How do you separate laundry?

I chuck tea towels straight in the washing machine as they need washing and they get wasted with whatever load goes on next.

Apart from that I only tend to wash towels and bedding separately as they tend to take up a full load, nothing else gets separated at all. I tend to avoid white clothes in general anyway.

See below:
The average adult undergarment has about a tenth of a gram of fecal matter,” Dr. Charles Gerba, renowned germ researcher and professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, told CTVNews.ca by telephone earlier this month.
“By my estimations, a week’s worth of dirty underwearwould amount to about an airline peanut-sized amount of fecal matter.”
Gerba, an environmental microbiologist best known for his research in water quality, turned his attention to household laundry a decade ago thanks to a rise in energy-saving cold-water washing.
According to his research, Gerba says dirty underwear and jeans are among the worst offenders for collecting bacteria when it comes to our clothes.
But hand towels remain the number one culprit for containing fecal bacteria, with over 80 per cent testing positive.

Hopefully this thread will make people think twice next time they put a wash on!! I actually feel sick at the thought of peoples poo particles spinning round with their tea towels 🤢

How long does it take you to get a full load of knickers?

See below:
The average adult undergarment has about a tenth of a gram of fecal matter,” Dr. Charles Gerba, renowned germ researcher and professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, told CTVNews.ca by telephone earlier this month.
“By my estimations, a week’s worth of dirty underwearwould amount to about an airline peanut-sized amount of fecal matter.”
Gerba, an environmental microbiologist best known for his research in water quality, turned his attention to household laundry a decade ago thanks to a rise in energy-saving cold-water washing.
According to his research, Gerba says dirty underwear and jeans are among the worst offenders for collecting bacteria when it comes to our clothes.
But hand towels remain the number one culprit for containing fecal bacteria, with over 80 per cent testing positive.

Of couse one might surmise that those who did die, pointed at the laundry basket gasping...
" It was...it was the MIXED washing that done it."
before slumping on the floor on a heap.

I wash by room, ie the kids who share one room go in one wash (or rather, their clothes do) and the others go in a different wash. So much easier to sort and put away.

But I agree, I'd feel icky putting something actually dirty in with just grubby clothes. My husband chucked swimming stuff in with school uniform once, and the kids smelt like chlorine all week!

Do you find 30 and 40 are enough? I ended up having to rewash things so now everything apart from wool and delicates gets done at 60.
What washing powder do you use? I use Tesco tropical sunshine. Maybe I need to swap to a better one.

That's quite a standard you've set...

I know I am uptight about separations. Cleaning cloths, tea towels, bathroom towels, knickers, etc all go in separate loads. I just make sure I have enough of everything that I can run a full wash when I do run them.

I do. We also have and use bidets in our bathrooms, so maybe my standards are different than yours.

Tea towels and underwear should be in a 60 degree wash, according to guidelines. Not my own, to clarify.

No it’s disgusting to wash underwear with cloth you wipe plates with.

But people are mingers. I can be in the supermarket and see people who look perfectly nice and ordinary - but they clearly don’t wash or dry their clothes properly and they’ve gone nose blind - as they stink. Low temps, non-bio… it all keeps the bacteria hanging about and thriving.

Keep separating op. The dirty fuckers will say ‘no one died’ but yeah, that’s a low bar.

See below:
The average adult undergarment has about a tenth of a gram of fecal matter,” Dr. Charles Gerba, renowned germ researcher and professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, told CTVNews.ca by telephone earlier this month.
“By my estimations, a week’s worth of dirty underwearwould amount to about an airline peanut-sized amount of fecal matter.”
Gerba, an environmental microbiologist best known for his research in water quality, turned his attention to household laundry a decade ago thanks to a rise in energy-saving cold-water washing.
According to his research, Gerba says dirty underwear and jeans are among the worst offenders for collecting bacteria when it comes to our clothes.
But hand towels remain the number one culprit for containing fecal bacteria, with over 80 per cent testing positive.

Washing at 40 degrees or less doesn't kill any bacteria. Mixing tea towels most people use on dishes with underwear and washing them together it's just gross IMO. You have people moaning that's it's all clean anyway , but the same people will say you shouldn't wash your meats for fear of spreading bacteria. Make it make sense.