7 Misconceptions about Your Laundry ...

Contrary to popular belief, using a double dose of detergent on really dirty clothes does not get them cleaner at all. The standard amount will clean your clothes just fine. That's good news, because doubling up can make you run out of detergent ridiculously fast, and that stuff can get really expensive!

Some people believe that they need to use chlorine bleach and nothing else, and that is definitely not the case. Rather, when you're brightening up your whites, then yes, chlorine bleach is a good choice to make. However, if you need to brighten up your colored clothing, stay away from the chlorine and stick to oxygen bleach instead.

People waste lots of hot water because they make the mistake of believing that cold water will not get their clothes clean. That's not true at all. Back in the day, maybe, when detergents pretty much relied on hot water, that might have been the case, but today's detergents are completely versatile. You can wash almost anything in cold water – and some things absolutely should be washed on a cold cycle. However, you should avoid washing items like underwear, socks, and towels in cold water.

Your clothes are not going to shrink in the washer. I didn't even know people thought this. I'm always more worried about my clothes shrinking in the dryer – which they can … but not always. That only happens when you're over drying your clothes. If you take them out slightly damp, even sweaters and things, then they should be okay.

In the interest of saving time, many people (I am currently looking in the direction of the Better Half RIGHT NOW) think they don't need to sort their clothes. Yes you do! Color magnets may work … but they might not, and you don't want to risk ruining your clothes. Instead, make sure you put whites, colors, and darks in separate loads.

Jeans fade after they're washed a lot. It happens and it sucks but if you think there's nothing you can do about it, you're way wrong. On the contrary, try washing your faded jeans with some newer, still bright jeans. That should make a definite difference and fade the fade a little – so to speak.

Finally, you can stop thinking that you can only get your towels soft if you use fabric softener. In fact, you shouldn't. Fabric softener can coat the fibers of your towels, which means that the towels won't dry you off properly. All you need to do is put a few tennis balls – clean, of course! – into the dryer with your towels; they'll emerge plenty soft.

I cannot wait to try some of these things! That tennis ball bit is especially exciting, because chez nous, we go through a lot of fabric softener. Do you know of any other cleaning myths?

Top Photo Credit: Darwin Bell