enough to prevent the sagging and stretching that usually accompanies washing in a washing machine. But with some clothes you will have to be extra careful.
You will definitely be hand washing your sweaters and polo shirts and if you want to retain their shape do let them dry on a flat surface like a drying rack . Otherwise they will sag and overstretch out of shape.
Wringing the clothes to dry is not generally recommended. It is enough to squeeze the water out with both hands,especially for delicate clothes.
Tip 8. Use appropriate vessels for washing
If you have multiple buckets at home, they can certainly serve as suitable containers for hand washing clothes. I have two dedicated to hand washing. However, if buckets are not available, you can use your sink plugged in (also, ensure it’s clean and free) or even bathing tubs for this purpose.
You also get big basins with a hole at the bottom with plugs for letting the water out. If you make a habit of handwashing clothes these basins are a good investment. Enough space to move around clothes and rinse thoroughly.
Ideally you should be having two vessels – to wash and to rinse. But you can adjust with just one bucket as well.
Tip 9. Use appropriate tools for washing
A scrub brush is a good thing to have near the hand wash area wherever it is for you.The stubborn stains go away with one or two scrubs from this tool
A scrubbing board or washing board used to be a necessary equipment in those days of yore when washing machines were the stuff in dreams. They are made of wood and very very difficult to come by in general stores. If you can find one, buy it. When electricity runs out you may find its value. Even otherwise for scrubbing your clothes it is a very good tool to have.
Tip 10. Do rinse thoroughly
Rinsing is a chore for me when hand washing clothes. You have to change water many times, wring clothes multiple times to get rid of all those detergents But there is no compromise in this – you have to remove all traces of detergent. What I would do is to use only as much as needed to clean.
Best step by step way to hand wash your laundry
1. Fill a clean bucket with warm water or cold water.Have a spare bucket with clean cold water for rinsing
2. Drop detergent in the water. ( I am not a fan of the powder kind; it is better to use the liquid one) Baby shampoo is preferred in case of washing delicate fabric. Checkout this detailed post on washing and caring delicate clothes. Dissolve the soap or detergent thoroughly
3. Shake off any removable dirt from the clothes and Drop the clothes into the bucket. Ensure that the bucket is not overfilled with clothes. You need some space for the clothes to swirl around in the bucket.
4. If the clothes are too dirty soak the clothes for 10-20 minutes ; otherwise 5 minutes soaking is good for dirt and sweat to flake out of clothes.
5.Use both hands to sway the clothes like the washing machine would do, not like the dress is your enemy but gently. Swirl it around a couple of times. Scrub the clothes by rubbing it against itself with both your hands.
6. Squeeze water from the clothes and drop them into the other bucket with clean water. Do not wring delicate silk underwear and stockings or lace garments.
7. Throw away the soap filled water and refill the bucket with more clean water. Rinse till the water in the bucket is clear of any detergent residue.
8.In the final rinse drop a teaspoon of vinegar. This will remove the detergent traces and act as a fabric softener as well.
9. After the rinse is over squeeze and rinse in the new bucket.
10. Squeeze as much water from the garments as you can before removing the clothes one by one from the bucket.
11. Your garment will be out of shape. Before drying them, hold it by one end, shake it so that wrinkles and twists in the fabric are straightened. Sometimes I wrap them up in a towel to take out the water.
12. Hang to dry. If it is a sweater or some thing dry flat on a towel or a flat drying rack. Otherwise hang to dry in the sun.
There is no denying that hand washing is gentle on clothes and better for clothes than machine washing when you do it rightly. If you have decided to hand wash all or some of your clothes follow the above steps to a hand washed laundry.
I hand washing many of the clothes which are marked Dry wash only. But it comes with its own risk. So proceed with caution. Which clothes should be dry cleaned ; Also Check the drycleaning symbols.
You can find similar tips in handwashing clothes in goodhousekeeping blog.
More articles on clothing care.; Washing dark and coloured clothes ; washing white clothes; how to use bleach on clothes
