# Laundry Atrocity? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948 "2019-09-28T13:53:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/81 "2019-10-04T04:55:50Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I put dish soap in a washing machine once, just once. I have to say my laundry room floor was sparkling clean when I got done mopping! Yeah, like on the sitcoms. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/82 "2019-10-04T05:15:24Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I know the wash-separating thing has a reputation for being gendered behaviour but personally Iā€™m with **kayaker** - Iā€™m aware that there are certain clothes that will not cope well with being lumped in with all the other washing and my term for these items is ā€œthings that donā€™t belong in my closetā€. I have too many things in my head already to add washing instructions for a couple dozen clothes into the mix. Also, a simple washing scheme is a scheme a child can do. And does! > > I did do the ā€˜wool sweater to feltā€™ thing by accident one time with one of my jumpers. My daughter wore the results happily for a number of years afterwards. She was about four at the timeā€¦ LOL! > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Your husband was fired? That is what I let my wife believe too, but actually I was relieved of this duty. Therefore I cannot add anything sensible to this thread, but I am truly amazed at what am reading. The world is way more complicated than I thought. Yes I fully realize that getting fired was all part of his strategy. But I simply cannot live in a home where colors are mixed with whites, delicates mixed with towels, and ā€˜dry clean onlyā€™ garments are thrown into the washer/dryer. Life is just too short for that sort of chaos, so itā€™s better if I just do all the laundry myself. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/83 "2019-10-04T05:30:45Z")
@OP: Honestly you did the best thing. You needed to rinse out that residual soap by running a non-soap load and you did. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/84 "2019-10-04T07:41:29Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > ā€¦I simply cannot live in a home where colors are mixed with whites, delicates mixed with towels, and ā€˜dry clean onlyā€™ garments are thrown into the washer/dryer. Life is just too short for that sort of chaos Those nagna sadhava have the right idea. No clothes, no laundry problems. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/85 "2019-10-04T09:03:06Z")
I noticed the ā€œsoap residueā€ issue with my previous front-loader. I once ran a load a second time for some reason that I canā€™t remember, without adding any detergent, and I was amazed at the amount of suds that it produced! Anyway, that front-loader broke down after only about five years (thanks, LG!) and I now have a Maytag high-efficiency top loader in which I usually use less than the recommended amount of HE detergent and have the extra rinse cycle always on. Works great. I might try cutting back on detergent even more, except for very soiled items. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/86 "2019-10-04T19:25:45Z")
Then there is sorting, folding, and putting clothes away which my wife does because she says ā€œIā€™m the only one who does it the way I want itā€. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/87 "2019-10-04T20:51:08Z")
Ever since the front loading washing machine started to turn all my husbandā€™s white undershirts to a pale grey/blue color, Iā€™ve given up sorting whites from lights. But I still separate lights from darks. If I had to do a load without soap, Iā€™d just put it on the hottest setting and call it a day. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/88 "2019-10-04T22:07:19Z")
The bit I donā€™t get is the ā€œwash with like colorsā€ instruction on many clothes. So what do I do if I only have one bright red shirt? And how to launder things like plaids where there are multiple colors? And Iā€™ve been doing my own laundry for several decades (since college) and have really never had colors bleed. I think modern dyes are just better set. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/89 "2019-10-04T22:27:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The bit I donā€™t get is the ā€œwash with like colorsā€ instruction on many clothes. So what do I do if I only have one bright red shirt? And how to launder things like plaids where there are multiple colors? If itā€™s that problematic and/or you only have one of them, I assume you have to wash it by hand using an appropriately delicate textile shampoo. > [@](#): > > And Iā€™ve been doing my own laundry for several decades (since college) and have really never had colors bleed. I think modern dyes are just better set. _Some_ dyes bleed, though, so how will you know for sure without testing first? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/90 "2019-10-05T01:09:58Z")
I use bleach on most whites. We have a slight pink tinge in our well water due to red clay dirt in these here parts. I donā€™t bleach my dainties. So they are all a nice pink shade. Quite fetching. I tentatively named the color ā€˜Arky blushā€™. I may patent it.šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/91 "2019-10-05T03:11:31Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > When you shower, do you use soap? Shampoo? Or do you just rinse your skin & hair with water? > > When you brush your teeth, do you use toothpaste? Or do you just scrub an empty brush inside your mouth? when I stay on an island with no showers, where itā€™s illegal to use soap in the lake, I forgo soap for the week, except for washing my hands. I swim nice every morning (and some evenings) to rinse most of the dirt and sweat off. Yeah, soap works better, but just water does a decent job. And Iā€™ve absolutely run out of toothpaste and brushed my teeth anyway. Thereā€™s some residual toothpaste on the brush. It does a pretty decent job. > [@BrickBat](#): > > If you want to escalate this, try what I do: ( drives her nuts ) > > Start with a clean towel ( of course ) > > After drying oneself after showering, hang it ( or drape it over handy objects ) outside to dry. > > Re-use towel for next showering. Do this for 4 or 5 times before re-washing it. > > No no no she says: You wash it every time you use it. Sure, Iā€™m clean when I dry myself off, but apparently microscopic flakes of dead skin are quite the pandemic from which to infect myself with. What madness is that? How many towels does she own?! I wash my towel every week or three. Sometimes I just wash the washcloth, because it seems to get dirty, and itā€™s small enough that it never pushes me to another load or makes the drier take forever, like towels do. > [@zoogirl](#): > > Hmm, I may have missed it, but am I the only one who throws in shampoo or dish soap if thereā€™s no detergent? Soap is soap. All it does is melt grease and make stuff smell better. Heck, for that matter, Iā€™ve been broke and desperate enough to use dish soap _as_ shampoo! > Come to think of it, and vice versa. > I wouldnā€™t be too worried about doing a water wash on my after work clothes. Work clothes need soap, or possibly burning! Iā€™ve interchanged shampoo, dish soap, bar soap, and liquid castile soap for washing my body, hand-washing my clothes, hand-washing dishes, washing my hair, and washing stuff like hair brushes. But Iā€™ve never used anything but laundry soap in the clothes washer, or dishwasher soap in the dishwasher. I feel like they are fussy. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/92 "2019-10-05T03:28:35Z")
Well, you could copy my old wardrobe - all black! Running dye was never a problem! šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948/93 "2019-10-05T13:21:16Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > ā€¦_Some_ dyes bleed, though, so how will you know for sure without testing first? I wash the stuff I want to wash in hot water in one load, along with enough other sturdy lights to fill the tub. (underpants, socks, sheets are the things I want to wash in hot.) I use hot partly because I think stuff gets cleaner in general, and partly because my water is a little hard, and hot water does a much better job of dissolving the soap. I rinse that load twice on warm. Everything else I throw together and wash in warm. EXCEPT, if I have a new garment that I think might bleed, especially a cheaper red item, I wash it alone the first time. (or maybe throw in a pair of white panties to see if it did bleed.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-atrocity/840948.md?page=4)