8
Washing hints
You are advised not to leave your laundry too long, especially
when damp. Damp laundry produces moult and unpleasant
smells.
Moult stains cannot be removed.
Sort your laundry.
Study carefully the chart in this booklet explaining the
symbols used on clothes labels (see page 9).
The following points are particularly important :
a line under the bowl means that the garment cannot be
washed using programmes for resistant fabrics such as
cotton and linen;
do not mix coloured garments with whites;
anticrease materials like polyester/cotton should be treated
as synthetics;
non-resistant fabrics like acrylic and most curtain materials
should be treated as delicate fabrics;
the wool programme is designed specifically for pure new
wool. Other types of wool and wool mixtures may shrink or
felt if machine-washed.
Woollen garments should be spun briefly immediately after
washing.
Pre-wash
Pre-wash is not normally necessary. Your new washing
machine combined with modern detergents will give perfect
washing results without pre-wash, thus saving energy,
time, water and detergent.
However, when the laundry is particularly dirty (for example
if you have to wash mechanics' overalls or butchers' aprons),
you are advised to use pre-wash with a biological detergent.
Temperatures
We suggest that white cotton and linen, if it is not excessively
soiled, can be washed at 60° instead of 90°C. There should
be no reduction in performance, but there will be an energy
saving of approximately 30%.
The same applies to a lesser extent to fast coloured
garments.
They usually require a temperature of 60°C but if they are
not excessively dirty, you will have satisfactory results at
40°C.
Garments with non-fast colours should not be washed at
temperatures above 40°C. If fast and non-fast colours are
washed together, they should be treated as non-fast colours
and therefore the temperature should not exceed 40°C.
Resistant white and coloured synthetics can normally be
washed at 60°C but also in this case 40°C is sufficient if the
laundry is not excessively dirty.
Delicate synthetics, synthetics with non-fast colours and
woollen garments must never be washed above 40°C.
As you already know, your washing machine can also wash
with cold water. However, it must be remembered that the
detergents currently on the market have not been designed
for cold washes and that in winter, when the water is very
cold, they may not dissolve adequately.
We suggest the use of liquid detergents.
How much laundry can be washed in one load?
Strictly speaking you should always weigh your laundry.
The drum will take a maximum of 5 kg of cotton and linen.
For synthetics and delicate fabrics, the maximum load is
2,5 kg and for wool, 1 kg.
As weighing can be complicated, we suggest you estimate
the weight according to how full the drum is:
cotton and linen :
drum full not too tighty packed
resistant synthetics :
no more than 2/3 of the drum
delicate fabrics and wool :
no more than 1/2 of the drum.
Before placing the laundry in the machine:
mend all tears, holes and ladders;
secure loose buttons and close poppers and zips;
do not wash frayed garments - mend hems before washing;
remove all small objects from pockets. Nails, pins, clips and
similar objects can seriously damage your washing ma-
chine and laundry;
remove curtain hooks;
wash coloured garments and in particular those with non-
fast colours separately when washing for the first time. They
are likely to lose colour the first time they are washed.
treat obstinate stains such as grass, rust, tar, paint, ink etc.
with a stain remover before washing.
To remove paint stains, for example, use a volatile subs-
tance such as turpentine: in this case, you should wait for it
to dry completely before washing.
The manufacturer of your washing machine is not responsible
for any damage deriving from the use of volatile, inflamma-
ble or toxic substances.
At the end of the washing
Damp laundry should be dried as soon as possible after
finishing the wash.
Knitwear and woollens should be dried flat away from direct
sunlight.
