How do you categorise clothes for washing?

[sunflowerxo]

Hey Ladies. I think I may be making more work for myself with my washing. I think I might be over cautious- and do so many separate washes! Usually, I do:
White wash
Reds/pinks wash
Dark wash
Light wash
Towels/underwear/ bedsheets for hot washes.
Is this necessary? How do you categorise washing? Do you ever have any colour run mishaps?

Any thoughts appreciated!

Darks, whites, lights, towels/bedding.

2 lots of whites each week, one school uniform shirts and underwear (including bras) on 40° wash and one white bedding on 60° wash.

Everything else get put together on a 40° cycle and a colour catcher (saves light colours going grubby) except for towels which I do on a hot wash usually by themselves. Anything particularly grubby gets a long 2.5 hour wash as opposed to the daily wash of 50 minutes. Oh, and anything remotely fragile gets put in a net bag.

Whites and v pales (pastel yellow and pale grey)
Lights
Brights
Darks
Towels/flannels/bath mats - 60
Tea towels and cleaning cloths - 60 with a prewar in hydrogen peroxide and bio-d for stain removal
Bedsheets - 60
Woollens - handwash cycle and special detergent.

Oh and also a mixed white/colours wash.

Woolens on wool wash

Whites
Lights
Darks
All on 30 or 40 depending on how dirty they are

Towels and sheets on 60

Darks/Colours

Whites/Lights

60° for bedding and towels

That's it.

I'm not doing anymore than that and my MIL is always commenting on how white my whites are so the system can't be that bad.

At some point in the future I might to an all black wash with some black dye to spruce up some jeans and black school jumpers.

Well ladies, after being encouraged by your posts today I shoved a more mixed load in- reds, bright colours, pastels etc and hey presto no runs! Horrified to think I was doing a wash solely for reds when they are actually fine in with other colours! Just gonna do from now on:
Darks & reds & Colours
Whites & lights
Hot wash- towels, underwear and bedding.
NHS does recommend washing underwear above 40- don't think I fancy shoving dirty knickers in with other things on a 40! That heat does not kill the germs/ bacteria! I'll stick to my typical hot washes separate with other things like towels for this. Not sure how some manage doing only a cool wash?
Thanks for the replies ladies! Think this will literally save me hours- I'll deffo get through washing quicker!

X

@sunflowerxo
I wash my knickers on 30 with my other clothes and I’m very much alive and well! They’d shrink if washed above 40 and what sort of germs am I meant to be afraid of? There’s nothing in my knickers that is that dangerous

Whites
Every other colour clothing
Towels
Bedsheets

We don't have whites really. I do:

Hot wash - really dirty stuff, bedding, towels etc.

Delicates - basically anything I don't want to tumble dry so woolly Jumpers, work dresses, school uniform. Wash on 30 usually.

Everything else.

I sometimes do whites but we don't have many.

• It needs washing
• It doesn't need washing

Everything goes in together , ive never had anything ruined x

Lights (40)
Darks/colour (40)
Bedding/towels (60)

Darks (40)
Whites & lights - Depending on how big the loads are they could be separated or put in together (40)
Colours (40)
Towels (60)
Bedding (40 or 60 if I remember to change it)

1. cotton or linen items in dark colours
2. whites

Any in-between colour clothes can go in with the white or the dark to make up a full load. Dark polyester can also safely go in with the whites if needed.

1. stuff that needs a good hot wash - bedding, towels etc

It's newer clothing that you need to watch, some fabrics will run for ages, like denim.

Oddly enough reds do very well with blues, the mix of colours can brighten the other colour (only with very mild colour runs).

Well worn and washed clothing doesn't run as much.

If you mix your whites, however, they WILL go grey over time. Or you will fade your colours if you use a white vanish one or both!

Whites and lights, possibly with bedding depending on space. 40 usually bio

Darks. Might get split between heavy stuff with zips and delicate fabrics - usually by delaying my delicate stuff or putting stuff in bags. 40 colour wash

Towels. 60

DH work waterproofs - tech wash.

Baby explosion stuff gets a cold rewash then whites added with Miofresh as well as detergent.

White and darks, both at 40.

I wash dog beds and sofa covers sporadically and separately.

Usually 3 washes a week. Could probably get it down to two if I tried a bit harder, but the smaller loads mean it is easier to dry and put away (no tumble drier here).

I boil kitchen cloths once a week because I run a food business and am supposed to wash cloths on a hot wash, but there aren't enough of them to do a full load and I am essentially quite lazy.

Lights and darks at 40. Towels on higher temp. Occasionally bedding on high too.

I used to do 2 loads- one whites and lights, and one darks. But I've ruined a few coloured items lately with dye run, so now i do 3 loads - 1 white and light, 1 coloured and 1 dark. All at 40.

Sheets, towels and cleaning cloths done separately at 60.

Whites we have school shirts here
Lights sometimes get shoved in with whites to make a full load
Darks
Blues for some reason we have a load a week of these
Reds a very small load and gets left
Sports clothes usually muddy and washed on their own
Sports clothes in a bright colour which fade if washed in biological powder so get washed separately.
Towels
Bedding

All washed at 40 except for towels and bedding which is 60 but I invested in black and grey towels a year ago for showers after sports and they may go in with the dark stuff if only one.
Washing machine is in daily as there 5 of us

I don't have any real white clothing- It all gets lumped together in one wash as my bedding is dark too.

I do a white wash colour wash both at 40 then a towel and bedding wash at 60 and use a colour catcher don’t have enough pastels or reds etc to do separate washes

Lights
Darks
Towels
Bedding

If it's something I know will run like a new pair of jeans I'll do a dark wash, other than that everything goes in together