Every spring, I dry-clean a dozen of my winter coats. By the time I’ve stocked them back in my closet, I have enough barely used plastic material to wrap up my entire apartment.
Tagged With laundry
At least once or twice a month, I notice that one of my son’s T-shirts has gotten too small or the hemline of a pair of pants has crept up too far, and I think to myself, “It’s time to put that in the ‘Donate’ pile.” Each time, I’m sure I will remember which item is ready to head out the door.
While doing a load (or two) of laundry, I often wonder to myself: Between the chemical detergents, enormous water use, and the assistance of a dry cleaner with tricky stains, am I being a shitty environmentalist?
Cleaning pet hair off any surface is always a chore, but fabrics are very much the worst. Tempting as it may be, giving up and tossing a hair-coated blanket in with the rest of the wash will only transfer that hair to the rest of the load — and send the rest straight down your pipes. There’s a better way: Just throw super-hairy fabrics into the dryer before washing them.
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist, and author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha. Her flagship column, “Ask a Clean Person”, debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker, we’ve launched a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist, and author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha. Her flagship column, “Ask a Clean Person”, debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker, we’ve launched a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
Video: So you’re bad at laundry. Maybe you’ve been able to come home from uni every weekend lugging a bag of dirty clothes like Santa, or maybe you never fully recovered from that lipstick-in-the-dryer incident of ‘08. We aren’t here to judge. We’re here to help. In this final episode of Lifehacker’s Adulting series, we go over some laundry basics.
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist, and author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha. Her flagship column, “Ask a Clean Person”, debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker, we’ve launched a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist and author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha. Her flagship column, “Ask a Clean Person”, debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker, we’ve launched a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist and author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha. Her flagship column, “Ask a Clean Person”, debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker, we’ve launched a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist and author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can't Ask Martha. Her flagship column, "Ask a Clean Person", debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker we've launched a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist and author of The New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can't Ask Martha. Her flagship column, "Ask a Clean Person", debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker, we've launched a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
When we last rounded up our staff's Weekly Upgrades, our editors were pickling red onions, embracing bathtime cocktails as a lifestyle, and putting the finishing touches on our home improvement projects.
Germs, like you and I, enjoy the warm and slightly moist embrace of a bath towel. (Hey, if it isn't moist when you first put it on, it gets moist.) But these germs are just here to cuddle; normal use of a bath towel is not likely to make you sick.
After you do a few loads of laundry, the measuring cap for your detergent can get all gunked up and sticky. If you're tired of that, you can give it a thorough cleaning with your next load of laundry.
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist and author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can't Ask Martha. Her flagship column, "Ask a Clean Person", debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker, we're launching a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
Sweaty clothes stink, but sweaty workout clothes stink worst of all. Like those synthetic-fibre leggings, those sweat-wicking socks, those "technical" tees? Phew. These fabrics are especially prone to harbouring the smelliest bacteria.
Video: A messy sock drawer means a messy life. You deserve a better start to your day than rummaging around for a matching pair. You could replace all your socks with 20 identical pairs, or you could learn to fold your socks right, so they don't stretch out or come unmatched. In the video above, we demonstrate the ideal form of sock origami.
What do you do with pair of jeans that you could wear a couple more times? How about a tee that you donned for only an hour? A sweatshirt that isn't quite dirty enough to be laundered, but isn't pristine, either? These, as it turns out, are burning questions on Ask Metafilter and people have strong opinions.
If there's one good reason to do the sniff test, it's this: Washing and drying your clothing after each wear is one of the quickest ways to wear those outfits out. Yes, there are ways to improve your laundry skills, but you're still shoving your favourite duds into a machine to get agitated -- yes, that's what it's called -- and then into a different machine to get blasted with heat.
