It’s that time of year again! Christmas will be here sooner than we imagine! With that also comes colder weather. One of the most difficult things about winter is the extra clothing for washing that often accumulates. More often than not, the extra clothing is bulky and hard to wash.

Washing Winter Sweaters | Fluff and Fold Raleigh NC

Sweaters are our cold weather go-to, as they’re easy to layer and can keep us warm during cold winter nights. The problem is, it’s hard to know how to wash a sweater without causing it to shrink or lose its shape! Thankfully our laundry experts are here to offer a few tips to help you keep your winter sweaters safe from washing mishaps!

Read the Care Label | Fluff and Fold Raleigh NC

Even if you don’t follow it perfectly, it’s always important to read your sweater’s care label. The label acts as a guide so that you know what the material can or cannot handle. While you can wash most all types of fabric in the washing machine, there is one exception. Dry Clean Only. If your care label says that, drop everything and start a dry cleaning basket that you can take directly to your local Raleigh Laundromat. If you wash the items labeled dry clean only, you’ll end up with a shrunken sweater that might even be too small for the dog to wear! Take heed and follow the label instructions!

Some care labels might say Dry Clean. As long as those two words aren’t followed by Only, you’ll be able to wash them safely in the washing machine without too much worry.

You do, however, have to be careful with sweaters, no matter what the care labels say. Keeping sweaters looking great, wash after wash, takes time and effort. Especially if they’re a softer fabric, sweaters can change in appearance before we even realize it happened. They can pill, stretch, pick and of course, shrink. The key is to find out exactly how to care for each individual sweater you own and always wash it the same way; every time.

That’s right. We must wash our sweaters by fiber type to ensure they continue to look good, wash after wash. Unfortunately, there’s no routine that will work for all sweaters. Specific sweater fabrics range from cashmere to silk to wool. It’s difficult to wash them all in the same load without one coming looking like a totally different garment.

Thankfully, our laundry experts have come up with a way to wash each sweater fabric type and in our next blog post, we are going to share the tips with you! Be sure to visit back with us soon!

Laundry Express | Fluff and Fold Raleigh NCVisit us soon

If you’re running yourself ragged, trying to keep up with all the extra laundry, also be sure to check out our fluff and fold services in Raleigh NC! We offer state of the art machines for washing and drying. We also offer other laundry services that include dry cleaning, wash-dry-fold, and stain removal! Don’t fall behind on laundry when we are here to help! Visit us soon!

Raleigh Laundromat: Make Your Own Dryer Balls!

Hello! In our last post we talked a bit about dryer balls. Dryer balls are usually made of wool and are great dryer sheet alternatives. They’re all-natural and help cut drying time, as well. Today, we are going to offer a DIY way to make dryer balls!

You Will Need | Raleigh Laundromat

• Blunt-tipped needle or crochet hook
• Pantyhose
• Scissors
• Skein of 100% wool yarn (NOT wool labeled “superwash” or “machine washable”)
• String or cotton/acrylic yarn (to secure the wool ball in the pantyhose)

To Make:

• Begin wrapping your wool yarn around your first two fingers about 10 times.
• Pinch the bundle of yarn in the middle and pull off your fingers. Wrap more yarn around the middle of this bundle.
• Wrap yarn around the entire bundle until you have the beginnings of a ball.
• Continue wrapping tightly until your ball is the desired size. (I make mine softball-sized to help cut drying time more, but tennis ball or baseball-sized will help save money on yarn.)
• Use a blunt-tipped yarn needle or crochet hook to tuck the end of the thread under several layers of yarn. Pull it through and cut the end.
• Repeat these steps with more yarn until you have 4-6 balls.
• Cut the leg off an old pair of pantyhose. Put balls into the toe of the pantyhose, tying tightly in between each one with string, or cotton/acrylic yarn. (Just don’t use wool yarn or it will felt around the pantyhose.) Tie off the end. Take a few minutes to play with your yarn ball caterpillar if you like.

To Felt Dryer Balls

• Throw the entire yarn caterpillar into the wash with towels (or a load of jeans if you used brightly colored yarn).
• Wash in a hot wash cycle with a cold water rinse cycle. Dry your yarn caterpillar with your laundry using the hottest dryer setting.
• Remove balls from pantyhose and check for felting. Some types of wool yarn will not felt well on the first try. You may need to repeat the washing and drying cycles up to 3 or 4 times. You’ll know felting has occurred when you can gently scrape your fingernail over the ball and strands do not separate.

These dryer balls are easy to make and great to use at home or give away as gifts! If you’d like, you can invest in a good quality essential oil to add fragrance to the dryer balls! As long as you use a good quality oil, you won’t have to worry about oil stains on your clothing!

For more laundry tips be sure to visit back with our blog soon! We have tons of laundry tricks to help you keep your laundry stresses at bay! If you’re running yourself ragged, trying to keep up with all the extra laundry, also be sure to check out our Raleigh Laundromat! We offer state of the art machines for washing and drying. We also offer laundry services that include dry cleaning, wash-dry-fold, and stain removal! Don’t fall behind on laundry when we are here to help! Visit us soon!

Welcome back! Our Raleigh Laundromat is back with more great tips for common stains and how to remove them! As we all well know, stained laundry can really put us at a disadvantage when trying to quickly wash a load during a busy day. Pre-treating is important and these steps will help you know what to do with each type of stain! Below, Tide.com offers a few tips that will help you cut laundry time in half!

Raleigh Laundromat: Stain Removal Tips!

Deodorant Stains:

• Brush the excess stain off the surface of the fabric.
• Rinse in cold water to dilute the stain.
• Wash in warm water with detergent of choice.
• If stain remains, repeat steps before drying.

Dirt Stains:

• Try using a stain release product. Just add it to your wash along with your regular detergent.

-OR-

• Brush the excess stain off the surface of the fabric.
• Rinse in cold water to dilute the stain.
• Using a PLASTIC bucket, create a soak solution by adding 1/2 use cup of favorite liquid detergent per gallon of cold water.
• Allow the garment to soak for up to 30 minutes, weighting the item with a WHITE towel to keep it totally submerged.
• Wash in warm water with favorite detergent.
• If stain remains, repeat steps before drying.

Fruit Juice Stains:

On the Go Tips:

• Wet a cloth with warm water and blot.
• Repeat with club soda if necessary.
• Or, if available, use an instant stain remover pen or other type of instant solution you have on hand.
• Remove excess residue from stain.
• Press the tip onto the stain several times to release some stain remover solution.
• Rub tip gently across stain to remove it. When necessary, add more liquid and continue to rub gently.
• Important: If treated area will be exposed to direct sunlight , wipe with damp cloth or napkin to remove excess solution.

Regular Washing Tips for Fruit Juice:

• Rinse in cold water to dilute the stain.
• Pretreat with liquid detergent of choice. Pour liquid detergent on to cover stain and let set for 20 minutes.
• Wash in warm water with detergent of choice.
• If stain remains, repeat steps before drying.

For more laundry tips from our Raleigh Laundromat, be sure to visit our blog again, soon! Also, if you need help with your daily washing chores, stain removal or more, visit us! We offer wash dry fold in Raleigh NC, dry cleaning and more!