Aug 08 2007
Laundry Tips That Will Save You Time and Money
Along with summer’s fun-in-the-sun picnics, swimming lessons, nature hikes and softball games comes the inevitable necessity — more laundry. All those wet beach towels, dirty socks and grass-stained sports uniforms can make your washer and dryer work overtime.
Instead of toiling away in the basement or laundry room, try some common, everyday tips to help alleviate many of those hassles. Even simple organization and a bit of advance-planning can help eliminate headaches later. For instance:
* Wash lint-producing items, such as beach towels, separately from lint-attracting synthetics — and wipe out lint before starts.
* Got wrinkles? Using the wrong wash cycle or the wrong water temperature can make wrinkles worse.
* Lint-laden fabrics? Make sure that enough detergent is being used. If not, the detergent may actually contribute to the amount of lint generated during the wash cycle.
* How wet is too wet? Cold rinse saves energy, but leaves loads wetter. Try a warm water rinse to help minimize water retention in clothing.
* Mystery noise? If so, it could be the washer isn’t secured on a sturdy floor, it’s not correctly leveled, or maybe the shipping strap hasn’t yet been pulled.
* Your own private lint collection? Lint’s created from a variety of sources. No matter where it comes from, the lint screen should be cleaned after every load.
* Overwhelmed with dryer lint? This could mean that the loads are too big, and that can keep fibers from flowing freely to the lint screen, causing lint buildup on fabrics.
Common Sense Laundry Tips
Some common-sense guidelines can even help you save money on detergent and unnecessary repairs. When the laundry machine makes an unfamiliar sound — possibly clicking or grinding — check to see if the load is balanced evenly. If it isn’t, reorganize the load. Chances are the noise will disappear.
Most laundry manuals won’t tell you that water softness and the amount of detergent can affect how clean a load of laundry turns out. According to Amana, if a washer is hooked up to a hard water line, more detergent is needed. If it’s hooked up to a soft water line, you get the same level of clean with less detergent.
Even purchasing a washer with features such as antimicrobial component protection, which is designed to resist mold, mildew and odor-causing bacteria, can make a difference (especially with those smelly socks!). The new Amana Traditional series provides this feature in its washers and the antimicrobial compound is actually built into the agitator and tub ring during the manufacturing processes, providing long lasting resistance and keeping the components clean between cleanings.
In case the owner’s manual is long-gone, the clothes are piling up and you want to avoid an expensive call for repair, researching a few helpful tips might be something worth doing before you invest an unnecessary amount of time and money.
More information about Amana products is available at amana.com. Amana appliances are available at Conn’s, ABT Electronics and at your local independent retailer.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
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