Washer or dryer ruining clothes?

[Anonymous]

We moved into a new house about 3 months ago. The house has a HE front load washer, but not a new one. I don't know how old, because HE front loaders haven't been around that long, but it's far from the fancy new ones I see. The dryer is ancient. I have a baby and a toddler so I do kids laundry all the time, but I did at the old house too (old washer/dryer were lower-mid end non-HE but new). I've noticed that things like kids towels and burp cloths are all of a sudden deteriorating. I mean shredding at the sides and actually thinning all around. Like I will be able to see through the towels in a few more washes, like they're turning into gauze.

What could cause the sudden wear and tear other than the different washer or dryer? Using same detergent (except switched to HE versions). I also noticed a couple of my and DH's shirts getting some holes and thinning. Which is the culprit? I'm going to lower the dryer heat but I don't want to stop using hot water in the wash for the kids clothes (I use cold on our clothes that I've seen damage to anyway.)

[Anonymous]

A lot of kids clothes just aren't made of the kind of quality to withstand multiple washings/dryings. Your best bet is to line dry.

I always thought hot/cold had to do with the color of the clothing, not hygiene for children's clothing?

[Anonymous]

Check the blades in your washer (the agitator). I had a couple of things shred, and found one of the plastic blades had a chunk ripped out of it, as if someone had bitten into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of kids clothes just aren't made of the kind of quality to withstand multiple washings/dryings. Your best bet is to line dry.

I always thought hot/cold had to do with the color of the clothing, not hygiene for children's clothing?

The temp of washing and drying has to do with fabric and color.

[Anonymous]

It could be that the dryer is getting hotter than what you have used in the past. I use air dry for all my stuff.

[Anonymous]

I use cold water on the kids' stuff, otherwise it shrinks.

Our dryer is hot, so we always run it at the lowest setting.

[Anonymous]

I have NOT been pleased with our front load machines. The wash machine cleans better than my top loader, but it definitely causes me misery. The wash machine (not the dryer) will shrink clothes. My mom had the problem you are talking about with shredding clothes so she just started washing everything in delicate. Not exactly a solution but then she moved.

I have found one thing that helps a lot, but not specifically your situation. That is using non-petroleum based detergent. This was recommended to me for anything with lycra (bras, workout clothes, swimsuits etc) and it's made a huge difference in maintaining the clothes and their spring. And Dreft is still petroleum-based. Bought some stuff at Buy Buy Baby (can't remember what it's called) but the employee told me that when the salesman came him, he drank it to prove it wasn't harsh. Amusing.

[Anonymous]

is it definitely not bugs in the closets?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Not bugs. I'm seeing an all over thinning, not just holes.

I'm starting to think its that I use dreft for the kids clothes and not our clothes. But it seems like its happened more since we moved. I'm also betting the dryer is too hot.

[Anonymous]

Might try using less detergent, too.

[Anonymous]

Check the installation on the washer and dryer. When we moved into our new house, the washer was hooked up with the hot into the cold intake and the cold into the hot, this meant that clothes I thought were being wased cold were actually being washed and rinsed in hot water..... how previous owners did not realise this is a mystery to me!

Also make sure there are no rough spots on the inside of both the washer and the dryer by running your hand along.

Try spinning the clothes at a lower speed - our front loading machines allows us to chose the spin speed - max is very high and only useful for towels.