LaxMom Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Since it's Dirty Laundry Day on the boards, I've been seeing various comments about x load, y load, etc. I could be very compulsive about sorting, but I control myself because it could get to the crazy place where I have close to a single item in each load. So how do you sort your laundry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 (edited) Dedicates live on a shelf in my bedroom until there is enough for a small load. Otherwise, everything gos in together, warm wash cold rinse, with Tide. Some stuff may hang dry, everything else into the dryer. I do at least one load a day (for four people - oldest DD and DS do their own laundry. DS does sort and do all his black rock (etc.) t-shirts separate, on delicate, and hang drys them (so the artwork on them lasts longer.) DD throws all her dedicates in with her regular wash and does not hang dry them - but then she has to buy her own clothes, too, so if she wants to ruin them it is her loss! The only time I will separate items and use hot water/bleach is if w have a germ working its way through the house. Otherwise a load here may well have three pairs undies, random socks, undershirts of hubbies, my tops, youngest dd's jeans and black martial art's uniform, dish towels, and other items. New clothes, if dark, get a quick hand wash first in the bathroom sink to see if they are colorfast. if not, they are washed separately the first few times until they stop bleeding. My washer/dryer is upstairs in our 2-story house, so I sort stuff on my queen bed (no room in the small room where the machines are - hubby has all his suits, work shirts, dresser in there since our 100+yr-old house has tiny closets in the bedrooms.) Edited June 5, 2011 by JFSinIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 White clothes My clothes Dh's uniforms Jeans Towels Sheets Red/pinks All the rest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TX Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 This is how I sort mine: dark clothes light colored clothes and whites (we don't have a lot of all white stuff. If I did, I'd have a load just for whites.) dark clothes that get washed on delicate cycle light colored clothes that get washed on delicate cycle towels Susan in TX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 1. Regular load - every day, sometimes multiple loads 2. White load - once per week 3. Delicate load - once every two weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 whites darks denims and other smelly carpenter clothes my clothes (I spin all of mine on low and drip dry) lighter (will throw in with the darks if there isn't enough to make a load) towels sheets Occasionally we will have a load of reds/oranges, especially if ds has new t-shirts. I'll wash those separately for the first few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Everything gets tossed together :lol: I wash all the time during the week for clothes, I only keep out major delicates, woollens, and handwash items. The rest get plonked in together, otherwise it never gets done. DH is in charge of his trousers (because 1 pair of his jeans could be a whole load), towels & large bedding, basically anything big. He does those items on weekends. I sort items that can go in the dryer (since its rainy season now) and put those in, I hang up more delicate/non-dryer items on the various airers we have. DH is in charge of bringing all the dry stuff from the dryer and airers, and leaving them in baskets in the family room. He also hangs up and/or dries the larger items. I, whenever I get the time, put away the basketed items left in the lounge. It sounds higledy-piggledy, but for the moment, it works for us. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 If I'm caught up on laundry, it's lights and darks. If I'm not, it's darks, lights, jeans, and towels. Once in a blue moon I'll bleach the whites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 humans pets karate gi's and exercise clothes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 My complex system is whites (washed on hot) in one load and everything that isn't white in another. :tongue_smilie: Sometimes, if I don't have enough for two loads, I throw them together. I'm rebelling against my mother who separates every blessed color. As a kid, I never liked to throw down my favorite orange shirt because I knew it would be weeks until she could gather enough clothes for an orange load. :lol: She still twitches every time she watches me do laundry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Whites/really lights (lots of light pink in that load) Darks (blues/blacks/dark purples/browns) Dark pinks/reds (some of these can go with the darks if I run short of a full load, but some have light portions that I don't want the dark jeans tinting) Towels (because they all dry at the same speed, roughly, and I usually throw in some OxyClean) I occasionally have a separate "these need some bleach" load or a separate "gentle cycle" load--those are rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 * Darks * Lights * Towels * Sheets * Blankets * Rugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Mom Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 We have three hampers - white for whites and lights, green for towels, purple for colors. When I grab a load it is presorted. The kids have been able to put things in the right hamper since they were quite small. Makes the laundry a little easier for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Lights Darks Jeans Towels Sheets And strangely, I have a basket in the kitchen for kitchen towels, and it seems to also collect children's socks. I pick out the few colored socks that might be damaged by bleach and then dump the contents of the basket in the washer. I know socks and dishcloths seem like an odd load, but it's a lot more pleasant to sort them out when they're all clean. Mostly Jeans and towels get separate loads because the dryer does a better job if the fabrics in the load are all about the same weight. If there's only one or two stray towels or jeans I'll toss them in with lights or darks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 1. Stuff that I will use bleach on (kitchen rags, socks, underwear, towels, white T-shirts, sheets) 2. Stuff that I will not use bleach on (all other clothing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I'm with Rough Collie. That's how it looks in my house, except I have a few small white rugs that go in with the whites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Cold delicate darks (including dance clothes) Warm darks (boys stuff) Warm whites (mostly undies) Cold delicate white/pinks (girly stuff) Warm - Denim / dress pants Warm - Dress shirts and blouses Warm reds Towels / washcloths / dishcloths / cloth napkins Sheets Bathing suits (cold, no detergent) Specialty items (backpacks, knee brace, etc) Sparkly reds (now and again, otherwise the sparkles get all over; we have enough for a small load; I know, I know) I try not to obsess. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 6 bins in the laundry area labeled with permanent marker: light general dark general light delicate dark delicate light towels dark towels And I still have to resort before I wash half the time. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristinaBreece Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 (edited) Whites- two loads a week Lights- three loads a week Darks/Jeans- two loads a week Permanent Press- one load a week (sometimes every other week) Towels- three loads a week DH's work stuff- every other day Delicates- when I've accumulated a load-- maybe once every two to three weeks, more in the winter because DD wears tights much more when it's cold ETA: I also do one load of sheets & 2 loads of blankets a week. More if DS is out of Good Nights. Edited June 5, 2011 by KristinaBreece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Some of the awesome ladies on this forum suggested sorting first by bedroom, so that you don't have to do that post-washing, and that has really enabled me to keep caught up. It's probably helped me so much because it gives me a mini-goal by breaking the laundry into manageable chunks. The sorting winds up looking like this: Oldest ds (he does his own now! Yay!)- Darks, lights Middle ds and toddler ds- darks, mediums, whites parents- darks, mediums, whites I usually throw sheets in with our whites or the children's mediums, depending on the color of the sheets. Other loads: bath towels, combined kitchen towels/cloths/bibs I usually aim for a set of laundry through the process per day 5 days a week. That keeps us caught up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Everything goes in every load. I don't sort at all. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbecueMom Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Clothes, diapers, towels, sheets, whites, and dress clothes. Two loads a day, Monday - Thursday (clothes and diapers run twice a week). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 By person - each child has their own hamper they sort and wash it themselves. I do wash new jeans and red things separately first. I wash all my dh's clothes together & I wash mine separately. Towels & bedding are also separate loads. It's very simple & I almost always have laundry under control. I do have to use a hypoallergenic detergent for my sensitive skin people, and I do not use dryer sheets. If I start having static issues I throw a ball of aluminum foil in the dryer to conteract that. Easy peasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I do not buy clothing that requires any special type of washing. That's too much of a hassle. We sort in 3 piles: dark clothes, light colored clothes, undergarments/towels/sheets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I don't sort it, I just keep shoveling it in. I just don't buy anything white, so it helps that I don't work in nursing anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 bedding towels,undies clothes If we get anything new in a red or dark blue/black I presoak it in salt water then usually wash separate the 1st time. After that it is mixed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I sort the laundry into whites, jeans, towels/sheets, khaki, colored laundry, dh's military gear, and my own laundry. Yes, I was my own clothing seperate from everyone else's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Here's how I sort mine. Oldest sons clothes (it all goes in together with a color catcher sheet put in) Daughters clothes (it all goes in together with a color catcher sheet put in) Youngest sons clothes (it all goes in together with a color catcher sheet put in) DH and my whites/light color clothes DH and my dark clothes (if it's too much for one load I'll split it into pants/bottoms in one load and tops/shirts in another) Oldest son's towels (his are green) Daughter's towels (hers are Caribbean blue) Youngest son's towels (his are red) Dh and my towels (ours are white and usually take two loads since we have 14 of them between the two of us) master bed sheets oldest son's sheets (again these are green) daughter's sheets (again these are Caribbean blue) youngest son's sheets (again these are red) kitchen and bath hand towels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Upstairs I have 3 hampers. Each morning I empty one of the three and start one of these loads: Lights Darks Towels Downstairs there is a basket for kitchen towels, and white socks - this is the bleach load Other miscellaneous loads done throughout the week as needed: Tablecloth and napkins Baseball uniforms/practice clothes (or whatever sport is in season) Dog blankets Sheets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 all-white cotton linens: washcloths, dishcloths, bed linens. I pre-soak them in a non-chlorine bleach before I wash them. all other towels--bath towels, hand towels, dish towels Mr. Ellie's all-white, all-cotton tidy whities:D The rest of our clothes altogether. I don't separate darks and lights. I can't figure out why I'd do that.:confused: When I buy something new that is dark blue or dark red, or denim, I would wash it alone or with other similarly colored clothing, but once it's been washed several times, I don't separate it. When dds were home, I washed all of their clothes in one load, until they were old enough to do their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Oh whew! I thought I was the only one! I don't sort either, EVER. Dawn Everything goes in every load. I don't sort at all. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogMom5 Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Whites Jeans & dark socks Dark perm. press Light perm. press (yellows, grays, whites, tans) Red clothes (lots of these!) Blue & Green clothes Delicates - split btwn. dark and light White towels Dark towels Wow! Looking at it, it's a lot. The only loads that are not full are the delicates. Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Diapers get soaked and a short wash cycle separately. Pretty much everything else except delicates just gets thrown in together. If I have enough laundry at one time to get a full load of lights or darks, I'll separate them that way, but I usually don't bother. If I have something new and I'm not sure of the colorfastness, I'll separate out the darks and run it through with something light and inconsequential (like a dishtowel) to be sure it's ok before going back to the non-sorting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I don't sort, other than diapers, obviously! Dh has da uniform service for work or they would be washed separately, he is always covered in grease and nasty chemicals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglei Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 (edited) I have three hampers, one each for: --whites --lights --darks Whites and lights can be combined if each is too small to justify a separate load. Periodically, whites are bleached. Usually delicates can go in a zippered open mesh bag, be tossed in the regular load, and are air dried. I'd rather not wait for a larger load to accumulate in order to justify a separate washing. Occasionally, particularly in the winter, some pullover shirts are a separate delicate load - separate because of all the fuzz they leave behind if combined with other clothes. Sheets used to be washed separately until I realized they could complete a light load; however, I remove the sheets and dry them separately for two reasons: 1) less overall time needed for drying them and the remaining load; and 2) the other items in the load don't get caught up inside the sheets. I have a separate basket for towels which includes all towels - but - I separate the kitchen stuff out when it's time to wash. Eventually, when I find an appropriate-sized basket and a place for it, I will have one basket for bathroom towels and one for kitchen towels/napkins/placemats, etc. These are periodic separate loads: --blankets --heavier coats/jackets/sweaters --throw rugs --cleaning cloths/rags My crew knows to unbutton all buttons on shirts, unroll any rolled-up sleeves, zip up all zippers, unfurl socks, empty pockets, unfold the unused-for-normal purpose handkerchiefs. Except for the unused handkerchiefs, they abide by these *requests* (with an occasional *reminder* needed for dh [after many-many weeks of forgetting] on the buttons; buttons are particularly hard for me to undo in the winter months. No one is reminded about the handkerchiefs - I just go ahead and do it . . . the *normally* used ones need opened up anyway . . .) Reading over this list makes it sound like more work than it actually is!!! Edited June 5, 2011 by eaglei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I do: the girls' clothes together the boys' clothes together my and dh's clothes together towels bedding If something is specially delicate I will wash it separately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Sort? Ha! Right. Be happy it gets washed & dried. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I wash one load of each: darks lights towels jeans delicates On Tuesdays I wash sheets, blankets, and throw rugs. Works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 It all goes together unless it accidentally gets sorted somehow (gathering up a bunch of towels). Dh's clothes get washed separate as he is a machinist, and his clothes often contain metal shavings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Oh whew! I thought I was the only one! I don't sort either, EVER. Dawn If it's dirty it hopefully goes in the dirty pile to be washed. If it's clean it hopefully gets put away. I did use to sort, when I used cloth diapers. I didn't mix dirty diapers with dirty clothes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Kirsten~ Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 We have a 3-bin laundry basket upstairs for clothes. That holds whites (which are DH's undershirts, exercise socks, and white bath towels), lights, and darks. We have a separate basket for the girls' bath towels and hand towels that aren't white. On the main level, which is where our washer and dryer live, we have a basket for kitchen towels, which happen to be mostly white and light yellow. So laundry is pre-sorted for me, too. My whites load includes the kitchen towels, and I wash them on hot with bleach. The lights load I wash in warm, and the darks I wash in cold. The girls' towels (and now that it's pool time, the beach towels) don't get washed as frequently and don't get bleach. Also, I don't specifically have a place for sheets, but I do them in hot, and if we've been sick, with a small amount of bleach. They're not white, but they're all pretty light. I love my sorter and supplemental baskets. It makes my life so, so much simpler! Now if I could just get back in the habit of one load per day, and (most importantly) put that load away immediately, I'd be all set! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabeline Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Whites, light colors and darks Sometimes I combine darks and lights to make a load. I have a three bin laundry bin in front of the washer. Theoretically it should all be sorted for me, but my boys have a hard time differentiating between light and dark colors. I keep whites separate because I always throw in a little bleach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Whites (bleach load) Whites (non-bleach load) Light colors (light blues, tan, pink, etc.) Dark colors (dark pants, blue jeans, etc.) Sheets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Whites darks jeans & greens reds light colors/delicates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyinND Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Whites with bleach (husband & son's) lights darks husband's dirty farmer jeans the rest of our jeans light towels dark towels sheets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) I had a suds saver on my washing machine for decades..until about 10 years ago, and I have been married for 35.......so 25 years I guess. That means the machine saves some of the wash water, not all, just half maybe. It saves it in a laundry tub and you return that water to the washing machine and then start the cycle. Machine will add more clean water to the load. You save water and you use less soap. ( I generally started with white clothes or towels and ended with jeans. If the saved water was too dirty, I just dumped it and started fresh.) After doing that for years, you see what color the water is after washing different types of laundry. Towels, sheets, not so much color, jeans, whoa, even those old jeans send a great degree of dye to the wash water. I can't bring myself to ever not sort now as I keep seeing that dark jean water going into my white clothes. I do recall a day when my youngest was learning his colors and asked if he could sort clothes. He sorted by every color he saw. There was red piles, and purple piles, and blue piles and green piles, etc. He was so upset when I combined the green tshirt pile with the blue t shirt pile! Edited June 6, 2011 by KatieinMich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Light athletic gear dark athletic gear light delicates dark delicates whites/off whites regular brights regular darks regular pastels regular sheets towels dark towels light towels white kitchen stuff cleaning rags Yeah, I think that's it. :tongue_smilie: And, next to food shopping, laundry is my favorite chore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiseOwlKnits Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I don't sort. When we cloth diapered, I did a separate load for those, but everything else just gets tossed in the washer together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 The important thing to me is that underwear are washed and dried on hot. We do those on their own along with socks and I've got enough to have full loads for that reason. Kitchen laundry. We use cloth napkins as well as dish towels and I have enough to make a full load before I wash because I like to wash this stuff on hot as well. Bath towels and sheets (again, we've got enough to make a load and I wash this stuff on hot too). You know, my son picked out these pretty but very dark bath towels for himself. I washed them on hot with all the rest without thinking and never had a problem. I guess I'm lucky in that respect. Most of this load is light colored though. Nasty clothes (say my son threw up) go in this load too. Around the house/play type clothes and jammies. Good dress/work type clothes, jeans, and delicates (cold wash stuff) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Darks and lights...that pretty much covers it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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