# How fussy are you about sorting laundry?



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

I'm told I am extra fussy. I have four hampers set up by the bedrooms: black, white, red, and "everything else." 
I do not want colored items in the black basket, not even towels. 
I do not want anything that cannot be bleached in the white basket. 

How fussy are you about sorting laundry? Oh, and bonus question: whose fault is it if a pen gets washed? Do you check pockets? I don't! I figure if it's in the wash basket, then it's ready to be washed!


----------



## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

since i live alone, the person responsible for washing stuff that doesn't belong in pockets is me...

as to sorting, i don't sort until i'm ready to do laundry.  everything is in one big pile, and i sort through to pull out what color i'm going to wash.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I don't sort at all. 

I only bleach the towels and terry robe I wear when dyeing my hair. If I buy something red, I soak it until the water runs clear.

The dyes are so much better than they were when I was a kid that I don't worry about it.


----------



## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm a little fussy 'bout doing laundry. Just me involved. I'm in a condo with common, not in-unit, washers and dryers (50 cents to wash and 50 cents to dry) so not good for doing too small loads.

I separate whites and _very light_ colors from other colors (not _dark_ items). A friend recently told me about Shout Color Catchers. If I have occasional dark item, I throw it in with colors with Color Catcher sheet. They work! If I have a number of dark items, that's a separate load. Heat is hard on fabric, so I wash everything in warm, not hot water.

I'm always wary about *RED*. Bought a dark red print shirt this summer. Store (Eddie Bauer) told me color would not run. I washed it with colors and a Color Catcher sheet. Hmmmm. Color Catcher sheet was definitely pink and other color items in the load were fine. 

Dryer heat is even harder on fabric. So for my weekly laundry -- basically towels in dryer set on hot, sheets in medium heat dryer, and clothing in delicate heat dryer.


----------



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I don't fuss much. Only white in the house are hubbies undershirts. I refuse to wear anything white. I look horrible in it.  
He washes his own clothes. I just put my shirts all in one load with woolight and I don't use a dryer on those. I have a drying rack. I don't have any issues with bleeding colors. If I get something dyed dark or a intense color, I wash it alone right away to get that out. 

So I don't really sort. Just a pile and then I pull towels, jeans/pants and shirts. That is it.


----------



## Pawz4me (Feb 14, 2009)

I separate into --

Whites and very light colors (no bleach--it can make some white fabrics turn yellowish)
********
Darks
Towels, white socks and anything else white and sturdy enough to withstand and need bleach (all our towels are white)
My undies and anything else delicate
Dish cloths and towels

If we have a new item of red clothing, it gets soaked before washing to make sure the color isn't going to run.

If I have a lot of laundry or am feeling particularly picky, I'll do jeans in a separate load from the dark shirts/socks/lighter weight pants.

All that probably places me pretty high on the picky scale.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm so fussy, I let my husband do the laundry....as long as I have clean undergarments when I need them, the rest will take care of itself.  A new blouse?  $15-$50 depending on the occasion.  A husband that does laundry?  Priceless...


Betsy


----------



## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

Not the least bit. That's why all the clothes I own are blue-gray with touches of red and yellow.


----------



## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I'm semi-fussy about sorting laundry.  Everything goes down the laundry chute together though, and doesn't get sorted until I'm ready to wash.

I am happy to check pockets because all money is finders-keepers in the laundry and DH is not very good about emptying his pockets before throwing clothes down the chute!


----------



## MalloryMoutinho (Aug 24, 2012)

I only sort when the clothes are new--until they've been washed a few times--then everything goes in the same load.

Haha laziness for the win!


----------



## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't organize any of it, just stuff it all in together. Haven't had a problem yet!


----------



## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

I'm super fussy but I don't sort until I'm ready to wash.  Here's how I organize it:

Reds, pinks, browns, and yellows (unless there's an item that might bleed, then I'll remove light pinks and yellows; sadly I own enough pink to fill a load)
Blues, greens, purples, greys
Blacks and dark greys
Lights
Jeans (they always get a separate load since I don't like them rubbing on my work clothes)
Towels
Sheets

Everything except sheets and towels are washed in cold water.

My hubby isn't terrible about cleaning out his pockets but he's lost a number of bluetooth headsets in the wash!  My most common offenders are tissue and chapstick so I've learned!


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

I live alone, but I've never been very picky when it comes to my piles...

Pile #1: Whites & Light Colors

Pile #2: Colors

(Occasional) Pile #3: Jeans (if more than 2 pairs)/thick clothing/excess clothing amounts, "to shrink" (I'm very short), or washable sweaters (aka. Woolite pile)

What I am sort of weird about is when and what order I do it.  I have to do it on a sunday afternoon so that I will have clothes for work week, and be folded (right out of the dryer) and put away before I have to head to bed.  I also have to wash the items with my whites/lights colors going first, and my colors going last. 

But...my washer and dryer aren't that big and old.  I am just VERY thankful I no longer have to use community washer/dryers and make sure that I have enough change...oh, and going over to my relative's homes to use their machines.  Did that for years during and after college...

Tris


----------



## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

I'm not fussy, but the wife freaks if my socks end up in the same load with her underwear. It's a borderline phobia.


----------



## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

Three hampers in our bedroom: jeans, warm/hot (underwear, undershirts, white socks), other clothes including any delicates. At laundry time I separate tan/light jeans from blue/black ones. I also put delicate items in mesh laundry bags. (I look forward to enough mesh bags to bag delicates before they go into the hamper. Then DH could do any of the laundry instead of just jeans, warm/hot, and towels. ) If there are enough for two loads then I will separate darks from lights. New red or dark items wait for a dark load. Bathroom towels have their own basket as do kitchen items. Bedding goes directly from bed to washer.

No special laundry day. Instead I tend to do laundry as soon as a basket or hamper is full enough. Since we have a septic tank, I try to avoid more than three loads in a day unless truly necessary. (My preference is two or fewer loads a day.)

Type of fabric or soil are more important to me than color. 

ETA: Visiting granddaughters get one or two loads depending on amount with jeans going into a separate load when there are enough for a second load.


----------



## JETaylor (Jan 25, 2011)

Jess and I would get along just fine.  

I don't sort - just shove in the washer and I've been known to pull out pink or blue undershirts - hubby wasn't too pleased but hey - he's not doing the laundry.   

I've wised up a little (after 20 odd years of marriage) so that if I know something's new, I will cull it out and throw it in a dark load.  That's the only time I "separate". 

I also don't look at washable tags - been known to wash and dry wool - that's fun.


----------



## loonlover (Jul 4, 2009)

Not nearly as fussy as I once was (please don't tell my sons ).  I sort more by type/weight of fabric than I do colors anymore.  Might have something to do with washing for only two now combined with my being retired.  It is hard to come up with a very big load of the kind of clothes I used to wear to work.  Jeans and towels are still separate loads, however.


----------



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I'm not very particular about my laundry sorting. I just have lights and darks. I also try to wash bath towels separately from regular laundry because I've heard they're rough on less sturdy fabrics and cause them to wear out. I also handwash delicat es but I hate doing that so try to only buy things that are machine washable.


----------



## MLKatz (Sep 8, 2012)

I'm not fussy which has led to some laundry lamentations. Plus I have teens doing laundry too which leads to lots of "Junior's" clothes getting stuffed in a bin when "Suzie" needs the dryer. 

There's underwear and there's everything else.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Sandpiper said:


> I'm a little fussy 'bout doing laundry. Just me involved. I'm in a condo with common, not in-unit, washers and dryers (50 cents to wash and 50 cents to dry) so not good for doing too small loads.
> 
> I separate whites and _very light_ colors from other colors (not _dark_ items). A friend recently told me about Shout Color Catchers. If I have occasional dark item, I throw it in with colors with Color Catcher sheet. They work! If I have a number of dark items, that's a separate load. Heat is hard on fabric, so I wash everything in warm, not hot water.
> 
> ...


Those color catchers sound promising! Yeah, I'm wary about red, too. Pink stuff that is supposed to be any other color is embarrassing!


----------



## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Very.  My wife, surprisingly, is not so much, but I have to sort everything into a very specific pile for easy filing (or putting the clothes away, I should say).


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

vrabinec said:


> I'm not fussy, but the wife freaks if my socks end up in the same load with her underwear. It's a borderline phobia.


Haha! That's really funny!

Wait, maybe she doesn't want fuzzies? LOL!


----------



## Lee44 (Sep 9, 2012)

I don't sort until the wash, it all goes in one hamper.  I then pull out the wash that I am doing, ie. whites or colors.


----------



## geniebeanie (Apr 23, 2009)

Used to be and then color guards came out,also I live alone and have to pay for water.  Now I throw it all in together and use color safe bleach.  Clothes are nice and clean.


----------



## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

Clean or dirty, coloured or white, it all ends up on the floor normally anyway


----------



## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

There is a Dilbert cartoon (tried to find it on the web to link to in this post, but can't find it), where Dilbert is standing in front of a washing machine, holding up a shirt that and reading from a label, "hand-wash, only in secretions of the Peruvian Yak-Yak bird at temperatures between 122 and 123 degrees."  He hesitates for a moment, then tosses the shirt in the machine saying "in you go with everyone else, set on Permanent Press." and there is a muffled scream from within the washing machine as he turns away.

I figure that Scot Adams has a hidden video camera in my laundry room, because that is exactly what I do.  Except work clothes go to the laundromat to be dry-cleaned.


----------



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I lived in the US for many years now, but I still have no clue what permanent press means on the machines.  
And I am still hating the agitator, but that's a gripe for another day.


----------



## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Cobbie said:


> I'm not too fussy. I throw the clothes down the stairs in pillow cases, then sort - towels (whites cycle), whites (whites cycle), lights (regular or delicate cycle), darks (regular cycle), reds (regular cycle), stain stick when needed.
> 
> I've learned three things from this thread:
> 
> ...


Come on and move in Cobbie! My FIL added the laundry chute to this house 40 years ago. Our bedroom bathroom is directly above the laundry room in the basement. He cut a hole in the floor through the bottom of the sink cabinent and lined it with something smooth so things don't snag. Open the cabinet door, throw it down the hole - voila, it's in the basement by the washing machine. Pretty high-falutin', huh?  Now if I just had a dumbwaiter or something to haul laundry back upstairs when it's clean and folded...


----------



## Tam (Jan 7, 2010)

This thread has made for such interesting reading!

We have a laundry chute also! When we remodeled our old home (circa 1874) we put a counter in the upstairs bathroom that has a hinged door on the front that opens forward (hinge is on the bottom.) Laundry goes in there and lands on an old formica table in the first floor laundry room. It is a long square wooden tube, sanded and painted so nothing gets snagged on the way through.

When I'm ready to do laundry I sort it into piles - usually (1)whites & light colors including underwear & khakis, (2) brighter & darker colors, including non-fading jeans (unless there are enough jeans for a whole load), and finally (3)blacks, very dark browns, & deep purples - as long as there is nothing to shed lint. Towels/sheets are a separate category and all go together into one load, often on a different day than the rest.

The only fussiness I really have is not getting lint on my black pants & tops. DH has been known to hear the washer going, grab terry tea towels from the kitchen, & throw them in with a black load- a major No-No!!! I also wash my things in either Cold, Warm, or half & half, as I don't like my knit shirts to shrink. I also dry most clothes on low, jeans on medium, and towels & sheets on high. DH likes his stuff all thrown together, washed in Hot or Warm, and dried on High. So we mostly do our own loads! He also folds things different than I like them folded, so I tend to just do my own stuff more often than not.


----------



## kdawna (Feb 16, 2009)

Not too fussy. I use color catchers with new Jeans and red shirts that I am not sure of!
One of the worst things I washed was an Old Navy little girl shirt with sparkles on .......it was amazing how those sparkles lasted in my washer and dryer!


----------



## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

MalloryMoutinho said:


> I only sort when the clothes are new--until they've been washed a few times--then everything goes in the same load.
> 
> Haha laziness for the win!


^^This is me. New stuff with a lot of colour gets it's own hand wash - once, maybe twice - then it's in with everything else. If I have enough for more than one load I might sort loosely between lights and darks, but that's about it. My knickers are still white and life's too short.


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

loonlover said:


> Not nearly as fussy as I once was (please don't tell my sons ).


Heh! I love this. 

Nope, I won't tell!


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

I sort my stuff after it gets dried. That way I don't have to stress about it.


----------



## NottiThistledore (Jan 11, 2013)

I'm only fussy if I've bought something black or brown and it hasn't been washed before. I'll make sure that pale things are taken out if that's the case. Otherwise, nope.

And re: pulling things out of pockets? It's not my responsibility to check other people's clothes (although I do keep any change that falls out of jeans pockets.  )


----------

