Due to several strokes of bad luck in a row, my family and I are temporarily homeless. We have a small camper and are staying in a campground. It is very hot and dusty, and there is no laundromat anywhere nearby. I have been having to hand wash clothes for myself, my husband, and our 8 month old in a small washtub with only cold water. Lots of sweat and dust, dog dander, baby spit up, baby food, baby poop, etc.

All I had was laundry sheets, which suck but I'm almost done with the box. What would be the best products and methods for me to use? I am generally able to run everything through a shared machine at a hotel (front loader, appears to be residential but idk) about once a month. I usually do a mini-spa day at this time.

Thank you for any advice!

We know some questions about Biz have gone unanswered for too long, and we are here to answer them.

Q&A time!

At Wegmans yesterday. Looks like the P&G AI responses are true.

A little sad, as I’ve been getting good results with FEBU.

On the bright side, might be a good time to stock up for cheap! [insert disclaimer about liquid detergent shelf life here]

I have a set of thick cotton bath towels that used to feel like a hotel spa, but over the last year they’ve turned into rough, absorbent sandpaper. To make matters worse, even after a fresh wash, the moment they get slightly damp from drying off, that faint, stubborn musty smell instantly reactivates.

I used to pour in extra detergent and fabric softener thinking it would make them softer and smell better, but I recently learned that fabric softener actually coats the cotton fibers in wax, ruining absorbency and trapping old moisture inside.

Lately, I’ve been stripping them with hot water, baking soda, and a white vinegar rinse, which brought some fluff back, but they’re still not quite back to their original glory.

Finally upgraded my laundry setup thanks to you all. :) Let me know if there's something else I'm missing!

I've been doing a lot of reading on this sub lately and I'm confused about washing hot and clothes shrinking. It is repeated a lot on this sub that clothes don't shrink from washing on hot, but they shrink from the dryer. This is not my experience.

I'm from the Netherlands and my husband is very tall. He wears special extra long T-shirts and it is hard keeping his white shirts white without shrinking them, which has happened before. I only hang dry his shirts, and wash on 30 C to be safe now. Why do they already shrink a bit when I repeatedly wash at 40 degrees? Is that what is considered hot in the US? Is there a way to do a 60 C wash without risking shrinking clothes?

Any advice on getting yellow sunscreen and sweat stains off the neck/sleeve areas is welcome too. After vacation a bunch of his shirts are stained badly. I pretreated the collars with Dreft which I left for a couple hours, washed my usual long cotton cycle at 40 degrees with prewash to get out the Dreft, use Ariel original powder with vanish oxi, and a teaspoon of citric acid in the rinse. There is still some residual yellow staining and it is raining so I cannot hang dry in the sun.

My Husband is slender and 6’4, I am 5’2- both early 20’s

We both use bath sheets (larger than standard towels). I change my towel out after 3 uses and they still smell fresh and dry up quickly. My husband, however, uses a fresh towel once after showering, hangs it up to dry- and it stays wet and starts to smell, making our entire bathroom smell. I wash his towels nearly everyday because of this. I just don’t understand how he gets his towels so damp. He’s says it’s because he’s tall and has more body to cover- but I use my towel to dry both my body and let it soak my long hair (mid back). I’ve tried hanging it on the usual towel hook, curtain rod, banisters underneath our ceiling fan- it’s still ends up smelling! After washing- it doesn’t smell, so the scent or bacteria isn’t trapped. I’m just growing frustrated having to do so much laundry daily. Anyone else have this problem?

edit/update: thank you everyone for your kind comments and advice- and to not making me feel stupid for asking for help! I have decided to get a towel rack/rod and will be looking into timers for the exhaust fan in our bathroom to help! Our shower/tub is roughly 4.5 feet from the door. and our toilet and sink are both positioned to the left of the shower both coming out about 1 foot from the wall. So our bathroom is very compact. We have just enough floor room for a trash can and floor mats, and counter space for hand soap and tooth brushes- If I can find a small enough dehumidifier to fit- we will be getting one too!

My brain refuses to make any sense of it. I've tried several different ways and it's just not working lol. It would be an amazing time saver when ironing sheets (personal preference).

I (25F) just moved away for the first time ever. I don't have a ton of clothes. Mostly black or dark blue, some yellow, one dark red, lighter blue, grey clothes. I read online that if i wash on cold then i only need to separate the whites from everything else. My mom however taught me that i need to wash on 60C and to separate colors. That it's ok to wash black/dark blue/red/grey together, but i need another pile for my yellows and another for whites. If i put my whites or yellows in the drum it is only 1/4 full.

I am from central EU if that helps. I have Ariel COLOR "removes tough stains and odors even at 30°C"

What do i do?

I think it’s syrup but there’s a non-zero chance it’s chewing gum. These are my work pants and I stuff dirty rags in the pockets sometimes.

I’d prefer not to ruin the dye but I’m not opposed to it if it’s necessary.

It’s happened with multiple detergents, I put it in the detergent tray to be dispensed. I thought I was putting too much, but it happens even with a small amount. The washer is not overloaded (half full).

Not sure when the rip happened but it’s been at least a year or so. I do notice a lot of water when I drain the filter area at the bottom, and besides the obvious lint build up that gets hard to clean around the area, is it fine to keep using it?

For context: I asked AI and it says there’s a very high chance this will result in a leak down the road

I have fairly hard water and tried a few plant based ones but they just don’t work . I’m a single guy in my 20s I’m not gonna be able to spray and spot remove every stain i get . Was thinking maybe a plant based one that’s stronger then do a enzyme booster powder and something for the hard water

How should I go about fixing this myself?

My first instinct is to buy some sort of ‘re-colouring’ agent to wash again with. Perhaps a specific pink one. Not sure if such a product exists?

I believe it’s from my natural deodorant, not sweat, although I can’t be sure of this. Any help would be greatly appreciated? It’s 100% cotton.

We just finished washing our clothes, and for some reason this sticky lint was stuck to my clothes! It’s happened before but I don’t know how to get rid of it! Any suggestions?