page_title: Laundry
section_title: Common problems
hierarchical_section_title: Laundry / Common problems
caption_attribution_description: English: "Directions for Washing the New Britain Standard Hygienic Underwear" made by the New Britain Knitting Co., New Britain, Connecticut; store Web page states item (a "Sheet") was published in "1910s"; listed in the "paper" category of eBay; object includes a rendering of a factory
context_page_description: Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles. Laundry processes are often done in a room reserved for that purpose; in an individual home this is referred to as a laundry room, Laundry in Australian English or utility room. An apartment building or student hall of residence may have a shared laundry facility such as a tvättstuga. A stand-alone business is referred to as a self-service laundry. The material that is being washed, or has been laundered, is also generally referred to as laundry.
  Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this universal human need are of interest to several branches of scholarship. Laundry work has traditionally been highly gendered, with the responsibility in most cultures falling to women. The Industrial Revolution gradually led to mechanised solutions to laundry work, notably the washing machine and later the tumble dryer. Laundry, like cooking and child care, is done both at home and by commercial establishments outside the home.
context_section_description: Novice users of modern laundry machines sometimes experience accidental shrinkage of garments, especially when applying heat. For wool garments, this is due to scales on the fibers, which heat and agitation cause to stick together. In cold countries they dry it with their fireplaces, others just have many or buy more garments in preparation for winter or cold times.  Other fabrics are stretched by mechanical forces during production, and can shrink slightly when heated (though to a lesser degree than wool). Some clothes are "pre-shrunk" to avoid this problem.
  Another common problem is color bleeding. For example, washing a red shirt with white underwear can result in pink underwear. Sometimes only similar colors are washed together to avoid this problem, which is lessened by cold water and repeated washings. Sometimes this blending of colors is seen as a selling point, as with madras cloth.
  Laundry symbols are included on many clothes to help consumers avoid these problems.
  Synthetic fibers in laundry can also contribute to microplastic pollution.
caption: Directions for hand-washing New Britain Standard Hygienic Underwear, circa 1915
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