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Written by the CollegeCodex.com Staff   
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Washing
Before you throw your clothes into the washer, check the pockets for pens, change, keys, gum, or anything else.  These items damage both your clothes and the washer/dryer.

Also, look when you stick your clothes in the washer, especially for that one black sock that made it into your load of whites.

Let’s operate the washer.  All machines are different, so your procedure may vary slightly.  First, make sure you’re standing in front of a washer.  Students have thrown, and will continue to throw, their clothes into the dryer and add detergent.
    
If you are using a top-loading washer, wait for the water to rise two inches, add your solutions, and then add your clothes.  If the washer you are using is a front-loading washer, add your clothes before you start the machine (otherwise you will realize you wasted your money when the empty washer starts spinning).

  • Pay.  Insert your university card or a couple quarters, and choose the full, warm cycle.  Ignore that delicate setting, because it certainly isn’t delicate.  If you need to wash delicate clothes, we recommend washing them in the sink using Woolite. 
  • Start the Washer.  Some machines have a simple “Start” button.  Other machines require you to turn a time dial and pull out to start. Your clothes do not need to spend an hour in the wash cycle; ten minutes should be ample time to kill germs and remove stains. Start the machine.
  • Add your Solutions.  On some machines, you’ll find a detergent tray with departments for detergent, bleach, and fabric softener.  Otherwise, just pour the solutions into the water to prevent staining or bleaching.  Do not pour your solutions directly onto your clothes.  Add your solutions as suggested by the directions on the products’ labels.  

After thirty to forty minutes, your clothes will be ready.  If you used a powdered detergent, check your clothes to make sure it dissolved before throwing them into a dryer.  Also check to see if stains are still on clothes, in which case you would rewash the articles.
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