Washing Etiquette.

[ChristmasTrulyReigns]

Pants and tea-towels in same wash?

Nice or nasty?

All goes in together but based on colours IYSWIM

if nice weather ie not freexing or raining it goes on the line and the smalls go on a rack.

in winter, they go on a rack at home overnight (they are half dry by then) and then next morning i move them on to the heating - it is a bit of a cycle - washing machine, rack and heating/airing cupboard (for small socks).

Fold away things such as underwear, socks and pyjams, towels. This gets put away. The other stuff gets folded and put away in those pop up baskets ready for ironing. Some ironing i outsource and some I do myself so I have two pop up baskes. we have a tiny house so sometimes it feels like we live in a launderette.

Surely there is traces of the same thing on your flannel you use in the shower or your bath towels. Which those of you who said you wash separately have said you wash in with tea towels.

I do three washes -

hot - 90% - cotton sheets, towels, flannels, teatowels, dishcloths, floorcloths etc.

whites - 60% - shirts, duvet covers, pillow cases, pale undies (except bras and tights)

general - 40% - everything else, unsorted.

It's not the pants I worry about, it's the dishcloths and flannels. Those things go smelly.

I used to have 20+ different washes, but I am a lot less ocd now and have narrowed it down to about 12 .

The things you learn on Mumsnet - this is something I have never given any thought to in over 50 years - I sort into lights/darks. Some of you must spend your life sorting and doing the laundry !

Oh, I do darks lights cools and hots.

"Some of you must spend your life sorting and doing the laundry !"

Nah, the sorting takes 5 minutes tops. Actually doing the laundry, drying it and putting it away takes exactly the same amount of time as it takes you "bung it all in together" mingers .

I do lights and darks. I've never even thought about separating pants. I have a friend who painstakingly handwashes bras to make them last longer. Everything gets chucked in the machine in this house.

Loads (arf) of differing opinions, and no consensus.

You've gotta love MN.

Thanks anyway.

Separate them! I do towels, cloths and bedding on 60 degree wash. Coloureds and whites separate too. I can't stand mixed up washing that's dingy and grey because it's all bunged in together (OCD emoticon)

1. Hot whites: white sheets, towels, flannels, tea towels, pillowcases, duvet covers with bio powder on a 60 wash.

1. Light coloured towels and tea towels, flannels, sheets, pillowcases, duvet covers on a 60 wash.

1. Bright coloured towels (inc. swimming towels) bedding and pillowcases on a 60 wash.

1. Whites inc school polo shirts, undies, bras, white t-shirts, white tops with non-bio powder on a 50 wash.

1. Pastel coloured tops, pjs and undies for me and the dc on 40 wash with non-bio powder.

1. Bright colours for me and the dc with colour powder on a 40 wash.

1. "Soft" dark colours for me and the dc, inc tights and dark undies, dark coloured t shirts etc with colour powder on a 40 wash.

1. Denims, school uniform trousers and skirts, dark socks, my jogging bottoms, as above.

1. Dh's light coloured cotton work shirts with bio powder on 60 wash.

10. Dh's casual cotton shirts and non-black pants with colour powder on 50 wash.

11. Dh's socks and pants (mainly black), exercise gear, jeans, with colour powder 40 wash.

12. Dark coloured woollens and silks.

13. Light coloured woollens and silks.

14. Bath mats (white - go on a 60 deg wash with Ariel)

my tea towels go in with my nappies. they get washed at 60. everything else gets washed at 30. surely the tea towels are coming out cleaner. and i don't care what you think...

Nasty. But then we have boy pant clealiness issues in our household.

I usually do my tea towels together with the bath towels.

Sort into whites, darks and "in-betweens", then it all goes in together. Everything at 30 degrees with bio powder.

Anything extra-grotty (skiddy pants, muddy football kit etc) gets pre-soaked by hand to remove the worst, then it goes in with everything else.

All comes out clean in the end.....

I'm living with my mum at the moment and she was shocked that I refused to put a flannel in with my sheets. If it was my flannel it wouldn't be so bad but I don't want to put my head on something that might have someone else's pubes stuck to it.

So the minimal dirt on the pants (assuming they are not grim) comes off and attaches to the soap particles and floats away as that water drains out. Then another rinse (or two) ensures that said dirt is definitely no longer in the drum. Not to mention the heat killing off any germs.

Yep - no problem at all then.

The only things I wash separately are filthy dirty muddy things. I suppose when we get to potty training and skidmarks they will get included in that.

However, every so often (maybe 2-4 times a year) I put all the pants that can stand it through a really hot wash. I don't think I have a good reason for doing it, but it makes me feel like a grown up.

Only a problem if DH has been using the tea towels to mop up spilt gravy/fish pie mix/soup etc and they are disgusting and stiff as a result. This happens surprisingly often! Then I put them in a hotter wash with other grubby or sturdy things like muddy jeans.