"How To" Do Laundry

Purpose Sentence The purpose of this speech is to inform my listeners on how to do laundry.

Introduction Forty-five percent of children don't learn how to do laundry until leaving for college. Most children feel that it's not a necessary tool they need to know until they are on their own. Having freshly cleaned pants and blouses each day in your closet seems normal to many kids, but before you know it, those wonderful days will in fact be over. After today, most of you will no longer have to complain about having dirty socks, or not enough clean sweaters. You will indeed become knowledgeable of the one thing most of us dread; laundry. Many of us are graduating and going off to college, and if you don't want your favorite new sweater shrunk on the first day of class, be sure to follow these short and easy steps.

Body I. Doing laundry is something that should be done step by step. When beginning to do laundry, separating the clothes is crucial.

A. First, sort your dirty clothes, making separate piles for whites, bright colors and darks.

-If you mix whites with colors in the wash, the colors may bleed onto and ruin your whites.

B. Also, separate clothes that tend to produce lint (towels, sweatshirts, chenille and flannel) from clothes that tend to attract lint (corduroy, velvets and permanent-press clothes).

- As you sort, close zippers to prevent snagging, and empty pockets.

II. After sorting your clothes, beginning to work the washing machine is the next step.

A. Pretreat heavy stains with laundry detergent or stain remover, heeding instructions on the product label.

B. Use the measuring cap of the detergent bottle or the cup found in detergent boxes to measure out the right amount of laundry soap according to the manufacturer's instructions.

C. Choose the water temperature for the wash cycle:hot, warm or cold; save on energy and opt for a cold rinse cycle for any load. Consult the labels on your clothes, your washing machine's instruction manual or the detergent container for recommendations on washing temperature.

- In general, use cold water to protect colors and darks from bleeding or fading, and to avoid shrinkage. Use warm or hot water for durable fabrics like cotton (make sure they're preshrunk), and to ensure that your whites stay white.

D. Start the washer before adding clothes, if you have time, to allow the detergent to dissolve in the water. The regular cycle suffices for most laundry, but use the gentle cycle for sheer or delicate fabrics. You should adjust the water level to the size of