10 Laundry Wash Day Essentials

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10 Laundry Wash Day Essentials.

Whether your wash area is big, small or somewhere in between, the essentials you'll want to have inside stay constant. Here are the 10 must-haves.

laundry, wash swimsuits, bleach for clothes, color safe bleach, organize laundry room

1 Detergent.

Powder or liquids - which is the best choice for your family? Find out here.

2 Gentle fabric wash.

For your lingerie, delicates, swimsuits and more.

3 Net bags for washing delicates.

These include women's lingerie, washable sweaters, and everyone's swimsuits.

4 Chlorine bleach.

This is the only thing that can kill bacteria, germs, viruses and more in baby clothes, bedding, and gardening duds.

5 Color-safe bleach.
For ground-in dirt on darks, brights, delicates and synthetics.

6 Stain pretreater.

Here's a look at options, including homemade laundry stain solutions.

7 Fabric softener.

This is the wash-day secret to reducing static and wrinkling.

8 Dryer sheets.

These toss-ins keep static and lint to a minimum, and can give your load that fresh-washed smell.

9 Stain-buster chart.

See Treating 9 Common Clothing Stains.

10 Starch.

For button-down shirts, skirts, and more - this inexpensive spray-on is key to a fresh-pressed, clean wardrobe.

13 Wash Day Essentials to Stash Nearby
1 Iron

2 Distilled water

3 Ironing board (Those fold-up boards truly are a godsend for overworked, space-challenged areas.)

4 Dryer rack on which to hang sweaters and delicates

5 Collapsible three-section basket for sorting dirty duds and carrying clean, folded clothes to their various homes

6 Dirty-clothes baskets

7 Trash can for lint

8 Small basket for wash-day finds, such as hair bands, coins, and buttons (you still get first dibs on `keepers', however.)

9 Hangers

10 Basket for stained "special attention" clothes

11 Basket for "homeless socks"

12 Basket for clothes to go to the dry cleaner

13 Basket for items that need mending.

How to Teach the Kids the Wash-Day Basics

Return to Laundry & Stains

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