Laundry Detergent: Before or After Clothes?

Most people do not know how to use laundry detergent rightly. Straying from the correct method of dealing with laundry detergent can damage your clothes. Doing laundry is not as simple as it seems. You need to learn a long way to master this art.

Does laundry detergent go in before or after the clothes is still a question, which demands a detailed answer? Here is how you should do it.

Can I Put Detergent on Top of Clothes?

It is not safe for your clothes to have detergent on the top, especially when you are using liquid detergent.

Detergent is normally poured into the separate detergent compartment. However, in top load washing machines, the compartment is usually absent. The problem arises specifically in this case. Therefore, it is better to pour the detergent before adding load to the washer.

The right sequence is:

Water

Detergent

Clothes

Once the washer gets filled with water, it is time to add the right amount of detergent. Make sure to not pour a lot of detergent. Some detergents are already much concentrated. Once added, you should give it a quick mix to ensure that the detergent has blended well with water. When it gets mixed thoroughly, it’s time you put laundry in the washer.

That was all about liquid detergent. However, in the case of powder laundry detergent, you can sprinkle the detergent on the top of your clothes. As powder cannot form splotches, so it cannot be a problem. But if you cannot risk destroying your clothes, it is better to add the powder laundry detergent in the washer before adding the clothes.

What Happens if You Put Detergent Directly on Clothes?

Putting the detergent directly on clothes will leave spots and splotches on your clothes. When left for a long time on the clothes, liquid detergent leaves stains that can be seen in daylight.

These stains can go away easily if you wash them right away. However, they can be a problem if the stains are left there for really long.

Also, leaving detergent for a long time on the top of clothes can cause damage to them. Detergents these days are formulated with some harsh chemicals. They do not harm clothes if mixed with water in the right amount. However, if you pour the detergent directly on the load, you are risking your clothes.

Therefore, it is better to avoid pouring detergent on the top of the load to prevent any possible damage.

What is the Correct Way to do Laundry?

Almost every adult has to do laundry at least once in their life. Not knowing the correct method of doing laundry puts you at risk of damaging your clothes. Here is a simple step-by-step guide to doing laundry the correct way.

Sort Laundry

Sorting the laundry is the first and important step. Never put colored and white clothes together in the washer. Rather it is essential to separate them out before starting the process of laundry.

In case you need a Laundry Sorter, we recommend THIS ONE at Amazon.

Pretreat Your Laundry

This step is essential if your clothes are heavily stained. You don’t necessarily need a separate pretreat solution for this purpose. Laundry detergent will do the job perfectly.

If the stains are greasy, liquid laundry detergent will be a great choice. However, for muddy and dry stains, you can soak the clothes in a solution of powder detergent to treat the stains.

Read this post for more information: Soaking Clothes In Detergent: What You Need To Know

Add the Detergent

In the case of High-Efficiency or front-load washer, you can pour the detergent directly into the detergent compartment just before the start of the washing cycle.

In the case of the top-loading washing machine, you will need to pour the detergent straight into the drum. Keep in mind the order I have mentioned above-water, detergent, and then clothes.

Some detergents are more concentrated than others, which is why a specific amount cannot be mentioned. To avoid any mishap, it is better to read the instructions at the back of the laundry detergent can. This will help you to avoid adding a lot of detergents.

Select the Right Cycle

Select the right wash cycle according to the clothes you have added to the washer. Make sure to not overfill the washer and use cold water for laundry. Warm water can be used in case of very dirty laundry.

In the whole process of laundry, the most important step is when and how you pour in the detergent. Using other things like fabric softener is just extras. You can add it if you like, or otherwise, just skip it. They are used to keep the clothes smelling fresh for a long.

It is also recommended to not overfill the washer. Filling the washing machine might harm the washer as well as your clothes. Also, the final washed clothes will not be as clean as they should be.

Can You Put Laundry Detergent Straight into the Drum?

In the case of a top-load washing machine, you have to pour laundry detergent straight into the drum because there is no other choice. You do not have separate compartments, usually in top-load washers. So this is how you pour in the laundry detergent.

If you own a high-efficiency or front-load washers, you will see separate compartments for laundry detergent as well as for bleach. In this case, you have to use those compartments instead of adding detergent on the top of the load.

How Much Laundry Detergent should be Added to the washer?

A tablespoon of laundry detergent for a medium load is enough. However, the amount increases or decreases as you increase or decrease the load. It also depends on whether or not you have pretreated the clothes. If you did pretreat all the clothes, it is ideal to add half less than the recommended amount of laundry detergent.

If you have pretreated one or two garments only, you can pour the recommended amount of detergent.

Never add the laundry detergent to the washer without measuring it. Some of them are concentrated while others are not. Sometimes a lot of detergent gets poured into the washer, which leads to damage to clothes.

Do You Use Detergent When Washing White Clothes?

Yes, detergent should be added while washing white clothes. There is no reason to not use it. You should also add a good amount of bleach with it to keep the clothes white. Here is the correct way of washing white clothes.

Separate Out All the Whites

Throwing everything together in the washer will turn into a disaster. The right method is to separate all the white clothes from the colored ones. This is the most essential step to prevent your clothes from a mess.

Some colored fabrics leave dye in the water. This dye can stick to the white garments in the washing machine, resulting in the white clothes getting completely destroyed. Special care should be given to white garments.

Add detergent and bleach to the washer.

Fill your washing machine with water, and then add about a cup of bleach to it. It is better to look for the correct measurements on the bleach can.

After that, pour in the laundry detergent normally as you do for the colored laundry.

Let the two of them get combined thoroughly. Chlorine bleach, when combined with laundry detergent makes it easy to remove stubborn stains. Not only can you clean white clothes, but a number of other items like bath towels and tablecloths can also be cleaned efficiently.

In the case of the front-load washer, you will see separate compartments for both bleach and detergent. Make sure to add these liquids to their respective compartments. Otherwise, it can lead to a disaster. The front-load washing machine is capable of dispensing the liquids at the right time.

After adding the chlorine bleach and detergent, put the white clothes in the washer and start the cycle.

Note: You cannot wash all the white garments in bleach. Some fabrics cannot withstand bleach. Is recommended to test a small area of that particular fabric with a drop of bleach. After few minutes, wash that part. If no damage occurs, you can use the bleach on that fabric safely. 

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All things considered

This whole discussion concludes that we should always put water in the washer and then pour in the detergent. Laundry detergent should never be added to the top of clothes as it can leave stains and form splotches.

This is true for top-load washers. For front-load washing machines, you got separate compartments for detergent and bleach. So this would not be an issue whether to put the clothes first or the detergent.

To get top-notch results, it is great to use color-friendly bleach combined with detergent to wash clothes. It keeps the white clothes white and colored garments extremely clean.