How to Hand Wash Clothing

First, can I say I loooooooove the powdered detergent I made?  Seriously, it's the only thing I use with my whites (all of our towels are white, so that's a lot!) and I'm already out.  Good thing it's fun {and cheap} to make! 

Sad, but true.
I have so many things that require handwashing and I never have the time to do it... so they stay at the bottom of the laundry pile for months. on. end.  (Seriously, I found a Banana Republic sweater that had been down there since last school year.  REALLY?  I am ashamed!)  So neglected, so... stinky (mostly from the clothes being heaped on top... and mostly from my husband.  What is it with men and stink?  Men are so weird.  Haha.  Love mine, though!  Oh man.  There is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful I am a woman!).  I only hand wash items that have appliques on them (beads, flowers, etc) and things I sew for myself.  I know they would be okay in the washing machine, but I just couldn't bear to see one of my babies ruined.

I finally hand washed 6 garments on Sunday and thought- wow, I might as well get a blog post out of this! SO, here is how you handwash your clothing.

1. Spot-treat stains just as you do with clothes you put in the washer/dryer.  I didn't have any stains, so I skipped this step.
2. Fill up your sink or tub (any space big enough for soaking and simulating agitation) with cold water and detergent.

1. Put clothes in the soapy water.  I had 2 loads and washed with like colors like I would typically do.  This load was for bright colors, the other was for whites.
2. Let the clothes soak.  I usually go do something else, forget, and then come back hours later.  It's never caused a problem!

1. Mimic an agitation cycle.  Spin the clothes around with your hand, squeeze the clothes gently to help the water and soap permeate the clothing, and pay special attention to collars and arm pits.

Picture 3.  Hump back.  Check it out.

1. Drain soapy water.

1. Run clothing under cold water to rinse until the water is no longer soapy or bubbly.  Make sure to get all of the detergent out!  If you leave some in your clothes, it can damage the fibers.

1. Drying time!  Gently squeeze as much water out of the item as possible, but try not to twist it-just squeeze gently. Then using a heavy absorbent dry towel, lay the clothing flat and roll it up in the towel, as such:

Step on it!  Check out the nasty-ness of this situation:  My curling iron is still out, I'm in sweatpants I've worn every evening for 3 days straight (that I stole from my sister!), and our bed has no sheets and there are clothes everywhere.  This would be my every-Sunday, cleaning everything!

1. Dry enough to hang!  If something has beads or heavy embellishments, I dry it flat.  Otherwise, I hang dry.

Done!  My dog has an infatuation with 1.  Dirty clothes (my mom told me to take dirty socks with us when we picked him up and put them in his bed so he would learn our scents and be comforted by them.  All he does now is steal our dirty clothes and lay in them.  FREAK.) and 2. Tubs.  It's rather odd.  He screamed at me the whole time I did this.

Anyway, TAKE CARE OF YOUR CLOTHES!

We are finishing the wainscoting (yessss!), so here is what our hall is up to now.  Needing paint and caulk!

My husband is pure. stud.

Got some sweet basement makeover updates comin' at ya soon!