How to separate laundry and sort clothes (2024)

FAQs

How to separate laundry and sort clothes? ›

Separate your laundry into whites, lights, and darks. Wash whites separately to avoid yellowing, and wash darks separately to avoid dye transfer. “I additionally add a 'bright color' category, if I am washing neons or bright colors, just for extra safety,” says Stein.

Separate your laundry into whites, lights, and darks. Wash whites separately to avoid yellowing, and wash darks separately to avoid dye transfer. “I additionally add a 'bright color' category, if I am washing neons or bright colors, just for extra safety,” says Stein.

Sorting laundry loads

It's very important to wash your lights and darks laundry separately, as darker dyes can ruin lighter fabrics. Sort your greys, blacks, navies, reds, dark purples and similar colours into one load, and your pinks, lavenders, light blues, light greens and yellows into another laundry.

Try to group colors together – wash pastels in one group, then separate reds, oranges and yellows from green, blue or purple items with darker hues. If your brights are brand new, wash them separately for the first few washes to help keep them from bleeding dye onto other clothes.

Clothes with deep colors are more likely to bleed dye when washed. To avoid damaging other clothing, sort laundry according to color, grouping dark, medium and light colors separately. Wash deep colored clothing like indigo jeans or red sweatshirts by themselves for the first few washings.

Use the Delicate or Gentle cycle

Denim may seem like a tough fabric, but that doesn't mean you should choose a Heavy Duty wash cycle. Instead, opt for the Delicate or Gentle cycle, and use cold water to help avoid shrinking or fading.

You can actually pre-sort items to make life easier by using a handy sorting hamper, with compartments that allow you to separate items before wash day rolls around. Then, for best results and maximum color longevity, separate each pile into three smaller piles: white or light clothes, dark clothes, and colors.

You can wash most jeans with other dark-colored clothes, though some manufacturers will recommend washing jeans separately. Follow the care instructions on your jeans. Never wash jeans with whites or other light colors. Turn them inside out and zip up any zippers, which can snag onto other clothes.

Can I wash towels with clothes? ›

But, you definitely want to wash towels separately from clothing and other linens, says Taylor Matthews, owner of Sparkling Queens in Savannah, Georgia. “For one, your other clothes and sheets will get lint and fibers on them from being washed with towels,” she explains.

Unless you know that a dark gray item that is otherwise bleach-safe doesn't bleed color, wash dark gray items with other dark colors. Finally, for items that are part of a set (e.g., shorts and shirt), always wash both items together. This will help keep the set looking the same.

This is why it is important to understand which colours can be washed together. You should always separate your whites, darks and bold colours from each other first. After this, you should assess which category all the items with less specific colours fall into.

Set your washer to a cold, gentle cycle to avoid shrinking and fading, and add a mild detergent. Turn your denim clothes inside out before washing to protect the fibers and let them run in the cycle.

Not necessarily. If you're not going to separate your laundry by color, then it's best to use a cold-water wash cycle. While separating your laundry is still recommended, cold water washing will limit most color transfer. However, your whites will slowly lose their luster if you do this regularly.

Why Do You Separate Laundry? There are several reasons why, including: To keep dark-colored items from bleeding into lighter-colored items and looking dingy over time. To wash items according to their required temperature – such as hot water for whites and cool water for colors.

Sorting involved putting colors together that wouldn't fade, putting similar fabrics together for special handling and putting clothes together according to their dirtiness. All white items went together to keep them white and bright and to avoid the possiblility of colors fading off onto them.

It is wise to separate your light coloured clothes from the dark/medium coloured ones as there are high chances of the latter bleeding on the former. Clothes that are being washed for the first time, like new jackets and sweaters, should be washed separately using a gentle laundry liquid detergent.