How To Do Laundry + Make Your Clothes Smell Insanely Good

Whether you're a college student moving into the dorm rooms, getting your first apartment or it's just time to learn, this shows you exactly how to laundry and make your clothes smell really good. 

There is nothing better than clean clothes and sheets and to do that, you need to know how to do laundry.

My mom taught me how to do laundry when I was in middle school but I know a lot of my friends who have never had to do their own laundry (uhm also my boyfriend). Not judging at all, just plain jealous that your mom was willing to still do it for you ;).

I am showing you exactly how I do my laundry and the products I use to make my clothes smell good. There's some really tips and tricks that will guarantee you to get compliments with how good you smell!

It's honestly really easy, especially when you know the exact steps you need to do.

This post shows you exactly how to do laundry and how to make your clothes smell good.

How To Do Laundry:

**If you are unsure on how to wash a piece of clothing, find the label. The label is usually at the top or on the side of the clothing and will give you recommendations on how to wash that specific piece.

What products do you need to do your laundry?

The only things you really need to do your laundry is a laundry machine, dirty clothes, and some detergent.

Everything else is just extra to help make the laundry process easier and/or make your clothes smell better.

The products above are the products I personally use for my laundry:

• Kirkland Detergent Pods: I buy these from Costco. You can get detergent in pods, liquid, or crystals. I used liquid detergent in college (I'll tell you why further down) and now use the pods.
• Downy Calm Softener: This stuff smells AMAZING. Highly, highly recommend. This is a fabric softener so it will make your clothes softer and fresher. I get this in the flavor Lavender and Vanilla Bean. 
• Oxiclean Stain Remover: This stuff is amazing! Whenever I have a stain, I will spray it own, leave for five minutes, than throw it in my washing machine. The stains always come out. 
• Downy Unstoppables: I use this if I am not using the Downy Calm Softener. I find that the two together are too strong of a smell, but alone it smells amazing! 
• Shout Color Catcher: This stuff is AMAZING!! You throw it in with your laundry and it catches any color that bleeds off of your clothes. It's amazing to see how the sheet starts off white and ends up a dark grey after (I show a pic of this below). 
• Fabric Softener Dryer Sheets: I am almost positive these do the same thing as the Downy Calm Softener but these also do an amazing job at making my clothes smell good.

Can you tell a theme?! I am clearly very worried about how my clothes smell .

Try these products out for yourself:

{RELATED POST: Everything I Bought For My First Apartment}

Step #1: How To Separate Clothes for Washing

Sorting your clothing into appropriate piles is definitely one of the most important parts of doing your laundry because you do NOT want your colors to bleed and ruin your clothes.

I sort my laundry by darks, lights, whites, and then sheets and towels. A LOT of people recommend doing your workout clothes in a separate load so definitely do that if you want, but I personally don’t.

Breakdown of how to sort clothing:

• Dark
• Light
• Whites
• Sheets + Towels (be careful if they are different colors)

Want to see exactly How To Do Laundry in a video?!

Step #2: How To Get Stains Out Of Clothes

To make sure that you are really getting out stains in clothing, I recommend using a stain remover product. 

I simply spray this onto the stain and let it sit for 5 minutes before throwing it into the wash. 

This OxiClean Stain Remover is my favorite brand and can literally get stains out of anything...including all the tanner on my white sheets ;).

Step #3: How To Know What Settings The Washing Machine Should Be On

Okay, so now that stains have been dealt with, Add ONE load to the washing machine with the correct water temperature.

Having the right water temperature can make sure that the dye from your clothes doesn’t leak on each other and ruin the rest of your clothing.

This is the water temperatures I stick with (and is recommended):

For darks, you need to do cold water.

For lights, I do cold or cool water.

For whites, do hot water.

For sheets and towels, do them depending on what color they are. Since my sheets are white I do them hot.

{RELATED POST: First Apartment Grocery List | THE ULTIMATE LIST OF KITCHEN ESSENTIALS YOU NEED FOR YOUR FIRST APARTMENT}

Step #4: What products do you put into the washing machine?

First, you're going to add your detergent. Reminder - this can come in forms of pod, liquid, or crystals. Follow the directions on the packaging for how much you should add depending on your load size.

I do NOT recommend getting pods if you're living in the dorm rooms. For me, no washing machine was strong enough to break the pod down and the plastic would get melted onto a piece of my clothing and ruin it!! 

Next, it's time to add softener (this is optional just what I do!). I use the Downy Calm Softener for this. Once again, read the packaging for how much should be added. 

I also add in these color catchers to every load. I am terrified of my clothes bleeding, even though I sort them appropriately, and this makes sure no color bleeds on anything. 

Lastly, add your clothes. Choose the correct water temperature (read above for help with that). You're washing machine may have other buttons to adjust. On my personal washing machine, I set these to "auto-sensing" so I don't have to worry about it. Press start.

Step #5: How To Dry Clothes

First, check your lint tray and make sure it is empty.

Then begin transferring clothes over from the washing machine to dryer.

 I DO NOT dry workout clothings, jeans with a lot of holes, bras, or any sweaters that I really like. Be extra careful with sweaters in general because you don't want them to shrink. The label will tell you if you can dry it or not! I just let these air dry. 

For the rest of the clothes, I turn on the dryer for the longest heat setting. Once it’s done, I try to get the clothes hung up or my bed made ASAP so that there is no wrinkles. Sometimes I’m better at this than others ;).

So, how often do you need to do your laundry?!

Well, some things I wash more than others. Obviously, workout clothes and underwear I wash after every wear (most of the time...sometimes the workout clothes can get away with being worn again).

I try to barely wash my jeans. I know some people never wash their jeans and then just do a jean load every other month.

Ever since I moved into my first apartment, I am trying to be REALLY good about doing my bedding and towels so every Sunday I have been cleaning them. I absolutely did not do this in college!!

 Just find a routine that works for you and your schedule.

{RELATED POST: The Ultimate First Apartment Checklist | Every Single Thing You Need In Your First Apartment}

There really isn’t an exact way to do your laundry this is just what works for me and keeps my clothes from getting ruined.

 If you have any laundry questions, comment them below and I would love to answer them. For more decorating, organizing, and cleaning videos make sure to follow me on Instagram!

This post was all about how to do laundry.