What does turning clothes inside out before washing them actually do?
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Your clothes have zippers and snaps which scratch against the fabric while washing. While this causes minimal damage to most items, it can put snags on some items and screen-printed images on t-shirts will be scratched, causing them to peel.
If you are going to iron your clothes after washing it’s easier to do so when you can see the seams
A washing machine works by taking several pieces of clothing and rubbing them against each other in water and detergent.
Turning them inside out makes the insides take the brunt of any wear that washing causes.
You may have seen “pilling” occur on the surface of fabric, and washing inside-out puts most of the pilling on the inside, so the outside looks better for longer.
Makes sense because the sweat/dirt from your body is deposited on the inside of the clothing.
In addition to putting less wear on the fabric, with some natural fibers, there’s less dye loss when you wash the items inside out.
As an old fart I have never turned my clothes inside out and never ironed from the inside. I think my clothes look fine and my wife, who does that same as I do, would not let her husband out looking bad.
I only do it for shirts with a graphic because I assume it will make the graphic last longer
Turning clothes inside out before washing them helps to protect the fabric and colors of the clothing. When you turn your clothes inside out, the fabric is less likely to rub against other items in the wash and fade or become worn. It also helps to keep any decorations or designs on the clothing from fading or becoming distorted.
Washing machines soak clothes in water and detergent and tumble them with each other. This tumbling action along with the clothes rubbing against each other and the walls of the drum is what dislodges the dirt from them and cleans them. This process inevitably causes wear to clothes and turning them inside out helps a bit with reducing the wear on the visible exterior of a piece of clothing, though of course it will still rub against itself a bit in there. It also exposes and cleans the fabric that actually touches your body.
I can’t speak for other people – but, generally speaking, the nastiest thing that touches my clothing is ME! 🙂
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