What laundry rules do you follow or ignore? Share with Fairy Non Bio for a chance to win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

With laundry stacked high and always increasing, it can be tempting to break even the most basic of laundry rules in order to keep on top of the task. Fairy Non Bio would like to hear about the rules you implement (or ignore!) when you’re doing the laundry.

Here’s what Fairy has to say: “We want to know what’s important to you. Have you found a way to save time? A way to get the best stain removal? A way to keep clothes huggably soft? Or even just a way to not lose matching socks! We would love to hear your tricks of the trade.”

What’s your perspective on laundry rules? Either way, Fairy Non Bio wants to know. Do you obey temperature regulations or simply stick everything in at 40? Perhaps you’re the kind of person who avoids overfilling and never fails to air-dry fine fabrics. Or, maybe you fill the machine to the brim and adopt a one size fits all approach to drying that would make manufacturers weep. Whatever they may be, divulge your laundry indiscretions.

Share the rules that you follow and those you ignore on the thread below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[UpOnDown]

I do a mixed delicates cycle for clothes that aren't that dirty.

[pinkflump]

I don't do delicates wash, if it gets ruined then it gets ruined
I don't always separate whites from colours
Everything goes in on a 40 degree wash
Everything goes in the tumble dryer
Sometimes I overfill the machine with clothes that aren't particularly grubby and just need a freshen up
I don't always empty the machine straight away. If it smells OK when I take it out then it just goes straight in the tumbler

[GetKnitted]

I put as much washing in as possible, on the grounds that the machine has a weight limit, not a volume limit and the clothes aren't that heavy

[BreakfastAtSquiffanys]

"hand wash only" is a rule to be broken.

[TheSpottedZebra]

I'm fairly militant about my white wash. Only whites - no beiges, white with a pink trim, pale lemon etc.
As such, my white bedlinen is still nice and fresh looking.

I'm not brave enough for a handwash wash in the machine. As a result, my hand washing mostly lives at the bottom of the laundry basket.

[Thistly]

Pales and darks always apart. I wash at 60 due to allergies in the house, and at that temperature, it really makes a difference.

There is hand wash and hand wash.... Certain particilarly nice things I will actually wash by hand, but others I risk in the machine.

Sometimes you can look at an item and just know it's not colourfast... Which gets proved when you throw caution to the wind. I'm not sure how you can tell, but you can.

[stuckinarutt]

I put my clothes in, I use a scoop of stain remover and 2 Fairy tablets instead of one because I'm odd. I then use the little unstoppable beads - quite a few tbh.
I then put in fabric conditioner -- quite a lot as well. I put it on a 40 degree cycle I think?

I then take it out and hang everything outside if it's not raining/snowing so recently it's been never. I use the tumble dryer instead with the blue tumbler dryer sheets and everything comes out smelling fabulous.

I have little bags in my drawers and wardrobes filled with unstoppables too and then I put tumble dryer sheets inbetween the folded clothes. Everything is soft and smells amazing - when I walk in the wind I can smell it and I love it.

Ps - I love washing and that's an embarrassment. I am 26 - I need to get a life.

[Olliver27]

Dog beds go in at 60, everything else goes in at 40. Off-white coloured towels are the norm here.

[Tattybogle89]

Don’t wash towels with clothes at it makes clothes bobbly.
Wash little things like baby socks inside a pillowcase.
Remove washing quickly and leave machine door open to keep it all smelling fresh.
Rinse food stains in cold water before putting in the machine.

I do tend to overfill the machine though and wash more than I should.. or wear and it’s in the wash basket. Pjs included .

[Wilma55]

I'm lazy and hate pegging out washing. I use an old fashioned laundry maid hoist whenever possible and hang shirts from it on a hanger.

[voyager50]

I never use the 60 setting as I worry about it spoiling things and when I haven't got much time to spare I use the 30 superfast cycle.

As for the missing socks - I keep a clear plastic bag in each sock drawer and whenever I have a single sock left after a wash it goes in the bag until its pair reappears!

[LadyFuchsiaGroan]

I wash everything on 40. When my boyfriend puts things in the washing machine not inside out it makes me twitchy. I always say to myself I will iron as I go, especially the nights when it takes me an hour or 2 to iron a weeks worth of washing, but I hate ironing so I will continue to have my weekly tantrum that I allowed it to pile back up again.

[Irontheshirts]

I wash most thinks on 40 except hand wash and knit wear when I use the special settings on the machine.
I always separate darks and lights.
I overfill, stuffing clothes in.
Use a tumble dryer or maiden depending on care label. This is one thing I am particular about.

[Sleepysausage]

Strict white wash. But everything else goes in the machine together

[SillyMoomin]

Always always always wash whites only with whites and a scoop of ecover laundry bleach. I get twitchy if there’s even something cream coloured that tries to sneak in with the white wash.

However coloured and darks all get thrown in together and nothin bad has happened (yet)

[TellMeItsNotTrue]

I do sort by colour, but it goes on whatever temperature I think appropriate, and all different fabrics get washed together

If it needs any special care then I either don't buy it or I chance my luck at washing normally

[PorridgeAgainAbney]

We have laundry wars in our house; I wash bedding and towels on 50, whites on 40 and darks on 30, never use fabric conditioner and never wash anything vaguely delicate (which means it sits at the bottom of the laundry basket for about 6 months until can be bothered to do some handwashing).

DH will do the washing but would happily boil everything if I didn't check/shout at him; the amount of jumpers, throws and embroidered bedding that has been ruined by his 1920's attitude to washing is ridiculous.

[Ineke]

Sheets and Towels in at 60c with laundry cleanser and towel softener. I don't possess a tumble drier so towels tend to be a little rough unless blown about on a washing line.
Use Colour Catcher sheets if I mix whites and colour on 40c.
Use fabric conditioner in main wash as well as end rinse..
Use a net bag for delicates and then put in on wool or delicate wash at 20c.
Horror of horrors, have washed dry clean only items after a patch test.
I tend to wash pure new wool and silk items by hand, and maybe give it a short spin in the machine.

[jenid123]

I wash our white bedding seperately at 60 degrees. Everything else gets roughly seperately into lights/darks and goes on a fast wash at 30 or 40 depending on my mood or how dirty the wash is. I also use Dylon colour run sheets if I have bought a new item of clothing I'm washing or I have mixed darker and lighter.

[joggingrunning]

I always make sure to wash items marked 'hand-wash only' by hand and always sort the laundry by their colour(s).

[JellySlice]

Thou shalt not wash woollens in the general laundry.

Verily, thou shalt keep thy mucky fingers off my merino and touch not my cashmere cardies. Else I WILL rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon. See if I don't!

[JellySlice]

And bras and tights go in lingerie bags. Separate bags. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[BristolMum96]

I put everything in together on a 40 degree cotton wash. If it doesn't survive it's not worth it. Only exceptions being my medical work scrubs and DH welding gear as needs their own 60 degree wash each to stop contamination of the baby clothes!

[WinkyisbackontheButterBeer]

I do a lights and a darks. If it doesn’t fit into one of those it gets bunged in with whichever it resembles closest.
Everything goes on at 30.

I have never had a laundry disaster so it must be ok.

[jammiecat]

I sort pales and dark then wash each on 40 with scoop of powder (probably more than the box says. I use whatever's on offer, currently fairy. Almost always bio). I also use fabric conditioner but half what the bottle says. I stuff as much as I can fit into the washer. As pp said, how heavy can clothes be. All the kids clothes and DH shirts go in the tumble dryer. Adult tops go on the heated dryer. I wash and tumble swimming costumes on the sportswear setting using non bio, no conditioner. I wash towels at 40 with an occasional 60 using bio but no conditioner. I then tumble dry. I wash hand wash on the delicate setting then hang on heated airer. If it's in the washing basket it goes in the machine. So if you put dry clean only trousers in the wash basket they will be machine washed and I will not be held responsible (I'm looking at you DH). Items left on top of the laundry basket will not be washed (again I'm looking at you DH!) I wash and dry everything but rarely find time to put it away so selecting clothes to wear is regularly done fron a laundry basket or in desperate times, the garage floor (where the tumble dryer is).