The Professional Expert

Laundry - Sorting

This week we will look into a topic generally thought of as pretty obvious, but also a necessity for self sufficiency…laundry.

First we will look at sorting.

The quality of the sorting process is essential.  If you have ever seen the shrunken wool sweater or pink underwear, you know what I am talking about.

The first items to identify are those labeled “dry clean only.” You will find that they mean it.  Dry cleaning is an inconvenience so the manufacturers will not put it there if it is not necessary.

Put the dry clean pile separate from the wash pile so you don’t accidentally ruin that expensive shirt.

The washable clothes need to be separated as well. 

We have four bins at our house:

Towels and Linens – If you have dark towels and light towels wash them separately for a while.

Socks and Underwear – If you have particularly delicate undergarments, you may want to put them in a zippered lingerie bag. You can find these at your local big box store. The wife normally hand washes her bras, but you may want to put them in the lingerie bag if you decide to throw them in the washer. At least clasp the back together so that it doesn’t get tangled in the agitator. Also, if you do have dark colors that might bleed, wash them with the dark colors for a while.

Light Colored Clothes – These are clothes that are either light in color or have been washed many, many times. If you have any kind of design on the garment, turn it inside out to keep it intact. My wife has a friend who turns all of her clothing inside out to reduce the wear and tear on the part you see. Not a bad idea, but a little too much work for me.

Dark Colored Clothes – These are your jeans, red t-shirts, black sweatpants or anything else on the dark end of the scale. If you want to preserve the look and color, it is not a bad idea to turn them inside out.  We actually separate out the blue/black/purple clothes from the red/orange clothes and run them in two separate loads.

Some materials are less prone to lose their dye.  Synthetic materials are dyed in the fiber that the fabric is made of, and do not lose their color, or fade.  Cotton and other natural materials fade every time they are washed, so they need to be kept with like colors.  They will also absorb colors fairly regularly.
You will want to separate for how dirty things are – for example stuff with oil or grease should be washed with like stuff, not with the dress clothes in case some of the greasy gets transferred.

Tomorrow we will talk about those stains…

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