Dappered Classics – How to do laundry. A man’s guide.

Dappered Classics – How to do your laundry

Originally Published 10/27/10

A good percentage of the male population does laundry one way:  Stuff in as much as you can, no matter what color or fabric, and wash it on warm. That’s a great way to shorten the life of your clothes if not kill them outright. Here’s a quick and dirty ( figuratively and literally) way to do laundry, with just a bit more purpose and care:
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Break your laundry into five piles, and wash them in this order:

1. Plain White Dress Shirts – Wash on cold, short cycle.
2. Blue or Striped Dress Shirts and light colored chinos – Wash on cold, short cycle.
3. Nice Lights – Wash on cold, normal cycle.
4. Nice Darks – Wash on cold, short cycle if you’ve got jeans in there.
5. Crap (gym clothes, old stuff, etc…) – Wash on warm, long cycle.

*For Drying: Follow the instructions on the tag and be cautious.
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Final Tips:

Check your pockets – All it takes is one rogue Lip Balm or cough drop and you’re screwed.
Denim care – For sub $80 jeans, wash inside out once every few weeks, unless they’re noticeably dirty.
Wool care – You could hand wash, or you could take it to the dry cleaner when it’s noticeably dirty/stinky.
Don’t leave it in the washer – Leaving a damp load in the washer for more than 24 hours and it’ll get musty.  If you live in a humid climate like in the south?  Don’t even risk it.
Embrace ugly and used: Sure the $600 model looks cool.  But spending $50 every few years on an old beatup Sears washer via Craigslist has yet to do me wrong.
Clean your trap: Clean the lint trap every load.  The dryer will work better, and it won’t burn down your house.
Ignore the snuggle bear: You don’t need fabric softener.  Use a dryer sheet.
Never wash blazers: Even if it’s 100% cotton, unstructured, and the tag says you can.  Dry clean only.
Never wash your significant other’s stuff: Don’t their stuff.  She/he has a system that’s not yours.

Anything else?  Got any laundry secrets or horror stories?  Leave them in the comments section below…
Top photo credit: this guy