Separating whites from colours...

[Celebelly]

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?

I suppose this is funny now.

I started doing it religiously after friends commented that my white nappies were the only ones they saw which were actually white.😀

I separate them because the majority of my clothes are black, teal, some red, and then a minority are white. I don't want the whites to look like Manchester United's away kit.

I also separate

Whites
Colours
Red/Pink/mauve etc.

Whites
Darks
Mixed colours
Fabric softener
Anything else is just WRONG

I always separate. Whites, red, mixed colors, darks, towels, sheets.

I always separate and do a white/light wash and a dark wash. I wash whites at 60, colour at 40.

I separate colours. Whites and blacks.
Towels and sheets are done separately too

HmmWellAlrightyThen

I do exactly what LondonLass does.

Whites
Lights
Brights
Darks (includes red, so if it runs it's not noticed)

Towels go into their colour load, linen gets its own because it fills the machine. Whites go on a higher temp with some added napisan.

I'm legendary in my family for turning a batch of brand new white school shirts a dull grey on their first wash (in my teens, but the story stuck), so now I separate loads like it's a religion.

I separate

Whites
Light colours
Darker colours
Darks
Towels as they don’t get fabric softener
Bed Linen

I do the same as you, but the only white item i can think of are the kids pe tops, and they are red andcwhite striped.... Oh, and I have 1 white teeshirt.
So, new stuff gets washed seperatly, everything else gets bunged in one wash. My temperature control says "cold, warm, hot". In summer the cold water is pretty similar in temperature to the hot water....

Whites, Darks,Colours I never separate loads into underwear, towels etc also wash on the same 1 programme at 40-60 wash.

assumed it was one of those things people are supposed to do but don't, like turning your mattress once a fortnight or whatever

I do that every few months, too.

Yep ..I separate too! I love white whites!! It is a pain but worth it.

Yes, whites separated as I like whites to be that rather than grey.

We all mostly wear black and colours.
I'd be waiting a year to do a white wash.
I shove it all in and use a colour catcher.

I separate by colours, but also by wash temperatures.

Some stuff needs a hot wash- soiled, sweaty, towels etc.

Some stuff needs a cool wash- lycra, delicates. bras etc.

Washing everything together makes whites look grey.

And which powder do you use? Normal powder contains bleaching agents, great for white and light stuff, but death to black jeans and T shirts.
I use power for colours and different powder for lights.

And judging by the shelf space in supermarkets - most of us do separate by colour and use different powder- there is at least as much shelf space for " colour" detergents as normal detergents.

But which wash do white clothes with bright patterns/stripes go in? I have never been clear on this...

Like a pp if I separate my very pale colours from whites and my brights from darks then some clothes would be waiting months in the laundry basket before I had enough for a wash!

I used to chuck it all in together and thought it was fine. Then I started washing my whites separately and my goodness, you can really tell the difference!

And on the divide by colour and temperature what about lycra sports gear which needs a cool wash but is also sweaty? And does hot water really 'set' sweaty smells? I feel I make most of this up as I go along even though I did all the laundry in my family as a teenager sobwas taught by mum but I don't remember these questions being addressed!

I have a three-section laundry basket so the separation of clothes happens as they go in there. Also another bag for reds (should have got one with four sections!). Recently I have found myself subdividing light colours in an attempt to keep the white bits on white+ patterned things from going grey!

No. I don't wash at high enough temperatures. I heard it was bad for the planet

Always separate white, darks and other lighter coloureds in this house. When DD had white polo shirts for school, the staff used to comment how white they always stayed - she was at an SEN school so close contact with staff.

DS has just been back from Uni for the summer. They couple of white items he had have definitely turned grey from being in the wash with dark items as he doesn't have enough whites to do a separate wash.

Lights
Whites
Darks
Bright colours
I use normal bio detergent for the lights and whites, and the colour detergent for the colours and Darks