If you’re ready to do laundry only to find that you have no laundry soap, can you just run your machine without adding detergent? Would that ruin your machine, or would it be okay?
You can wash clothes with water only, but you won’t get the same results as when you use laundry detergent. But this only works if your clothes aren’t too dirty, smelly, or stained. Otherwise, you’ll need to use detergent when washing your clothes.
In this article, I’ll explore everything you need to know about washing your clothes with water and sidestepping laundry detergent. I’ll also look at how to clean your favorite fabrics without washing them, such as by using spot treatments. So stick around!
Can You Wash Clothes With Water Only?
Getting tough stains out of clothing requires washing it with detergent and then rinsing it with fresh water afterward. It’s this water-only cycle that makes dirt easier to remove, as it pulls up the dirt particles that are stuck in tiny crevices in the fabric.
But can you give laundry detergent a miss altogether?
If your clothing is very dirty and/or stained, you’ll need to pre-treat it, or the water won’t be able to give it a sparkling clean. This can be done with soap or an alternative product, such as baking soda if you’ve run out of laundry detergent.
Sadly, water just isn’t always enough. Cleaning products are effective at cleaning your clothing because they contain molecules called surfactants. They enhance how the water and dirt in the clothing fibers interact.
These molecules let water penetrate the dirt to lift it from the fabric.
Can I Run My Washing Machine Without Detergent?
You can run your washing machine without detergent, giving your clothes a decent clean. None of the alternative cleaning methods in research studies cleaned items more effectively than water alone, except for soapwort, which is an herb.
Washing machines agitate your clothing in water to remove dirt and then spin them so that the water gets drained from them. This spinning action can remove surface dirt from your clothes.
However, if you forgot to put in laundry detergent, you should ensure that you wash your clothes at a high temperature, as this will remove some of the stains in your clothing, as long as the stains are water-soluble.
Hot water removes various stains and sanitizes your clothing items so they’ll feel and smell fresh.
Although your clothes might seem a bit cleaner after being washed in water alone, it’s good to remember that detergent gives your clothes a much deeper clean. Therefore, washing your clothes with water isn’t something you should do regularly.
Washing machines typically don’t need detergent to run, but your clothes can benefit from it.
Does Water Alone Clean Sweat?
Water alone doesn’t clean sweat unless the sweat is fresh and hasn’t had time to settle into the fabric. To clean your clothing properly, you’ll need detergent and cold water. Warm water can cause the stains to set even more, so it should be avoided.
You don’t want to wash sweat stains with hot water because sweat is a protein-based stain.
Sweat, which is made up of water, fats, salt, and proteins, enters your clothing fibers. If you don’t wash your clothing with a detergent, it’ll accumulate and get more embedded into them, which causes the clothing to become discolored.
When the molecules aren’t removed, they break down, and this is when they produce an unpleasant odor.
When cleaning sweat, you want to remove yellowish stains that are caused by it and the odor. If your detergent doesn’t remove the scent, you’ll want to pre-soak it for about half an hour in a 1:4 ratio of vinegar and water solution.
Vinegar is a natural degreaser, so it works well on oily stains. To find out more about how to clean your clothing with vinegar and other alternative methods, you should read our guide, “Can You Wash Clothes Without Detergent?”
How Do You Clean Fabric Without Washing It?
You don’t always need to wash your clothing to clean it. Oil stains can be removed by applying a bit of cornstarch to them, but you can brush away dirt, such as pet hair, with brushes.
You can also take your clothing to a dry cleaner if the fabric is dry-clean only, that is. Aside from that, you can spot-clean your clothes if they don’t smell that bad. If your shirt has a slight mark on it from food or other things, take a damp washcloth and wipe it off.
Unless it’s an oil-based stain, it should come out quickly.
How To Remove Oil-Based Stains
Here’s how to remove oil-based stains with cornstarch and vinegar:
- Sprinkle enough cornstarch on the stain so that it covers it.
- Wait 30 minutes so that the cornstarch can work.
- Shake the powder off your clothing item.
- Put a bit of vinegar on a clean cloth, and apply it to the stain to soak it up.
- Once the stain has been lifted, dip a clean cloth in water and dab at it to remove any excess ingredients.
Other Tips for Removing Dirt From Clothes Without Detergent
- Brush fabrics: Brushing your clothing items will remove pills, pet hair, and lint without washing them. This will make your clothing look cleaner instantly, but always ensure that you use a fabric brush instead of a lint roller as it will remove deeply-set debris.
- Steam your clothing: Hot steam smooths wrinkles in clothing, and it removes bacteria that can cause unpleasant odors. It can even kill viruses because it reaches temperatures of around 212 °F (100°C).
Final Thoughts
If you want to do a load of laundry but you don’t have laundry detergent, you might wonder if you can use nothing but water. You can, but the bottom line is that you won’t get as much of a deep clean as if you use a laundry detergent or alternative cleaning product.
