Come and talk to me about laundry -TW for a riveting thread

[Begonne]

How do you do a wash?

Do you sort ? By colours? By fabric weight? Bio or non-bio? Fabric softener? Smelly bead things? Oxi- powders? Do you use colour catcher sheets - or off brand ones? what temp do you wash at?

And …why!?!?

I realised the other day I don’t actually understand a thing about laundry and I’m actually performing some kind of superstitious ritual and hoping the clothes come back clean.

I put everything in for 1h at 30° then hang it up, ideally outside on the washing line or on a pulley airer over the stairs if it's raining. I use supermarket nonbio and fabric softener and hope for the best.

I have given up buying anything white and operate a survival of the fittest approach to clothing, it either comes out looking OK or I stop wearing it and don't buy similar things again.

I wash whites separately but everything else is done together at 30 or 40, with just some washing powder. I don't do any scent balls or fabric conditioner etc.

Everything is dried on the airer, ideally outside but inside if weather is bad.

Absolutely nothing is ironed.

Everything washed with a colour powder or liquid to stop fading.

I sort whites from coloureds. All get washed at 40 degrees apart from wool and delicates which go on a wool wash. Woollen and delicates are dried flat on a rack indoors. Everything else is line dried in summer and on a rack in winter. I used to wash bedding and towels at 60 but bought some high thread count bedding and it shrunk. Ever since have washed at 40 degrees.
I use Persil non bio. If clothes are stained I use a scoop of Vanish too.

I don’t use fabric conditioner apart from woollens.

Darks colours and white. 40 and non bio powder. We're all allergic to anything else.

Towels and bedding heat dropped at the launderette as I don't have space to dry them. Same non bio as I use at home.

Sheets always say to wash at 40 degrees, I’ve always done them at 60 with no shrinking.

Sorted into darks, whites (usually just school shirts/work shirts), mixed light colours.

Wash with bio powder. Stinky gym kit gets laundry sanitiser, ordinary clothes get fabric softener.

I wash at 30 or 40⁰C usually with bedding and towels done at 60⁰C.

Whites and darks, with lights going in with either of the two depending on whether I trust them to be colourfast or how much of a difference being washed with jeans/black clothes would make to them (ie I'm not going to be fussed with a light grey top ending up in the darks).

If I put lights in with the whites then I use a colour catcher sheet. If I've got a very black wash with some brights in with it then I'll bung in a colour catcher then too.

Everything goes in the mixed cyle at 40. Occasionally I'll do a hot wash for bedding and towels.

I'm using pods at the moment because I'm a sucker for adverts (they lie - I'm always disappointed). No fabric softener or scented anything. Occasionally I'll use a scoop of Vanish or whatever in the whites wash if tricky stains.

My mum is incredibly picky about her whites wash - no colours of any sort allowed - and her white things are definitely whiter than mine, but not to the extent that I could be bothered with another load.

Everything goes on a 40degree 1 hour wash really. Bedding towels and underwear is on a 60.
Ds has had eczema so use non bio for all of his stuff ( tesco liquid one)
Daz liquid for the rest of us and any bio powder for whites and bedding. I also use fabric conditioner but don't bother with the beads stuff! Line dry where possible. I'm amazed how different everyone does their washing 😂

I use smol non bio capsules with a small dose of scent beads. We don't really wear anything white or light so I don't separate by colour. I line dry in summer and use a clothes airer the rest of the year.

I do a wash five days of the week. A separate one each for me, my husband and my son (30 degrees). One for towels and another for bedding (60 degrees). We use reusable kitchen cloths and baby wears full cover bibs so I chuck those in with whatever wash is being done.

@LapinR0se Amazing thread. I actually took notes (well screenshots).

I’m not feeling so bad about how much I sort now that I’ve seen what an industry expert does 😂 although I still add colour catcher sheets to everything but my black wash as an offering to the god of grey knickers.

So my loads are
darks (lot of stinky teen boy stuff) with bio powder, fab con @40 for 1 hr (need to switch to bio liquid I think),

towels (all white) @30 with bio powder, vanish powder, colour catcher sheet and vinegar instead of fab con @30

sheets (all white) and any other white things @ 30 with bio powder, vanish and colour catcher sheet, fab con

colours non bio liquid, fab con, colour sheet @ 30

reusable pads and period pants, soaked, 0 degree wash with vanish, bio powder, followed by 30 degree wash with colours

tea towels, cleaning cloths, - non bio powder, colour sheet, vinegar at 60

shirts - stain treat collar and arm pits, bio powder, vanish, colour sheet, fab con, @30

But I find that every so often I need to run things in a hotter wash to get rid of lingering sweaty smells

I love the summer for line drying but I overuse my dryer in the winter.

I sort very roughly into darks and lights and wash most things on a 40 mixed cycle for about an hour. I've noticed recently though, more and more clothes have 30 or special wash labels, so I do these items in a separate 30 (either woollen or silk, depending on what most of the items are) this is for about 40 minutes.

Wash the bedding on 60, and soak it first too. Our 60 wash is 2.5 hours!

I use bio 2-in-1 either Bold or Sainsbury's own - both have a lavender type smell. Use a scoop of oxi powder for light colours that are stained. Also usually use antibacterial liquid as sometimes t shirts still have a sweaty smell in the armpits.

Dry on radiators or outside depending on the weather - we don't have a tumble dryer.

Here's my commentary on your washing:
darks (lot of stinky teen boy stuff) with bio powder, fab con @40 for 1 hr (need to switch to bio liquid I think),
=> Yes, switch to liquid, I would use bio

towels (all white) @30 with bio powder, vanish powder, colour catcher sheet and vinegar instead of fab con @30
=> just do bio powder on a 40 - 60 degree wash. No fab con if you like them crunchy. Otherwise add fab con. No need for colour catcher sheet

sheets (all white) and any other white things @ 30 with bio powder, vanish and colour catcher sheet, fab con
=> As above

colours non bio liquid, fab con, colour sheet @ 30
=> No need for colour sheet, can use any liquid

reusable pads and period pants, soaked, 0 degree wash with vanish, bio powder, followed by 30 degree wash with colours
=> No vanish. I would do a 15 min rinse cycle then the 30 degree wash on their own

tea towels, cleaning cloths, - non bio powder, colour sheet, vinegar at 60
=> do same type of wash as towels and sheets but at 60

shirts - stain treat collar and arm pits, bio powder, vanish, colour sheet, fab con, @30
=> no need for vanish or colour sheet

Thank you!

My Bosch washing machine has a darks wash (30°, 1hr10), a shirts wash (40°, 1hr10) that I use for whites and pales and bedding and towels get the eco wash (40°, 3hrs 20)
I use Aerial for everything unless DGCs here when I use Fairy.
Fabric conditioner used very frugally, everything dried outside if possible.
All laundry is sorted into darks/pale/whites. I’m

We are a weird family in as much as there is not one item of denim clothing in the house so don't feel we have any dark things that need a separate wash .
So I'm a bung it all in ( mainly ) person .
Spring / summer line dry . No tumble dryer in the house but have a pulley thing so dry on that in the winter with a dehumidifier going.
Powder or ecoegg , mainly no fabric conditioner as don't like the thought of putting fat on clothes or in the machine especially as most fabric conditioners are made from animal fat ! So if I occasionally use it is a vegetarian friendly one.

That’s very unusual for no denim. Does no one wear jeans? We all live in ours.

@Theoldwoman

No , no-one in the household like wearing it.

I have a laundry bag with 3 compartments- whites, colours and darks.

Whites get washed with bio powder at 40 degrees

Colours washed with liquid (or a pod) at 30

Darks washed with liquid (or pod) at 30

I use the mixed load setting which takes around an hour.

Bedding washed with liquid (or pod) at 60

Towels, cleaning cloths, flannels, tea towels washed with bio powder at 60

I have a magnoball for limescale (it's brilliant!) and add softener to all loads except towels.

@MayBeee we wear denim but that's not the majority of our dark washes. It's school trousers, sports wear, football kit and rugby kit that makes up our dark loads.

That’s fair enough x

Divide into darks, colours and white. Wash as infinitum.

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