How to Use Dolfi - AKA The Holy Grail
We created this How to Use Dolfi guide with everyone in mind. Whether you’ve just received your brand new, ultra-sleek device, you’ve had it for a while or you’re looking into getting your very own Dolfi - these tips will guide you through the entire process of using your Dolfi for optimal results, which will prevent any technical glitches from shortening the life of your new best friend in laundry.
What types of clothes Dolfi is designed for:
Your next-gen washing device is not meant for all types of fabrics. Here are the items Dolfi is ideal for and will deliver the best results:
- Clothes made of delicate materials such as silk, chiffon, moire, most sheer fabrics, lace, cashmere, and mohair
- Clothes that are originally meant to be hand-wash only but are not damaged from contact with water alone like leather pants
- Shaped apparel (dresses, bras, corsages, and hats)
- Fashion with applications like buttons, studs, jewellery and more
- Delicate lingerie and undergarments
- Activewear like leggings, sports bras, sport shirts, sport socks and trainers
- Swimwear
Lace is a perfect example of a fabric that Dolfi is great at cleaning
What types of clothes are NOT recommended to wash with Dolfi
If you want to get the best results for your laundry, then you should take note of the clothing items that won’t work well with Dolfi. These are:
- Big volume laundry items like bed linens or towels
- Working clothes with heavy duty dirt, like engine oil
- Jeans
- Large knitted items like blankets and big ol’ jerseys (sorry granny!)
The perfect water conditions for Dolfi
Achieving perfect water conditions is about the single most important thing to keep in mind when using your device. Water is the medium that creates the necessary conditions for the ultrasonic energy to do its cleaning magic and radiate its power. A low amount of water reduces the size of the active ultrasonic energy field and diminishes the cleaning results. You need enough water in the container to allow your clothes to float freely thus creating the best cleaning conditions.
It’s important to ensure that your Dolfi is never switched on and running outside of water. Pay close attention to the water level and make sure the water doesn't drain from the container during the wash cycle (Your Dolfi Sink Plug will help with this). These points are extremely important as both situations can lead to the device overheating.
How much water do I need?
The more water you have around the fabric and device - the stronger the cleaning possibilities and results. We don’t mean that you need to head out to the swimming pool to wash your favorite threads - only that you need about 5-10 litres of lukewarm water for 1-2 pounds of laundry.
Water temperature
The water temperature should be around 30-40 degrees °C (86°F - 104°F). It should feel warm, but not burn to the touch. If the water is too hot, it can damage your delicates, especially woven ones.
What container do I need?
Dolfi should be used in a waterproof container. Hard materials, such as ceramic or metal, reflect the ultrasonic waves a bit better than plastic. Using it in your standard bathroom ceramic sink is perfect.
A standard ceramic bathroom sink is the perfect container for your Dolfi
How to position the clothes and the device
The device needs to be placed in water in the center with the logo facing upwards. Let’s get one thing straight - your Dolfi is not meant for large washing loads but should instead be used for small loads and particularly delicate clothes. Ensure that the clothes are not packed too tightly. If there’s not enough water for the clothes to float freely, you’ll have less than ideal cleaning results.
Take note that you need about 5 cm of only water (no clothes or other objects) directly above the device. Your clothes should be placed in such a way that there’s an opening in the middle with the device being visible when looking into the container. This ensures that the ultrasonic energy can be radiated in the water to create the optimal conditions for cleaning.
An exception is when you’re washing only 1 item with a heavier stain. You’ll then need to place stained area directly above the device, while maintaining the 5 cm gap of only water. That’s where the energy radiation field is the strongest.
Dolfi and stains
If you have some stains on your clothes, you would generally try to pre-treat the stains before throwing them into a conventional washing machine. The same is true for Dolfi – you need to give special treatment to certain stains before the normal washing cycle. You can make use of a detergent enhancer or stain removing solution.
However, you’ll be happy to hear that Dolfi is great at removing common stains such as red wine, cacao, coffee, many juices, blood, sweat, and oil.
Some stains that have large particle sizes, such as ketchup or mustard, will require an initial treatment or rinse in order to remove the heavy bulk of dirt. For those ‘eviler’ stains - detergent enhancer or stain remover will help you achieve the best results.
When you’re washing your swimwear, you don’t need to use any detergent as Dolfi is able to clean the chlorine and sea salt effectively without it.
How do I know if it’s working?
Due to the nature of ultrasound, which is beyond the capabilities of human hearing, it’s quite difficult to see or hear whether or not your clothes are really being cleaned. That’s because the device is completely inaudible to the human ear but take a quick video with your phone and the microphone will pick up a sound that’s so powerfully loud, you’ll barely need any other reassurance.
Another way you can test the functionality of the device is to simply put your Dolfi in a transparent container with enough water, (logo facing up), put a source of light next to the water (like your phone’s flashlight), switch on the device and then you’ll see millions of beautiful little bubbles moving around due to the ultrasonic waves doing its thing. And there you go!
We’ll be providing more educational pieces on different things you can wash with your small, but oh-so-powerful Dolfi. If you ever feel lost the How to use Dolfi - AKA The Holy Grail should be your go-to. Stay tuned and learn more on how to stay fresh with Dolfi. Anywhere you go.