I usually make 3 piles of laundry to wash according to color and not fabric: black clothes go in one pile, every other clothe I own goes into a second pile (colors white to navy blue). The third pile is for my bed linens and towels, (100% cotton, so I can wash them to 140°F)

Now, I don’t know if I should make more piles instead, because my bed linens and clothes sometimes combine several colors and I don’t know if they bleed and I’m slowly degrading them:

I was thinking of making a pile for black clothes, one for white clothes, one for every other color clothe I own (I have purple, yellow and green stuff plus denims), one for my bed linens (all of them are mixed colors, including dark and clear colors like red, orange, green and black in one piece) and another pile for my towels (one color only, but different ones, including green, purple, white, yellow and navy blue).

Regarding fabrics, I have 100% cotton, 100% merino wool, 100% polyester and mixed fabrics, so the number of piles can grow considerably.

I live alone, so sometimes I can need a lot of time to get a laundry worth pile of stuff to wash if I create as many piles as I suggested here.

I may be overthinking it but I’d like to do the laundry the right way and keep the stuff I already have in good condition. How do you do it?

  • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
    8·
    6 days ago

    Most damage comes from heat, and rough handling, so I sort by structure/weight, and wash almost everything on cold, and tumble dry on low, auto-sense.

    The only color I wash separate is white so it can run hot and with bleach.

    I also presort, by weight into 4 bins heavyweight, middleweight, lightweight/dress-shirts, and finally undergarments/delicates/socks

    We might go a 2-3 weeks between a running a particular bin so we can separate things out just because there is enough to fill out it’s own load.

    Undergarments and deli sites go together, might add leggings or lightweight tops to fill out a load

    Socks are separate merely because we like fluffy wool socks and they will fill their own load, and it’s easier to pair them when they all come out together. Otherwise they’d be with undergarments. Might run on warm if the foot stank is real bad.

    Sturdy fabrics like denim and duck all go together in a denim cycle it’s just cold/cold with a heavy spin

    Sweats and other heavy bulkys go together so they don’t twist up lighter clothes. Might run these with denim or towels

    Lightweight tops and button down shirts go together. Lightweight sweaters might be get mixed in too.

    Then general laundry is middleweight fabrics: t-shirts, slacks leggings, etc.

    If there’s enough for their own load, towels get a hot cycle to get cut down on microbial growth. Otherwise they go with denim and/or sweats. NEVER USE FABRIC SOFTENER/DRYER SHEETS ON TOWELS. It makes things softer by adding oils THAT prevent them from absorbing water, which is the whole point of towels.

    Sheets and pillowcases might get a warm cycle and pre wash to help cut through accumulated body grease, etc.

    • Q The Misanthrope @startrek.website
      3·
      6 days ago

      Low heat alone will help a ton like you said, high heat seems to ruin everything and it’s just not needed unless unless it’s towels maybe.

      I knew that fabric softener would stop towel absorption but I never thought about dryer sheets too. I thought those were just antistatic.

      Also the “deli sites” typo made me laugh.