Welcome to Laundry 101. Whether you've just moved away from home into your first apartment, or are a college freshman, every few weeks -- unless you have very indulgent parents -- you'll find yourself feeding quarters into a machine.

Stop thinking slot machines. These are appliances. But they do pay off. Just not with bells, whistles and a shower of coins. Instead you get shirts, pants and assorted underwear -- all freshly laundered -- by you.

If you haven't met the family washer and dryer before this, here are some tips on avoiding common laundry mistakes from Susan Combs, manager at Tri-City Cleaners & Laundromat in Kennewick.

One mistake is turning your white socks pink or bleaching holes in your sheets.

It happens, even to people with laundry experience. Combs recently tried to rescue a pair of nearly new, once-white slacks -- now pink. The woman had accidentally gathered up a red top in with her slacks.

"It's a very pretty pink, but pink," Combs said.

A liquid household chlorine bleach might have restored them to their former pristine color, except the slacks are trimmed with a striped fabric. Chlorine would ruin the color of the trim and the mild oxygen (color-safe) bleach Combs tried had no effect on the pink.

Careful sorting can help prevent costly mistakes like this. Whites and lights go together, darks into their own pile, too. Colors can usually go together.

Sort clothing and household washables by care too. Check the attached care labels. Cold-water wash items need their own wash cycle, hot a separate one.

As for liquid versus powdered detergents, Combs sees no difference in performance.

"Use the one you're familiar with," is her advice.

And don't skimp. Use the recommended amount of detergent per load and don't overload the washer trying to save money.

"You won't get a good wash. I've had customers complain their washer won't spin and when I check it out, I find they've jammed it with tons and tons of clothes," Combs said. "Do that and the washer may not drain completely so your clothes will be damper and take longer -- and cost you more -- to dry."

If using liquid chlorine, be careful. Be sure the lid is secure on the trip to the laundromat -- you don't want it splashing on your clothes. Undiluted, it's strong enough to eat holes in fabrics.

Be careful, too, using Clorox's bleach pens. Let it touch in the wrong place, bleach out the wrong color, and it's gone forever, Combs said.

A safer option for stains might be the new stain stick, Tide To Go.

"I haven't used it personally, but I've heard from customers that it's awesome," Combs said.

Once safely past the pitfalls of washing, you're faced with the quandary of drying. Once again, check the care label.

"Some clothes need to be line-dried, others tumble dried on low," Combs said.

Set a dryer too hot sometimes, and with some fabrics, you can over dry and actually set wrinkles in, she said.

Don't let them sit in the dryer, either.

"Get your clothes right out and you'll have less ironing to do," she said.

If not, try this trick: Toss a damp towel into the dryer with your clothes and run the machine for a few minutes. The steamy dampness from the towel will help relax the wrinkles, Combs said.

Before adding clothes to a laundromat appliance, check the machine. You're at the mercy of the person who used it last.

"Is it clean? Check the soap and any other dispensers. Are they clean? Be sure they don't have bleach in them, unless you put it there," Combs said.

Check the dryer, too. If there's a lint screen, clean it. Your clothes will dry faster.

Finally, don't leave your clothes on their own and expect they'll be there when you come back. It doesn't happen often but sometimes people steal them, she said.

"With washers it's not too bad, as long as it's running. Dryers though, they'll just pop the door open and pull things out," Combs said.

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Discovering a spaghetti sauce or wine stain on your favorite piece of clothing can ruin your day. But fear not: A stain does not have to ruin a blouse or pants. If treated quickly and correctly, a stain can become a forgotten problem. Here are a few tips for tackling that stain:

-- Know your target. The sooner you attack a stain, the easier it is to remove. Sponge a stain rather than rubbing it; rubbing can spread a stain and may even damage the fabric. When in doubt, rinse or soak the stained area in cold water before treating or laundering.

-- Pretreating a stain before it dries can increase the chances of removing it. Use a prewash stain remover, liquid laundry detergent, or a paste made from a powdered laundry detergent and a little water. When doing this, first test for colorfastness by pretreating a seam or other inconspicuous area. Then, wash the garment with a detergent and a bleach that's safe for the fabric. When using bleach to treat a stain, treat the whole garment to prevent color changes.

-- Treat beverages containing sugar, such as wine or ginger ale, immediately and before they dry out. Although they may seem to disappear, this type of stain oxidizes and leaves an invisible stain, which ultimately turns yellow or brown, once exposed to air.

-- Check freshly washed wet clothes for stains that don't wash away. Rather than dry them, pretreat the stains and wash them again. Drying can permanently set the stains.

* Reporter Loretto J. Hulse can be reached at 582-1513 or via e-mail at lhulse@tricityherald.com.