Laundry Guide
Temperatures, sorting, pre-treatment, and the mistakes that ruin clothes.
Washing temperatures
Cold (20–30°C)
Use for: Delicates, wool, silk, dark or bright colours, lightly soiled items
Avoid for: Heavily soiled items, bedding, towels, underwear
Cold water prevents colour bleed, shrinkage, and fabric damage. Effective for most everyday items with modern low-temperature detergents.
Warm (40°C)
Use for: Cotton, linen, mixed fabrics, everyday clothing, moderately soiled items
Avoid for: Wool, silk, very bright or dark colours for the first few washes
40°C is the sweet spot for most laundry — effective enough to clean, cool enough to avoid shrinkage. The most widely used temperature.
Hot (60°C)
Use for: Bedding, towels, underwear, nappies, any item that needs sanitising
Avoid for: Anything synthetic, delicate, coloured, or with unknown fibre content
60°C kills bacteria and dust mites. Essential for bedding and towels. Use only when the care label explicitly permits it.
Boil wash (90°C)
Use for: White cotton only — heavily stained or contaminated items
Avoid for: Everything except white cotton. Even coloured cottons will fade.
Rarely needed. Most detergents and 60°C achieve the same result without the fabric damage risk. Only reach for this for heavily soiled white cotton.
How to sort laundry
Sort by colour
Whites, lights, and darks in separate loads — at least for the first few washes of a new item. Dye bleed diminishes with each wash, so an old dark t-shirt is safer with lights than a brand new one.
Sort by fabric weight
Heavy items (jeans, towels, hoodies) take longer to dry and the constant rubbing can damage lighter fabrics. Wash heavy and light items separately when possible.
Sort by temperature
Items that need 60°C should not go in with delicates that need 30°C. Mixing forces you to wash everything at the wrong temperature.
Turn dark items inside out
The outside surface of dark clothing fades faster through mechanical abrasion in the drum. Turning items inside out reduces visible fading.
Check pockets
Tissues disintegrate and coat the entire load. Coins scratch the drum. A stray pen can stain everything.
Zip up zips, turn inside out
Open zips can catch and snag other fabrics. Buttons should be undone to prevent the button thread from tearing.
Pre-treating stains
Most machines cannot remove set stains at typical cycle temperatures alone. Pre-treatment is the step most people skip — and the reason stains survive the wash.
- 1
Act immediately
The longer a stain sits, the more it bonds to the fibre. The first 60 seconds matter most for fresh stains.
- 2
Remove excess
Scrape off solids with a flat knife or spoon. Blot liquid stains with a clean cloth — never rub. Start from the outer edge and work inward.
- 3
Identify the stain type
Protein stains (blood, sweat) need cold water first. Oil-based stains need dish soap first. Tannin stains (coffee, wine) need cold water and oxidation.
- 4
Apply the correct treatment
Use the StainMatrix guide for your specific stain and fabric. Let it soak for the recommended time before washing.
- 5
Wash immediately after treating
Do not let a treated stain dry before washing — the treatment needs to be rinsed out along with the stain.
- 6
Check before drying
Examine the item before putting it in the tumble dryer. Heat sets stains permanently. If the stain is still visible, treat again.
Find the exact treatment for your stain and fabric: StainMatrix stain picker →
Common laundry mistakes
✗ Using too much detergent
More detergent does not mean cleaner clothes — excess detergent builds up in fabric fibres, making them stiff and reducing the washing machine's effectiveness over time. Use the recommended dose for your water hardness.
✗ Overloading the machine
Items need to move freely to get clean. A stuffed drum means the detergent can't circulate properly and clothes come out only partially washed. Leave roughly a hand's width of space at the top.
✗ Washing at the wrong temperature
Hot water shrinks wool and silk, sets protein stains, and fades colours. Cold water does not sanitise. Match the temperature to the care label.
✗ Putting stained items in the dryer before the stain is gone
Tumble dryer heat permanently bonds most stains to fabric. Always air dry a stained item after the first wash, check whether the stain is gone, and treat again if not.
✗ Using chlorine bleach on coloured fabric
Chlorine bleach removes colour indiscriminately. Use oxygen-based bleach (sodium percarbonate) instead — it whitens and brightens without destroying dye.
✗ Washing delicates in a hot programme
Wool and silk felt and shrink irreversibly at high temperatures. Always check care labels. When in doubt, hand wash cold.
✗ Skipping the pre-treatment
Most machines wash at temperatures too low to break down set stains without a detergent pre-treatment. A 60-second pre-treatment saves a lot of re-washing.
Care label symbols
Got a stain that survived the wash?