Is separating laundry colours dated practice?

[willywallaby]

When I moved out and started doing my own laundry I separated light and dark colours but then gradually I stopped doing it when I realised nothing bad ever happened if I mixed everything together. For most of my life though I've been quite careful about keeping brand new dark items away from white items until they'd been washed a few times. A few months ago I accidentally washed a new red t-shirt in with some white things and they stayed white. And we got some new dark things recently and because of the experience with the red t-shirt I didn't separate anything and still everything is fine. Have dyes modernised or something so that they don't run and you don't actually have to do this anymore?

This, one hundred per cent. Cannot give a fuck about DC school stuff looking dingy, if that actually even happens.

Whites
Lights
Bright colours
Dark colours

Towels
Bedding

But I do occasionally find a stray dark sock in my whites wash, and that really annoys me!

Colour catchers! Can't believe only one other poster seems to use them

So do I. Just do a half load if not enough of one colour scheme/type. There's only two of us now but we both do a lot of sport so generate quite a bit of washing.

I do a whites in with light colours, a sports wear wash (with special powder) a darks colour wash and a towels in with bedding wash. I use a colour catcher in every wash too.

Had too many incidents years ago of chucking stuff out.

I thought everyone did separate washes.

I accidentally did a mixed wash with a new pair of jeans and all the whites and light pinks turned horrible light grey. And I used two colour catchers as well

Never separated anything, never had any colours run. White shirts, black jeans, blue towels, I just chuck it all in! Always wash at 40, supermarket own brand powder, simple.

On the stove? 😂 Wouldn’t want to come for dinner at your house. Just wash your clothes in the washing machine. How old is your washing machine for it to be that wasteful? I think now I’ve heard it all. 😅

I've never separated. I only separate dark colours for the first few washes. After that they're fine. Been doing this for over 30 years. My whites are not grey at all! They're still brilliant white. DH wears a lot of white shirts for work. All are as good as new.

This thread is like the many threads about mumsnetters who can tell when someone doesn’t iron- we know you can tell but we don’t care because it doesn’t matter 😂

Oh god here we go, Mumsnet porn. The Bat(shit) signal has been lit. Soon we'll have the posters who do 20 loads a week, whites, beiges, rainbows, frillies, hards, softs, sporty, farmy, all willingly partaking in their own opression.

I do whites separately but that's it really. Once a week and its mainly socks

Same here! If you wash whites other colours eventually they go greyish. I also do underwear separately on a hotter wash but lightly soiled clothes on a colder one.

Definitely separate. My daughter has a pair of light blue socks with a white kitty face on them. I think one of the socks got stuck in the leg of her joggers and got washed with the darks. One kitty has a grey face and the other still bright white.

I do darks and colours together but whites separately. Maybe not after one or two washes, but over time they definitely seem to go greyer if mixed with darks. I used to do them all together and this is what I started to find, but for a few years now I’ve done whites by themselves and they do stay so much nicer/brighter for longer.

Whites, lights and darks. I can’t abide grey knickers and bras.

I mix whites and colours, except for washing strongly dyed new items a couple of times by hand to see if they run. I think that the lower temperatures we tend to use now means that dyes don't run as much as they useful.

I do dark, light and whites separate and the days foster child is with me I wash those separately.

I have a white sweatshirt which was on The pricier side and I only wash that with other whites, but it takes me a long time to accumulate enough for a full load as I don’t own many other white clothes. If the sweatshirt is clean I don’t separate anything and if I have something white (mostly tea towels and bedding) I’ll just bung it in with everything else.

🤭 It's sounds so Victorian when you put it like that - it's a habit I picked up from my mum - and my washing machine is quite new 🫣. I assure you, the boiling pot is quite big so no water ever spills over, but I take your point.

I do whites, lights, darks, and reds.
Mostly do whites, towels and light bedding on a 60, but will put them in a 40 with light clothing if needed sooner or not enough for a full wash on their own.

Yep I always separate whites and darks otherwise I find the whites go dingy. My whites are always pristine, even after years of wear. I wash on 40 and add vanish.

If your washing machine is quite new, you can safely wash your whites and sleep well at night. 😊 It cost money to boil water in a huge pot too. And then having to get the water out of the clothes, takes longer to dry..

I did an unintentional “experiment” on this topic. We have a massive laundry basket and there was a small white sponge paint roller replacement at the bottom for about a year, I kept meaning to move it to the garage but it frequently ended up in the washing machine with my laundry, then I’d chuck it back in the basket again. It’s now a dull grey colour. Which motivates me to separate my whites now!