Not bothering to separate colours

[Trunkybum]

I’m just read a reply on another thread where someone mentioned OP should pick similar shades of colour for her child’s clothing so she can wash them all together.
Cant you just wash it all together anyway? I literally bung everything into the machine, including really light stuff and it’s all fine. If I’ve got something dark I’m washing for the first few times lll shove a colour catcher in (yes I’m aware they are the produce of satan). I might keep white stuff separate if it’s really lovely, but white towels are fair game and I hardly have any white clothing.

really who can be arsed with doing so many separate washes? BTW, we’re not talking about high end, delicate garments. Poster was talking about Primark clothes and most of our wardrobe is Next or supermarkets.

I do light colours, darks and whites. We've always loads of washing so easy to separate and fill the machine

I really don't understand people who can put a white shirt in with black jeans.
The white shirt will look less nice, age faster and look greyer over time, if not after one wash.

Same for brights, eg dd has a lovely bright orange shirt. Put is in with her balck hoodie and it will lose that bright edge.

So I separate, if lots of washing I will spearate into piles of most similar colours.

If not much washing at the veyr least I will do whites and lights in one pile and colours and darks in another.

We do whites + lights and then darks. Delicates are separated and also washed by colour (delicates are mostly mine and mostly expensive so I really don’t want to risk it)

We have two baskets next to the machine and a separate area for delicates. Takes about 20 secs to sort it all out and for us absolutely worth the bother. I don’t like grey whites and have had a few colour leaks in the past.

tomake it easy, we have 3 baskets in our bathroom.
whites
colours
darks

my kids have put their clothes in the right basket since they were little. Dead easy, grab a basket and chuck it in the wash

Those who say they don't have enough whites - do you not have white sheets?

Whites on their own (sometimes with other pale things if I haven't a full load.) Whites are the only thing where I occasionally run the machine with less than a full load, as sometimes we really need them cleaning. Everything else waits until there's enough for a load.

Black and navy sometimes together and sometimes separately if there's a lot. (We wear a lot of black and navy.) Other darks (brown, dark green) might go in with them but if there are enough, I'll do an "other darks" separate wash.

Medium blues and greens together. Sometimes mix blues and greys.

Warm colours (red, orange, bright pink) together - sometimes these sit in the basket for ages and I have to make an effort to wear reds to fill the load.

Paler pinks and beige together.

I don't wash towels or bedding separately; they go in the relevant coloured wash.

I generally have enough washing to do one load a day - and over the course of a week will have at least enough to do

A boil wash of whites (tea towels, dish cloths, white flannels, pillow cases and sheets)
A dark wash (black stuff, navy stuff, jeans, dark knickers and boxers)
A light wash (paler shades of all colours)
A bright wash (brighter shades of all colours)
Duvet covers
Towels

It takes seconds to sort a load of washing and clothes aren't cheap nor should we be thinking we can chuck them if they go a bit grey.

I have some white sheets but I also have grey sheets, pink sheets and pale green sheets. I used to have beige too but, as I'm replacing, I'm mainly sticking to white. The grey look very classy, though, imho.

Nope. I hate white bedding or towels.

I wash everything together except if it’s the first wash of a dark or coloured item.
Never had issues with colours mixing.

I chuck all coloureds in together, but separate whites. Actually, that’s not strictly true. I have been known to chuck white sheets in with duvet covers so I don’t hand half a load. Turns out alright.

I do sometimes try and wash similar ‘weights’ - so hoodies , jeans and other heavier stuff goes in together. Don’t know why, just do it, but if lighter stuff gets mixed in, doesn’t bother me.

Life’s too short… .

None of my bedding is white.

I separate whites and colours. Very very light colours may go in with the whites and colours include darks. I don't separate colours and darks - what is the reasoning behind it??

Just a thought, washing powders (and washing up liquids, dishwater tablets at al) are always boasting ‘best ever’, ‘new improved’ etc, so were the Persil, , Daz, Fairy etc of yesteryear terrible, and did we all go around in grubby or off-colour clothes?

No, we don't have white sheets or white towels. Is that hard to believe?

I do lights and whites separately. Whites like towels go in a separate hotter wash anyway.

I once lent a pair of little DD’s pristine white tights to a colleague for her dd (abroad where it wasn’t easy to find such things.)

They came back washed, but far from pristine white, and then I understood why colleague’s clothes were mostly a sludgy blue/greyish/purplish colour - she was evidently shoving everything in together on probably a too hot wash.

If I separated the way some of you do, I'd be doing so many more loads of washing with much less in each one.

My childs clothes are filthy within about an hour of them being worn anyway, maybe that's why I don't notice how everything has a different tinge to it 😉

Whites separately.

Colours all together.

Nice black dresses and tops separately with detergent for darks so that they don't fade.

I actually don't know. I just know when I've seen them mentioned on MN previously it's like a swear word. I like them.

I always separate.
Whites
Blacks / grey/navy
Reds and pinks
Yellows and beige.

I think it's why my clothes last for so long, that and not tumble drying My gym teacher was amazed I was wearing a race top from 2013 the other day and said it didn't look old.

Whites and lights in together. Darks separately. My son’s expensive stuff in separately probs on a cool wash. Towels and bath mat on their own

If we are talking say the 80s, whites would have been good with modern powder which contained bleach and more washes done at hotter temperatures, along with hanging out in sunshine. 'Laundry blue' was also still used by some. (and is still available to buy now!).

These days you can wash whites at low temperature with a powder containing bleach, enzymes and optical brightener and they can be a bit day glo!

It's easier to keep colours looking good for longer now.

I only separate my white bedding and the handful of white linen shirts we have between us.

Everything else goes in together unless it's a boil wash in which case it's only undies, socks, sheets and towels (DH has chronic athletes foot) I don't boil tops, hoodies or jeans.

Whites and lights together, darks together. Nobody in my house really wears brights. A single one of DH's black sports socks can dye a full load of whites

However my mum doesn't separate and her things always look OK so I do apportion a lot of blame to the brand of socks DH wears.

I separate everything!

White polo shirts, school shirts and white tee shirts.

white towels, sheets, white socks duvet covers on a hot wash

Dark colours

Bright colours

colours with white in them ( e.g navy and white stripes) with a colour catcher

Football and sports kit

It doesn't take me any longer