If your idea of doing laundry is bunging a load of broadly similar looking items on a 40-degree wash and hoping for the best, it’s not just your clothes and linen you could be damaging but your washing machine, too – not to mention the extra strain on your pocket.
From black jeans turning prematurely grey and towels so stiff, they practically stand up by themselves, to favourite tops falling apart before the season’s out and peculiar smells emanating from your washing machine – a cavalier attitude to laundry can be a costly business.
“Simple things like bothering to follow the instructions on care labels, can add years to the longevity of your clothes,” says Rob Garritano, founder of London cleaning firm, Twinkle Clean.
“It’s amazing how many people don’t even understand what the care label symbols mean,” he adds.
But with just a few tweaks to your current laundry regime, you could be wearing clothes that look as immaculate as the day you bought them, season after season, waking up in crisp, fresh bed-sheets to rival any boutique hotel, and wrapping yourself in eternally soft, fluffy towels, without fear of them turning scratchy.
“Bed linen, table linen, towels and clothes: the laundry can seem like a never-ending chore,” says author of Laundry: Hints And Tips, Cindy Harris.
“However, if you approach it in a methodical way and have some good accessories to help you, you will start off on the right foot and make the task simple and easier to deal with.”
If any of these common laundry mistakes strike a chord, here is how to fix them: