When sorting clothes for the wash, what goes with what?

Question

I've recently started doing the wash on my own so as to get ready for college in the fall. My mom never used to let me TOUCH the washer/dryer, so now that I'm washing clothes, I'm sort of on my own.

When you sort them into piles, what could go with what? As I sort them now, I do:

T-shirts (all colors... Don't own anything white... Darn well-water)
My bras (mostly black)
Mom's bras (mostly white)
My socks, jeans, pants, capris, etc (mostly dark colored... Some light denim)
My underwear, Mom's underwear (multi colors)
Towels (dark)
Bed sheets (mostly dark)

I used to combine the underware in with the socks/jeans/etc, but I recently read a tip somewhere that women can get yeast infections from doing that! (If your socks are really dirty and the dirt gets trapped in the undies. YUCK!)

So, what I'm asking is: To minimize the number of loads I have to do, what could I combine with what and still be safe of nothing falling apart, etc etc?

Answer 1

White go together. hot water.

Dark colors go together. warm wash, or cold. Not hot, as it's more likely to let them bleed. If you have things that tends to run (not colorfast), don't wash them with anything lighter, similar colors if you can.

bras should go in a little net laungry bag - you can probably get them at the grocery store. That way the don't get caught around other things and stretched out. Hand them to dry - the heat from the drier is bad for them.

anything delicate should be washed by hand - knits, beaded things. The washer can be a bit rough.

Dirt is not the cause of yeast infections, any more than toilet seats give you STD's

Answer 2

Colors, darks and whites. If you have enough jeans do them seperate. The biggest thing is not to put anything dark or colored with whites as they will either bleed or you'll have dark fuzz all over your white bras. I wouldn't worry about the socks and underware being together as long as your leaving it fiarly loose so it can wash well or if the socks are REALLY dirty.
Biggest tips for washing:
1. Never pack a machine full, there needs to be some room in there to wash well
2. Always empty the dryer lint trap! You can run clothes through 4 times and they can still be wet if lint trap is full!
3. Always add a dryer sheet or you will have to pull clothes apart and will be full of static.
4. Pull clothes from dryer immediately to have to do less ironing!
5. Don't overdry! This will shrink some fabrics. SOME things aren't to be dried at all but need to hang dry. Read labels until you get used to which is which
6. If in doubt ALWAYS use cold water! Hot water will shrink many fabrics!
7. Keep your load balanced. Try not to mix heavy things with light things, like a coat and a pair of underwear. Also distribute weight equally in the machine. You can't put jeans all on one side and then shirts on the other, even it out!

If you ever need a quick no-iron de-wrinkler, toss in the dryer with a damp towel for just a few minutes. The wet towel will make steam and it will de-wrinkle.

Answer 3

I always put a little bleach w/ my towels and wash underwear w/ them. Bras I put w/ top clothes. Hang up bras, don't dry. Clothes that have the same weight should also be washed together as well. Socks I do w/ top clothes. Sheets I usually do by themselves or w/ a few towels thrown in, w/ a splash of bleach. Put soap (I use about 1/3 or 1/4 of the recommended amount, as it makes it plenty soapy), a splash of bleach then let the machine fill up about 2/3 the way. Use old cut off broom stick to stir so bleach is distributed. Then toss clothes in. Do not overload or clothes not only don't get clean but motor of washer can be damaged.

Answer 4

Honestly- the sorting only goes for new or bright red clothes. Colors won't bleed after they've been washed a few times. For lint purposes though- I usually do towels in one load and everything else in another. I think the yeast infection thing is an urban legend. The dirt will come out of everything in a regular wash, and anything left is a stain and not going anywhere. Yeast infections aren't caused by "dirt". If you have delicates like lace you can do those separate, but pretty much everything else can go together.

Answer 5

I combine clothes mostly by wash water tempeture. Everything that needs to go cold water (bras and non-cotton underwear, other delicates, running shorts, etc.,) in one load. My linens and most whites: including white socks go together in the hot load and everything else goes in the warm load. A hint about the underwear: unless they are real expensive or extremely delicate, I will often put them in with the warm load. The warm water will kill germs so no worry about yeast infections. If I do wash my underwear in cold, I do it after a warm or hot load so that the machine is more sanitary.

Answer 6

You sort your clothes into three piles dark light and white. Darks will mainly very dark clothes pants but also very brights. lights are pastels. and finally all white. Remember to dry them this way also if you do not they will all be gray. But bleach only in the white clothes, and only after they are wet. If you take everything out of the dryer right away. You will allmost never have to iron. One last thought , expensive bras are better washed by hand. or on a delicate cycle

Answer 7

Whites with whites, bras and other delicates should go in a zippered mesh bag to keep the delicates safe when washing.
keep blues, red, oranges etc separate, and never wash colors together. Use a color safe cloth that's fairly new on the market when you wash clothes. Now I wash all my clothes together, but I use cold water for the wash and rince. So my colors don't ever mix. But I use that bag for my delicates. I also use the cold water tide. All my clothes come out clean and looking and smelling nice.

Answer 8

Sort by color, but watch the texture too. Dark jeans with a dark bra are not a good combination. Hand wash some items that are delicate to avoid paying for a whole load or combine with your dorm mates.

Answer 9

I'm not sure if this will help. I do my laundry and just throw everything in together. This is considered bad because of colors fading, etc. but the proper way to do it is to seperate dark colors from light colors and white. I think from what I read, you're doing ok so far.

Answer 10

Get a mesh lingerie bag for bras, it helps keep them from catching on other clothes.

The key thing to watch for would be colors that run--reds, anything brand new, like jeans, for example. keep those separate.

Also, 100% cotton will shrink, so keep water temps lower.

There are no strict answers, "college loads" have no rules.