...with your smol laundry liquid.
If you’ve ever studied your clothing care labels and caught sight of the following…
… then you’ll really want to read on. The symbol means your item of clothing must be washed by hand and you shouldn’t put it through your washing machine.
So what is the best way to hand wash your clothes?
We’re here with our best-ever guide on getting brilliantly clean laundry when washing by hand.
3 things to remember.
Wearing rubber gloves is a great idea. They’ll protect your skin (a must if it’s sensitive) and they’ll also protect your clothing from jewellery or fingernails snagging its fabric.
Hand washing your clothes is MUCH easier when using laundry liquid. It doesn’t need to dissolve like powder does and it won’t leave residue once you’re finished. Check out smol laundry liquid for the most concentrated liquid on the market, with results to match the big brands.
Beware the bleed because clothes can lose a little dye when they are washed. This is how your whites can end up pink if washed with something red. You can test dye stability in your clothing by soaking it in water for 30 minutes. If the water colours slightly to match your clothing, that’s the dye leaching from the fabric. Make sure to wash that piece of clothing separately and don’t use that same water to wash other items.
7 step guide to hand washing clothes.
step 1. sort.
If you’re hand washing multiple items - split them into coloured clothes and white clothes. That way you’ll be less likely to experience dye bleeding from one darker garment and absorbing into a white item.
step 2. stain.
Spot treat any obvious stains first using smol stain gel. Its bleach-free formula gives incredible results but is safe to use on all coloured clothing.
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- Dampen stain with cold water and apply stain gel directly to it.
- Leave for 5 minutes.
- Rinse with cold water.
step 3. sink.
Check the clothing care label to assess what temperature water you should be using in your sink - a commonly recommended temperature for hand washing is room temperature. Mix in your liquid laundry detergent - for smol laundry liquid you just need 2 pumps per 4 litres of water.
And should you use bio or non-bio laundry liquid? If your laundry is pretty dirty, a great option is smol bio laundry liquid, its enzymes give outstanding stain removal even at low hand washing temperatures. If you’ve got sensitive skin in the household then smol non-bio is your best choice. It’s dermatologically tested for skin sensitivities and incredibly popular with families.
step 4. soak.
Add your clothing to your sink and make sure they are completely submerged under the water. You can then leave them for about 30 minutes.
step 5. swish.
Gently move your garments around in the solution. You can then focus on any especially dirty areas such as under the armpits. Remember, you should not scrub too hard or pull your clothes around as this can damage the fibres. Aim for washing each item for about 4 minutes.
step 6. sluice.
Open the sluice gates and let that dirty water drain from the sink! You can gently squeeze your clothing as the water drains to remove excess soapy water. Next you need to fill your sink with cold water for the rinse. Repeat this step until your clothes are no longer rinsing out soap.
step 7. swiss roll.
Time to make a laundry sandwich. Remove your clothing from the sink and lay it out on a clean dry towel. You can then begin to roll them up in the towel like a swiss roll! The towel will absorb a lot of the water from the clothing.
your hand wash is done!
Now you can either leave your clothes to dry on a flat surface, hang them outside on the line or check out some of the other ways you can dry your clothing indoors without using a tumble dryer.
A QUICK NOTE ON DRY CLEANING. Hand washing is not the same as dry cleaning so if you do see a dry clean only symbol on your items - you should take to a professional cleaners and not try the steps above.
