Everyone wants to save time in the laundry room. Making use of laundry washing machines to achieve this seems like a no-brainer. However, there are a lot of don't(s) that come with making use of a traditional washing machine.
Using the washing machine might appear simple- just go ahead and throw all your messy clothes and stuff in it, add your detergent and then hit a certain button.
Now, before you do just that, you may want to take a moment as your next move might just damage your precious clothes or even the laundry washing machine permanently.
A lot of clothing items are better off dry cleaned, or you can go for a better, more convenient way of cleaning. Ultrasonic cleaners for example are very popular these days! They can clean anything and won’t damage your delicate items, have you heard about them?
But for the health of your traditional washing machine let’s dive in and see what you cannot put inside your laundry machine: Table of Contents 20 things not to put inside a laundry washing machine Sonic Soak - The multi-purpose ultrasonic cleaning machine
Table of Contents
- 20 things not to put inside a laundry washing machine
- Sonic Soak - The multi-purpose ultrasonic cleaning machine
20 things not to put inside a laundry washing machine
1. Coins
A lot of times, you may forget your loose change and coins in your pockets. The next thing you notice is your washing machine making a funny sound and all those coins having a swim in the wash. These harmless metal pieces can cause serious damages in the laundry room, like damaging the fins of the drain pump.
Although most people would not throw coins into the wash on purpose, it does not stop the coins from causing accidents and expensive damage should they break the washing machine. Ensure you check all pant and jacket’s pockets for any coins before tossing them into a wash cycle.
2. Flammable Stains
You may have just spilled gasoline on your clothes, trying to fill up your gas. Do not make the mistake of throwing those clothing into a washing machine to get rid of the stain or strong smell.
Highly flammable compounds like gasoline, alcohol, and even cooking oil are not compatible with washing machines, which means they should never mix. Putting garments stained in such compounds can start a house fire.
You can get remove such stains by using a solvent-based stain remover, an ultrasonic cleaning machine, or you can hand-wash the item using hot water and detergent in a sink or bucket.
3. Lingerie
Putting your lingerie in the washer with other garments might be a clothing disaster waiting to happen. For underwire bras, the wires and hooks on and in could hook to other clothes or even on the lingerie itself, thereby ripping them apart and causing tears. The hooks and wires can also hook onto the washing machine parts resulting in interior damage of the laundry washer.
The swimsuits may lose its elasticity faster in washing machines, as the materials cannot withstand heat. To avoid ruining your beach outfits, hand-wash your lingerie, or you can buy a lingerie bag to wash your delicate items in it.
4. Keys
Keys often find themselves in the corners of our pockets, especially the house keys and car keys. It is not a coincidence that they often end up taking a swim in our laundry wash as we sometimes forget to take them out. Nobody wishes to wash their keys on purpose. This may leave scratches on the interior of the washing drum or cause more expensive damages if it gets stuck in the filters and valves. It gets worse if you own an electric car, or you use key-less entries for your properties. The water around such items may cause them to short-circuit or malfunction. Taking out keys always is the safest solution.
5. Clothes With Pet Hair
If you have ever kept a pet with lots of furs, then you do know already that pet hair can annoyingly appear everywhere- on the bed, rugs, jackets, etc. Putting an item that is covered with excessive pet hairs in a laundry washing machine is simply not recommended. Furs when wet can stick together and to the sides of the laundry washer. It can even get on other clothes or even clog drain pipes.
Before you put pet hair covered garments into your machine, use a lint roller or a vacuum for pet hair to remove as much hairs as possible!
6. Running Shoes Especially With Leather
Washing regular sneakers in a washing machine are pretty fine. It helps to keep the delicate colors in good condition. However, putting running shoes in the washer could end up being an expensive mistake. Most running shoes that go in the laundry machine might shrink and come out smaller than they were earlier. The athletic sneakers with leather accents tend to lose the leather as they peel off.
Before you put your running shoes in the wash cycle, ensure they are approved for such wash or better still, use a brush and anti-grease detergent to wipe off stubborn stains.
7. Small Clothing
Congratulations on your graduation to "Detective", you may have solved the mystery case of your constant missing socks, small washcloths and baby clothes- your laundry washer is the culprit. These small items get stuck in the hoses and vents of the laundry washing machine. This may lead to a flood in the laundry room, and nobody enjoys a flood.
Try using enclosed mesh bags to accommodate your socks and other minute items to make sure they are never left behind. You could also take care of this category of garments by hand-washing them.
8. Waterproof Clothing
It’s not because some clothes are waterproof that they are compatible with machine wash!
When washed with a washing machine, cloth materials, like raincoats and mattresses, trap water and have a balloon-like effect, which will eventually explode during the wash cycle. This will distribute the pieces of waterproof items into other spaces. It may lead to a highly unbalanced condition that may cause the washing machine to explode and making a huge mess.
9. Lace Items
Lace materials are too fine and fragile to go into a machine washer. Its net-like patterns are tiny and thin, which means they can withstand the tumbles of a laundry washing machine. These delicate garments are better off hand-washed. Make use of cold water and avoid excessive scrubbing so as not to make rip the clothing. If you insist on throwing them into the machine, then at least put them in a mesh bag to prevent snagging and tearing. After wash, hang to dry instead of putting in a dryer.
10. Ties
If you accidentally spilled on your tie, maybe wine or coffee, do not panic. The stains can be removed but surely not by using a traditional washing machine.
Ties are made from fine delicate fabrics like wool and silk. They may also have detailed stitching and embroidery. Tossing them in a laundry machine cleaner would lead to shrinkage, loss of color, and/or outright damage. You can spot-treat the ties to remove the stains, or use an ultrasonic cleaner, which is probably the best technic!
11. Any Item With Rubber
When you are doing your laundry, do not toss any item partially made of rubber into the mix. The heat generated during the wash destroys the adhesive that is holding it in place, not to lose form or shape. The rubber will either come apart and become distorted, or it will melt away, and this can damage the pump if a significant quantity of it gets past the filter and trapped in the valves.
Although some rubber-backed materials like your bath rugs and mats can withstand the heat from a delicate washing, never throw them into a dryer.
12. Precious Stuffed Animals
There is nothing wrong with putting stuffed animals into the washing machine. Throwing them together with other laundry items isn't a big deal either. However, the wash cycle may tear off a button or an eye, and if it is your child's favorite teddy, you might just want to rethink putting them in the laundry washer in the first place.
13. Memory Foam Pillows
Memory foam pillows, except stated on their labels, are not machine washable. They have an open-cell structure, and submerging them in water will turn them too soggy bricks. They will also disintegrate into pieces if they go through a wash cycle. You could manage them by spot cleaning when necessary.
14. Sweaters
Sweaters made from delicate materials like velvet, cashmere, or wool can be ruined if they are spin washed. They cannot withstand the harsh actions of a washing machine, and this can make them smaller or matted. Use mesh bags to limit the quantity of friction it is subjected to and always air dry as against putting in a dryer.
15. Embellished Garments
Embellished garments are not made for machine washing. Anything with sewn-on or glued-on details are too delicate to be toss in your washing machine as there is a slim chance, they will make it out unscathed. To preserve these garments, hand-wash, take to a dry cleaner for a professional wash, or use an ultrasonic clothes washer.
16. Pens
Empty your pockets before doing any laundry. If pens find themselves in a pile of laundry, it could explode during the wash cycle. This spill ink everywhere in the machine and making a mess of your wash.
17. Purses
Throw your expensive purses into a washing machine at your peril. Dirty leather or suede purses get their shapes distorted, and the material harmed if washed in a laundry machine. Furthermore, the zipper and any exterior embellishments can easily get messed up. Go for ultrasonic cleaners- ultrasonic mini washing machine like Sonic Soak can do the trick
18. Suits
Suits are sewn from the best quality fabrics. These fabrics are more delicate and can shrink or tear even in a delicate wash. Take your suits to dry cleaners and use a steamer to rid it of any wrinkles.
19. Clothes and Items With Zippers and Buttons
Clothes with zippers and buttons can be washed with a laundry washing machine, but they have to be tossed in correctly. Zip the zippers all the way to prevent it from snagging on delicate garments or scratching the interiors of the washer. All buttons must be unbuttoned to prevent the buttonholes from tearing or pulling the buttons. Better solutions like ultrasonic cleaning machine solutions can be deployed.
20. Excessive Detergent
Too much detergent does not necessarily make cleaner clothes. On the contrary, using detergents and liquid soaps above the recommended levels harm both your clothes and washing machine. Clothes may have soapier residue and require more rinsing. The washing machine can also overtime build up molds on the interior walls of the machine. This will call for extra cleaning for both your clothes and machine.
Sonic Soak - the Multi-Purpose Ultrasonic Cleaning Machine
A lot has been said about all the items that cannot be taken by traditional laundry washing machine. What if there is a cleaning tool that can handle absolutely all your cleaning?
Sonic Soak is a mini ultrasonic cleaning machine designed to clean your delicates without damaging them. It can wash all your laundry down to a microscopic level by creating modulated ultrasonic frequency waves. These modulated ultrasonic waves travel in the washing by generating cavitation bubbles. It is the implosion of these cavitation bubbles that deeply wash your items. These implosions will generate a huge scrubbing effect on the items, thereby eliminating contaminants.
Sonic Soak gently handles your entire cleaning needs (clothes, jewelry, dishes, fruits and veggies…), emitting ultrasonic waves at 5000Hz per second. It has a frequency regulator and an adjustable timer for better controls. Some of the advantages of Sonic Soak over conventional washers include:
It is quick
It’s eco-friendly
It cleans everything and anything
It is portable and lightweight
It is silent
The main thumbs up of this ultrasonic clothes washer is its versatility, which enables it to do a better cleaning on even the non-compatible items of washing machines.
Conclusion
We often take the risk to harm our belongings like our clothes. Most times we even forget them. Modern ultrasonic cleaners are good alternatives and they have so many advantages. We strongly recommend the portable ones like Sonic Soak for all your household laundry washing and general cleaning.