How to wash bed linen?

It is impossible to imagine a comfortable sleep and rest without such an important attribute as bed linen. In order for the laundry to last as long as possible, while maintaining its impeccable appearance and rich color, you need to know how to properly wash and care for it.

In order for bedding to remain neat for a long time and retain its appearance, the following rules must be observed:

• Be sure to follow the recommendations indicated on the packaging and product labels. As a rule, the composition of the material and information on the modes of ironing, washing and bleaching are indicated there;
• Before using a new set of bedding, it is recommended to wash it using the prewash mode;
• Before loading laundry into the washing machine, turn it inside out. If there are locks on the duvet covers and pillowcases, then it is important to close them so as not to tear the fabric;
• Colored fabrics must be washed separately from whites. Otherwise, snow-white textiles will take on a completely different shade;
• Bed linen, different in fabric composition, is washed separately from each other, at a certain washing mode and temperature;

• You cannot load the drum of the typewriter more than half, otherwise things will not stretch well;
• Children's underwear must be washed with special detergents with a safe composition and separately from adult clothes;
• It is not recommended to wash bed linen at home at the same time as clothes;
• Try not to use bleach as it destroys the color of the fabric;
• It is advisable to use liquid gels for washing, they are completely washed out from things;
• If aggressive chemicals were used during washing, then rinse the clothes at least twice.

Today, housewives wash bed linen in the washing machine or by hand.

In order to set one or another mode for washing, it is initially worth finding out from which fabric the product is sewn. For example, cottons are washed on a special program for cotton, and silk linen and bright colored sets on a mode for delicate items at a water temperature of no more than 40 degrees. For synthetic materials select the "Synthetics" program.

Sometimes there are situations when you have to wash the kits by hand. For example, if the washing machine is suddenly broken or the power is cut off in the house. Let's take a look at how to properly wash your laundry by hand.

First, you need to soak the bedding in water, adding detergent there. The water temperature must correspond to that indicated on the product label. The water must completely cover the laundry. After about an hour, all you have to do is rinse the things thoroughly so that the water becomes clear and without foam.

The durability of bedding is directly related to the proper care of it. The washing of the products and the choice of the desired mode depend on the type of fabric:

• Cotton, linen. High enough temperatures are used to wash cotton and linen. The optimum temperature is 60 degrees, but if the products are disinfected, washing at 95 degrees is also possible. We also allow spinning at maximum speed;
• Satin. To care for it, use powders without bleach. A suitable temperature is 40-60 degrees, spinning is 600 revolutions. With proper care, satin sets will remain bright and neat after 200 or even 300 washes;
• Bamboo. Bamboo fabric is washed without the use of bleach, dry cleaning, on a delicate cycle at 30 degrees, using a weak spin;
• Calico. Do not pre-soak to prevent discoloration. The recommended temperature indicator is 40 degrees. Coarse calico sets can withstand about 200 washes;

• Silk. Silk bed linen is washed manually without spinning. The maximum temperature is 30 degrees. For fabric softening and antistatic properties, conditioner should be used. Despite the fact that silk is an elite material, it can withstand about 300 washes;
• Poplin. Durable, unpretentious and virtually crease-resistant fabric. Poplin linen is washed on the "cotton" program, wrung out at 600 rpm;
• Percale. This fabric is considered one of the best, but it does not require special care. The first wash of the product should be carried out at 20 degrees, all the rest at 60;
• Jacquard. Refers to the elite types of textiles. In order for jacquard linen to remain bright for much longer, it is washed at a temperature of no more than 40 degrees;
• Viscose. This material is very delicate. It is important to wash it at temperatures ranging from 20 to 40 degrees. Do not wring out viscose products.

Before washing bedding sets, be sure to sort it into color and white.

The first few times after the purchase, colored laundry is washed at a temperature of 20-30 degrees. In the future, washing at 40 or 60 degrees is possible. For such fabrics, detergents for colored laundry are used. Typically, these powders and liquid gels are labeled "Color". If the colored product is heavily soiled, it is washed in the "prewash" mode.

In order for the smallest households to have a sound and healthy sleep, you need to know how to properly care for baby bedding.

In the past, boiling was the main aspect of washing children's laundry. Now, with the advent of the automatic machine and special care products, the laundry began to look different. The main thing is to follow some rules:

• It is imperative to wash children's belongings separately from the belongings of other family members. It is best to have a separate laundry basket for them;
• It is recommended to wash immediately so that the material will absorb less dirt;
• Use only hypoallergenic washing powders and gels made specifically for children;
• If there are traces of juice, baby food or other food on the product, then it must be washed before the main wash;
• Thoroughly rinse out the laundry;
• Do not dry outdoors to avoid getting dirt on textiles;
• It is recommended to iron children's underwear at least until the child reaches three years of age.

Newborn bedding needs to be washed at a temperature of 90-95 degrees or by using the special program in the machine for washing children's clothes. For bed linen of older children, the washing mode is set depending on the type of fabric. Most often, children's products are made of cotton. After the main wash, it is necessary to additionally rinse the laundry in order to completely rinse out the residues of the detergents.

The correct detergents for washing baby clothes should be practically odorless. Their label usually has a 0+ sign. The composition should not contain fragrances, chlorine and phosphates.

Fans of bed linen in snow-white tones notice that after a short period of time their favorite light sets turn yellow or turn gray. The reason is that the elements in the powder react with hardness salts in the composition of the water, thus coloring the material. In addition, bedding becomes yellow if left unused or stored next to stale items.

You can find a wide range of bleaching products in household chemicals stores. They are optical, oxygen and chlorine-based. Their features:

• Optical brighteners are found in powders. They only create the visual effect of whiteness, but in reality, whitening does not occur, since they do not remove dirt and stains;
• Oxygen bleaches are safe because they do not contain chlorine. They bleach effectively even in cold water and can be used on delicate types of fabrics. The only drawback of this tool is its high price;
• Chlorine-based products are inexpensive, perfectly disinfect and bleach products perfectly. Applicable for hand wash only. This type of bleach has quite a few disadvantages. It can damage tissue, is unsafe for the respiratory tract, and often causes an allergic reaction. When using this product, it is necessary to ventilate the room, use a protective mask and gloves.

In addition to store-bought bleaches, many people use folk methods. Let's consider a few of the most common ones:

• Boiling. Cotton and linen items can be washed at very high temperatures, so boiling is allowed for these fabrics. In addition to effective bleaching, boiling is excellent at eliminating unpleasant odors if stored wet. The boiling process is as follows:
  1. A white cloth is placed on the bottom of the enamel pot;
  2. Make a solution of soap or powder. Stains can be additionally lathered;
  3. A well-straightened set of linen is placed in a saucepan, filled with prepared soapy water;
  4. In the presence of severe contamination, add 1 tablespoon of ammonia to the container;
  5. Boil the linen for at least an hour, stirring it with a wooden stick.

• Another whitening product known to housewives since Soviet times is "White". It contains chlorine, for this reason it can only be used for hand washing and only for cotton products. To prepare the solution, you need to add 1 tablespoon of "Whiteness" to 3 liters of water. Place things in the solution for half an hour, then rinse thoroughly;
• Baking soda it is also a good and safe bleach. Add 5 tablespoons of ammonia to 10 liters of water and mix with 10 tablespoons of soda. Light underwear is placed in the prepared solution for 2-3 hours. Then they wash in an automatic machine;
• Hydrogen peroxide whitens well all types of fabric. You need to wash your laundry first. Prepare a solution by mixing together 30 ml of peroxide, 30 ml of ammonia and 5 liters of water. Soak the washed laundry in the resulting solution for half an hour. Then rinse and dry.

To remove stains from heavily soiled bedding at home, it must first be soaked in water at a temperature not higher than 40 degrees. It is especially important to observe the temperature regime during washing if there are stains on the textiles from cake, cream or other similar products, since at high temperatures they tend to curl up, and it will be very difficult to get rid of these stains later.

You can also use to remove stains. pre-wash in the machine. The temperature should be set at 60 degrees. The laundry in this program is prepared for the main wash from half an hour to an hour. Remaining stains will be removed during the main wash.

Bed linen should be changed as it gets dirty, on average once every seven days. During this period of time, the laundry loses its freshness, but is still easy to clean. In the cold season, you can change the sets once every two weeks, since a person uses pajamas and closed home clothes for sleeping.

It is recommended to wash pillowcases more often because of their rapid contamination as a result of contact with the skin of the face and hair, on which traces of decorative cosmetics remain. In that case, if a person is sick and has fever, then his set of linen should be washed daily.

Dry bedding immediately after washing. If the laundry is dried in a typewriter, then it is necessary to use the delicate mode for this. When drying textiles outdoors or on an open balcony, it is recommended to turn them inside out to protect the fabric from fading.

There are many opinions on ironing bed linen. Someone thinks that ironing is necessary, while someone is of the opinion that this process is an unnecessary waste of time. Let's take a look at all the advantages and disadvantages of ironing.

The advantages are:

• Ironed linen becomes softer to the touch and more comfortable to sleep on;
• After ironing, textiles look neat and flawless;
• Ironed bedding will last longer;
• Ironing removes all germs and bed mites.

Among the shortcomings, the following should be noted:

• In the summertime, it is less comfortable to sleep on ironed linen;
• High energy consumption for ironing one or several sets;
• Some fabrics become highly electrified after the ironing.

For more information on how to wash bedding in a washing machine, see the next video.