P&G Myth-Busting Series: You’re Probably Doing Your Laundry Wrong. P&G’s Laundry Experts Explain

There are two types of people in this world – the ones who love laundry day and the ones who don’t. Either way, Procter & Gamble’s laundry experts are here to help make laundry day easier for you.

One way they’re doing this is by delivering #PGInnovation with the launch of a new product – Downy Rinse & Refresh, a new groundbreaking deep-cleansing fabric rinse designed to help remove odor-causing residues. With 1 in 3 households claiming malodor as their top laundry issue, Downy created the perfect addition for your laundry regimen to help solve malodor issues in the first wash, every time.

Let us introduce two of our laundry experts: Sammy Wang and Jennifer Ahoni. Join us in the conversation to help make your laundry days easier and better! What are your favorite laundry products? What does your laundry regimen look like? How often do you do your laundry? And dare we ask...how often do you wash your sheets? We promise we won’t judge.

Sammy has been with P&G for 11 years and is a science buff who appreciates the technology that goes into products like detergent.

How does Downy Rinse & Refresh work?
Fabric rinses like Downy Rinse & Refresh help remove odors and residues that can build up on fabrics, leaving clothes fresher, softer, and brighter – like a clarifying rinse. Because fabric softeners and fabric rinses are both added to the “fabric softener” drawer in the washing machine, they cannot be used together in the same load, but both are great options to help keep your clothes looking and feeling the way you want!

What’s the difference between a fabric softener and a fabric rinse?
Fabric softeners provide softness and freshness by conditioning and lubricating fibers. This is great for fabrics you want to feel soft and comfortable. But today, many consumers only use fabric softeners on certain loads. For the remaining loads or for consumers who don’t use fabric softener, there’s fabric rinse.

What do you think is the most common laundry mistake people make?
I think there’s a common misconception that if your clothes aren’t heavily stained, they don’t need to be thoroughly washed with the proper amount of detergent. We secrete a lot of body soils like sweat, sebum and skin cells onto our clothes every day, and over time those body soils can build up and cause odors and dinginess. It’s important to use a high-quality detergent and enough of that detergent, even on loads that don’t look that dirty.

Sammy also myth-busted the idea that ‘dosing doesn’t matter’ when it comes to your laundry load and detergent use.

Sammy describes herself as a light scent-seeker who is a master sorter! Here’s how she breaks down her regimen:
I sort my loads by color and fabric type – one load for mixed/dark colors and one load for whites/lights – and I use a mesh laundry bag for any delicate items like bras or underwear. I put a Tide Hygienic Clean Power POD and Downy Light scent beads into the washing machine drum before loading my clothes. For all-white loads, I like to use 9 Elements Laundry Detergent. Then I add Downy Rinse & Refresh, an odor and residue-removing fabric rinse, into the fabric softener drawer. After washing, I hang-dry delicates or other fabrics I don’t want to expose to high heat and then put the rest of the clothes into the dryer with a Bounce dryer sheet.

Laundry Scientist Jennifer, who has been with P&G for 13 years – most of those years spent in laundry care.

How do you feel about laundry day?
It's a love/hate relationship for me to be honest. Who really loves doing any chores!? But I love that as a laundry expert I understand my laundry problems well and have a good idea of what products I need to get the best results. I do HATE folding though!

How often do you wash your sheets?
I wash my sheets once a week, because as humans we are pretty gross. In just one day we produce a lot of sweat, sebum (body grease), skin flakes and salt, which can end up on my sheets while I sleep. To feel confident that I have clean sheets and am getting rid of those nasty soils, I wash my sheets at least once a week in Tide Hygienic Clean.

What do you think is the most common laundry mistake people make?
There are a lot! But a common one I see is people not sorting their clothes. You get much better results sorting by fabric color, fabric type, and soil level! You also reduce the chances of damaging your clothes through things like dye transfer.

Jennifer describes herself as a scent-seeker. Here’s a breakdown of her regimen:
Tide Ultra Stain Release as a pre-treater for tough stains. Then I put a Tide HCHD Power POD and Downy Refresh scent beads into the washing machine drum before loading my clothes. I put Downy Refresh Liquid Fabric Conditioner into the fabric softener dispenser on my machine. After the wash, I load my clothes and 2-3 Downy Refresh dryer sheets into the dryer.