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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Separating whites from colours...

96 replies

Celebelly · 08/10/2018 23:17

Who does this regularly when washing clothes?

I've always heard of it being a thing but I only ever wash things separately if I think they might run (ie. dark stuff that hasn't been washed before). Otherwise, stuff that is regularly worn just gets bunged in together and then into the tumble drier and we've never had any dye disasters, my whites are still white, etc.

What am I missing? :D AIBU and a terrible human being? Do I need to be shown the light?

OP posts:
Fatasfook · 08/10/2018 23:20

I always separate my loads. Dark. Colour. Whites. Wools.

ineedtocalm · 08/10/2018 23:20

I am awful with the washing and have to separate literally everything..
Undies with undies,
Work uniform
Towels
Don’t get me started on lights and darks
#ineedtogetalife

megletthesecond · 08/10/2018 23:21

I always separate.
Whites.
Darks .
Reds/pinks/orange/yellows.

It's all I know tbh. I don't want to risk my clothes by mixing the colours up.

catshart · 08/10/2018 23:21

Colours, whites and darks all separate. Don't your whites go grey?
A friend of mine bungs it all in together and they recently gave me some baby clothes and the white ones were really not very white.

Menarefrommarsitwouldseem · 08/10/2018 23:22

I think whites look grubby when washed with dark

I also like to wash white on a higher temp than i would dark.

Original poster
Celebelly · 08/10/2018 23:23

Nope, no grundies here (although I don't like white underwear in general so don't own much of it). I actually went and had a look through my wardrobe before posting (Blush) to see if anything I own looks grey but not to my eye! Maybe I'm just in denial.

OP posts:
JosellaPlayton · 08/10/2018 23:23

Colour catchers are pretty good and picking up any running colour but I still prefer to seperate unless it’s DD’s vests or something like that. Don’t your whites go grey if you never seperate?

LittleBirdBlues · 08/10/2018 23:23

I separate colours but in a very vague sense. Dark colours vs whites/light colours.

I don't even wash towels separately!

Bedding gets a separate wash but only because it fills the entire drum.

Mehaveit · 08/10/2018 23:23

Colour catcher in every wash. Problem solved.

EBearhug · 08/10/2018 23:24

I separate whites, light colours, dark colours, towels, wool.

DramaAlpaca · 08/10/2018 23:26

I always separate laundry, I do whites, darks and brights separately. I find whites don't stay white otherwise.

Lazypuppy · 08/10/2018 23:26

Whites, colours, towels, bedding, baby's clothes all done seperately at different temps/cycles

PookieDo · 08/10/2018 23:29

Yes I separate them out

BackforGood · 08/10/2018 23:32

I tend to, but, as I'm washing for a family, then it is easy enough to do, as I have enough washing coming through to sort however.
When washing for one it isn't so practical.
Over time, I think whites stay 'white' or 'brighter white' for longer if washed separately (and I tend to wash them on a higher temperature too). It's not going to harm them shorter term going in with all the other clothes though.

chaoscategorised · 08/10/2018 23:32

I never seperate either - assumed it was one of those things people are supposed to do but don't, like turning your mattress once a fortnight or whatever haha - and I don't think I own a single item of white clothing so there are no disasters. If I bought new jeans I would probably keep anything paler out of their first wash but that's it!

macdhui · 08/10/2018 23:34

Very relaxed about most things except laundry! Sort everything - whites, dark & colour. Towels separately as well as bed linen. Very particular about water temp too and have a range of detergents !

SpoonBlender · 08/10/2018 23:34

Split into "pale cottons" and "everything else" here, with only occasional worries about new highly coloured stuff. Dye leaks so much less these days that it's barely a concern - only had colour run from a cheapo red scarf in recent years.

I'll pile towels and sheets into a hot wash occasionally, but usually everything goes through at 40C.

ineedaholidaynow · 08/10/2018 23:35

Yes I separate out too, do whites/pale colours, darks, towels (as do hot wash). Usually wash everything at 40, so sometimes do a 30 wash for delicates

ineedaholidaynow · 08/10/2018 23:39

I was reading another thread the other day, asking whether people's teens knew how to do a wash, and a number of PP said their children, some as young as 13, were responsible for doing their own laundry. I couldn't work out how they would have enough clothes/towels if they separated everything out.

angelikacpickles · 08/10/2018 23:41

I do separate washes for darks/lights/blues/reds. If you wash your whites with other colours, they're grey for sure. I notice it if a light coloured sock gets in with a dark wash - it's always slightly discoloured.

AdoraBell · 08/10/2018 23:42

Yep, separate clothes for washing. Forgot last week and I now have some delightfully grey knickers Hmm

Haggisfish · 08/10/2018 23:44

I do dark wash each for each dc, me, and a separate white combined dc and me. Dh sorts his own!

PickAChew · 08/10/2018 23:46

I separate out whites, or else they end up grey.

Also separate reds, or else everything else goes pink.

AornisHades · 08/10/2018 23:49

I'm not much of a housewife but I am meticulous about sorting washing. I got fussy when my jeans made dd's babygro slightly greyer than all the others. PFB stuff.
Now we have so much washing that I do dark, white, red and lights most weeks with an occasional blue wash.

PickAChew · 08/10/2018 23:50

Doesn't a color catcher in each wash just add to plastic waste?