King size quilt (too big to go in with the sheets)
Kitchen towels, cleaning rags
This last one always bugs me the most. First, I hate having dirt and grime and cleaning chemicals mix with kitchen towels. But I don’t really want to put the kitchen towels, that might have food on them, with the bath towels. Nor do I want to add yet another load by splitting them. And doing a tiny load with just a couple items really bugs me. But there’s only 2 of us and far too many loads already. Ugh!
Dark cottons
Light cottons
Dark wool-lite / lightweight stuff
Light wool-lite / lightweight
Pants
If I’ve done my usual thing of waiting until I’m running out of clothes, the first two might get split, usually by weight (towels vs shirts sort of thing)
I have to go outside, up and down two flights of stairs, and through the garage to do laundry. I do 2 loads (3 in weeks when I do the sheets, which I do separately).
Normal Wash (Usually towels and socks)
Cold Gentle (Everything else)
I throw a Shout color-catcher in with the Cold Gentle to prevent dye mishaps.
I read somewhere years ago that jeans & towels are rough on cotton and will make it pill faster so I do those separate from the soft stuff now. It does seem like things look newer longer.
When I get ready to take my shower at night, I strip off my clothes and put them in the washer. At the end of the week I toss in my towel and push Play. When I wash the sheets I put the towels in with the sheets and wash them on hot. I’m single, obvious.
Colored t-shirts/underwear (cold water, normal wash)
Dress shirts (cold water, delicate)
Dress pants (cold water, delicate)
Towels/socks (hot water, normal to heavy duty wash, bleach on occasion)
Dark colored sheets (cold water, normal wash)
Light colored sheets/white t-shirts (if white t-shirts need to be bleached, then they go in towel/sock load; hot water, normal wash)
Blankets/comforters (warm water, delicate to normal wash)
When I used to wear jeans, they had their own separate load(s).
Since I do my laundry at a laundromat, I don’t just throw each load separately into a dryer. I separate out items of similar weight then dry them together, so white t-shirts get tossed in with the other colored items and dried at high heat, the dress shirts and pants are together at low, etc.
I use the triple at the laundromat down the street (set for “colors”). Sorting happens at the dryers: smartwool socks, sweaters, bandannas, dress slacks, and really delicate t-shirts go in dryer 1 on low; underwear goes in dryer 2 on high; blue jeans, cargo shorts, and bath towels go in dryer 3 on high.
Pants, shorts, shirts (unless they are white), warm/cold.
Socks and undies go in with towels and sheets, hot/cold and bleach.
White shirts get saved up until there is a full load, or I may throw them in with the towels and sheets and not use bleach.
Skirts, blouses, and dresses, which I seldom wear, get washed in a separate load.
Sometimes I hand wash them because it can take a long time to get a load.
Bras get hand washed.
Clothes all together. Another YES for Shout color catchers-love! When I was first widowed I despaired of making a full load of darks or lights. Now I just dump them in all together. Cold water
Towels on their own. No fab. softener for them. And they pill something awful on black t-shirts. Hot water
Depends entirely on how much I have accumulated. I wear black and gray for work, so that is usually what I have the most of and if I am just trying to get clean clothes for work, everything goes in one…black pants, sweaters, smartwool socks and cotton undies. If I have a bigger pile that might include jeans and t-shirts, then I will separate into blacks and lighter colors. Bath and kitchen towels go in a load together…I don’t use any cleaning chemicals with towels (I use paper towels if I am getting in to chemicals) and most of the kitchen towels are used just for drying hands and dishes, so there is rarely food residue on them, so no worries about washing them together. And even if I did wipe up a food spill with a towel…they are going in soap and water…no squickiness involved with washing them with bath towels. Sheets either get tossed in with towels and then dried separately (outside on line whenever possible) or they get their own load if I am also doing the duvet cover or the cotton blanket. On truly rare occasions I have enough lights/delicates/whites to make up another load…usually when I do all the bras at once.
Our laundry room is beside the kitchen and soiled kitchen linens get thrown into the washer as they get soiled. Then I do two laundry days a week. The first is:
