Important tips and advice on how to wash cotton

Cotton is a natural material, products made from it are hypoallergenic, breathable, non-electrifying and pleasant to the touch.

But they quickly get dirty and difficult to wash. And if washed incorrectly, they can shed, turn yellow or shrink.

Only if you know how to wash cotton correctly, at how many degrees, how to dry and on what mode to iron, you can keep the attractive appearance of your favorite things for a long time.

How to choose a detergent?

First of all, you need to choose the right detergent. There are many powders, gels and liquids on sale now.

You need to take those that are intended for washing cotton fabrics... They contain substances that soften water.

All of them also contain compounds that dissolve grease and protein contamination on the fabric. They usually work even in cold water. The detergents may contain surfactants, enzymes, phosphates.

For cotton also use powders containing bleach... Optical or oxygen is best, they are safer for tissue. But such products are used only for white fabrics, colored linen must be washed with special powders, they must be marked “for colored linen”.

It is also important to choose the right form of detergent. The dosage, effectiveness, application features depend on this:

1. Powders are divided into hand and machine wash products.... The latter are characterized by reduced foaming. For cotton, powder is best used. The disadvantages include impracticality, dosing complexity and poor dissolution in cool water.

   The most popular powders for cotton fabrics include: "Persil", "Dosya", "Aist", "Sort", "Gloss".

2. The gel is more economical and safer... It can be used at temperatures from 30⁰... It is better to use gel for washing delicate items, as it retains the color and softness of the fabric.

   But it cannot be applied at high temperature. Wellery, Power Wash, Pigeon gels are best washed.

3. The capsules are used in the washing machine... They are economical and dissolve well even in cold water. Capsules are good at removing stains and retaining color, but they have a strong aroma and are not recommended for use with baby clothes.

   It is worth paying attention to Persil Duo-Caps, Ariel Color 3 in 1, Tide 3 in 1 Pods Color, Losk Duo-Caps.

Some housewives use folk remedies for washing cotton in the old fashioned way. For cotton most suitable:

• soda ash,
• salt,
• laundry soap.

To remove stains, ammonia and hydrogen peroxide are used.

Preparation for the process

A very important stage of washing is preparing things. This will help prevent warping and discoloration. If you wash colored laundry together with light colored ones, it may shed.

Delicate items must be taken away. They are washed separately at a temperature not exceeding 40⁰.

Before putting cotton laundry in the machine, you need to do the following:

• separate items by color, separate white linen (read about washing white linen here), separately colored;
• sort them according to the degree of pollution; heavily soiled or stained items are washed separately;
• it is recommended to turn the clothes inside out, fasten all zippers and buttons, and empty the pockets;
• it is better to put small things in mesh bags, it is also recommended to wash duvet covers in them, this will prevent other linen from getting inside;
• if the thing is being washed for the first time, you need to carefully study the label, it indicates at what temperature you need to wash, how to dry and iron it correctly.

At what temperature?

The washing temperature depends on the type and color of the laundry.... White items, especially those made of dense fabric, can withstand temperatures up to 95⁰.

But such modes are not recommended to be used often, as cotton can deform, and the fibers gradually become thinner. Therefore, a high temperature is used when stains need to be removed.

Normal washing of white items takes place at 40-60⁰. Shirts, towels and other heavily soiled items made of dense fabrics are recommended to be soaked or boiled beforehand. This will help bring back the whiteness.

Colored laundry at high temperatures may fade, the color will fade. To maintain its brightness, it is not recommended to select a mode above 40⁰... Only dark and persistently colored items can be washed at 60⁰but not higher.

AND it is best not to put thin delicate linen or lace in the machine... They are washed by hand in cool water, preferably with soap. It is not recommended to machine wash items with fleece or pile.

You can check a colored thing to see if it will fade. To do this, a piece of cloth is moistened with soapy water, passed over it with a white napkin. If it gets dyed, it is advisable to wash this thing separately or by hand.

How to wash to prevent cotton items from shrinking?

How to wash cotton items in the washing machine and by hand to prevent them from shrinking?

In the washing machine

It is easiest to wash cotton in a washing machine, you just need to choose the right mode and temperature. To do everything right, you can use a step-by-step guide:

1. Sort items by color and degree of soiling.
2. Put into the drum.
3. Add the required amount of powder.
4. Set the temperature from 40 to 90, spin speed 500-800 rpm. Select "Cotton" or "Delicates" mode.

   It must be remembered that cotton shrinks not only from high temperature, but with a strong spin, therefore, it is recommended to choose the maximum values ​​only for coarse fabrics, bed linen.

5. It is recommended to use a double rinse for laundry to completely remove the powder.

Manually

They wash delicate items, delicate clothes and linen with their hands. Do not pour water with a temperature above 40 for this.

The washing process of such things is not complicated:

1. First, dissolve powder or shavings of laundry soap in water.
2. Dip the thing into the solution, leave for 10-20 minutes.
3. Rinse gently with your hands, try not to rub or pull on the fabric.
4. Rinse several times to completely remove the detergent.
5. Add a little conditioner or vinegar for the last rinse. This will make things soft.
6. Do not twist too much, just squeeze out a little, then straighten and hang to dry.

What to do to shrink?

Sometimes it is necessary to reduce stretched clothing... It is easy to "plant" cotton, you need to use a higher washing temperature.

In a typewriter

You need to wash the item in the machine at a temperature of 60, if it is white and made of thick fabric, you can even put it at 90.

Handwash

You can achieve shrinkage of the product by hand washing... At the last rinse, pour boiling water into the basin, add a little fabric softener.

The thing is dipped in a solution and covered with something, you can film. After 5 minutes, transfer to cold water, rinse a little and squeeze.

How to remove stains of blood, fat, grass?

Heavily soiled or stained items must be pre-soaked... If the contamination is common, you need to dissolve a few tablespoons of the powder in hot water, lower the thing and leave for a day. Some machines have a prewash or soak mode.

Stains are more difficult to deal with. To remove them, you can use industrial stain removers or folk remedies.

You can use one of the most common methods:

1. Dissolve in 5 liters of hot water 2 tablespoons. any detergent for cotton. It is better to choose those that contain optical brightener or stain remover. Keep the item in the solution for at least 3 hours.
2. Dissolve a quarter of a bar of laundry soap in 5 liters of water. Pre-grind it. The solution is suitable for soaking delicate fabrics.
3. If you add 9% vinegar to the saline solution, you can soak colored chintz and jeans. Proportions for 10 liters of water 5 tbsp. vinegar and 3 tbsp. salt.
4. Blood stains should be washed in cold water. Then lather with laundry soap and leave for half an hour.
5. To get rid of greasy stains, apply a mixture of grated laundry soap, ammonia and turpentine to the fabric. The proportions are 2: 1: 1.
6. Clothes soiled in the grass should be washed with laundry soap. If it does not help, pour hydrogen peroxide on the stain, sprinkle soda on top. Then rub a little with a soft brush.
7. To remove stains from brilliant green, you need to rub the fabric with a solution of alcohol with lemon juice or ammonia.

How to whiten?

Only pure white items can be bleached... There is no need to boil them or soak them for a long time. Effective bleaches are now available and are added with the powder during washing. They help get rid of the yellow or grayish tint of old linen.

You can return the whiteness to towels, tablecloths and linen with this solution: add 1 tablespoon to 10 liters. ammonia and 2 tbsp. hydrogen peroxide. You need to soak the thing for 20-30 minutes.

A saline solution is suitable for handkerchiefs: 30 g of table salt per liter of water. This solution helps to get rid of yellow sweat stains on white T-shirts or shirts.

How to dry, can I iron?

It is not recommended to tumble dry cotton. High temperature will cause shrinkage. Automatic drying is only valid for coarse fabrics... They will have a special sign on the label: a square, a circle in it, and 3 dots inside.

If a crossed-out triangle is drawn, it means that the thing can only be washed gently.The rest should be dried naturally.

After the end of washing, the items are taken out of the drum and straightened well. Then they are hung on a special dryer or on a rope.

It is better not to dry cotton clothes in the bright sun: whites may turn yellow, and colored ones may fade.... It is better to lay out delicate things on a flat horizontal surface, straightening all the folds.

During ironing, the maximum temperatures can be set only for coarse fabrics, bed linen, towels. For delicate people it is better to choose a different mode.

Related Videos

Video instruction on how to wash cotton:

Conclusion

Washing cotton is easy, you just need to choose the right powder, temperature and mode. If you sort the laundry correctly and follow the recommendations on the labels, you can keep the color and shape of such things for a long time.