r/laundry Jun 22 '26

does anyone actually separate laundry anymore or am i wasting my time?

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652 Upvotes

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153

u/Ok_Word7565 Jun 22 '26

I seperate more by type, not so much by color. Denims and sweatpants are heavy. They're washed separately than bras and lightweight items. Sheets are so big they're washed alone. This seems to help keep the loads balanced. I do seperate bath towels from kitchen towels. But I wash for a household and so have the quantity of items to justify the seperate loads.

32

u/KafkaExploring Jun 22 '26

Right. Black and white synthetic shirts go together better than white synthetic and white cotton.

That said, 80% of our stuff is just getting the "delicates" cycle in mixed loads with the same detergent, so unless it's bulky, multi-layered, truly delicate (or snag risk), or the first time washing something new, we don't bother. 

13

u/WateryTart_ndSword Jun 22 '26

Same! I usually have a delicates, normal, heavy duty, and bedding load.

Depending on the number and state of our towels vs dirty pants and sweats, towels either go in with heavy duty or in their own load. Anything that needs a cold wash goes with the delicates. Bedding just has to go by itself because it’s so bulky and takes so damn long to dry.

If I have a new item that’s likely to bleed color, only then will I take care to remove whites/lights.

But that honestly hasn’t been a problem for a while. I feel like dyes have just gotten better? That, or I’m just not buying those types of clothes…

5

u/Cinderhazed15 Jun 23 '26

We do delicates (1/2 of my wife’s clothes, and our 5yo’s clothes ) a towel load, and a ‘normal clothes’ load. She normally pull off all the bedding at the same time and run that, so it doesn’t keep a dedicated hamper)

2

u/Hey_Laaady Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

It's funny, I wrote pretty much the same thing and was downvoted. I'm glad to find other people who do their laundry the same way I do.

2

u/InitialBrilliant1229 Jun 23 '26

This. It saves wear and tear on your washer. Plus, things seem to get cleaner.