Share with Fairy Non Bio your tips and tricks for mixing colours and fabrics. £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

The rules on laundry and what to do with mixing colours and fabrics can sometimes get a bit confusing with different people saying different things. Therefore Fairy Non Bio would like to know what your tips and tricks are when it comes to mixing colours and fabrics?

Here’s what Fairy Non Bio have to say: “Everyone’s got their own way of doing things. We design our products so that you can get the most out of every load but would love to know how you divide and conquer your washing and what you use for it!”

Do you find that once colours have been washed once you can mix them with the lighter colours? Are there certain fabrics that you know can be easily washed together? Or have you figured out a laundry system that means your dark colours no longer bleed into lighter clothes? Maybe you’ve had a laundry disaster that forced you to change how you did things?

Whatever your tips are, share them on the thread below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

I am puritanical about keeping whites separate. I usually add some napisan powder to my Fairy laundry liquid which helps to keep them sparkly white. I do a separate wash for blacks and very dark colours. Lighters get a separate wash too. I do a lot of laundry!

My only 'trick' is to keep the colours separate, so I'm watching with interest for more tips!

Whites with whites or very light colours

Darks with darks and jeans

Mid colours together

Always have done it this way

My mother once put the jeans in with a white wash, everything came out murky, so I have thoroughly learnt my lesson about mixing colours!!!

I'm w

I tend to mix whites and lights as long as the lights have been washed before. I've also started using couloir catcher sheets. TBH I've never thought about mixing fabrics being an issue - although if it is a mixed wash I make sure I dry them as a mixed load so it's a lower temp.

I have just switched to powder after reading tips that they keep whites whiter, and it seems too. Am also much better at being strict about a white only wash - don't have much pure white stuff so used to mix it with lights colours or tea towels etc, but it was making them very grubby. So I now do smaller whites only washes. For other stuff I just separate vaguely into light and dark and hope for the best!

I've never had any issues, but I do wash everything at low temps and try and keep similar fabrics together ie towels or lighter fabrics so they will tumble dry in a similar time.

I always mix colours and whites, unless there is an item of clothing that is a strong red colour (I've fallen foul of those pesky items before!) which I handwash separately to test colour fastness. I usually wash at 30 degrees too so that even delicate fabrics won't be damaged.

I mix everything together, never separate a load. I wash everything at 40 and have never had colours run. (I do wash towels and bedding on a higher temperature)

Keep water temperatures low, light /dark wash and wash important items separately.

I must admit that my washing is a bit hap hazard. All whites and light colours go in together (I have two girls, there's a LOT of baby pink) and all darks go in together.

DP is a bit more fussy and likes to try and separate things out more but I just chuck it all in and hope for the best

I do 3 washes. A all white wash on a hot temperature to keep those whites white. I do a brights wash on 40 degrees, i don't separate fabrics unless i know they will get damaged at that temperature. I also do a dark wash on 40 degrees. Again mixing fabrics isn't something i stress about. Its more the fact of tackling the laundry in as stress free manner as possible.

I separate the following:
whites/lights/sportswear /darks/bedding/towels
That sounds like a lot of different washes but I find it easier to dry and sort afterwards. The highest temp I use is 60 for bedding and towels. Everything else is done at 30. I bung stain remover powder in with the whites. I rarely have a problem with colours running. DP on the other hand is really good at creating pink school polo shirts.

If you wash at 30 degrees it should be ok to mix colours just don’t add white items wash them on their own

I tend to chuck everything in together at 30 degrees. However, if I have new items, such as red t-shirts, I'll only put them in with black items for their first few washed, just in case the colour does run. When I do towels, though, I put them on a boil wash with no conditioner. Fortunately, I live in a very soft water area, conditioner isn't needed.

I try to do a whites wash at the end of the week, but if there's something white that needs to go in and I don't have anything else, I'll just make sure there aren't any new coloured clothes in, or anything I know will run, and get on with it. Life is too short!

Buy clothes all the same colour

I put seperate white in a mesh bag but only alongside none colourfast coloured items. I still was delicates or wool stuff with their own colour

The whites I put on a higher temperature with a special whitening agent added, then the darks go together and then what I call the others which don't fit into those two categories. I never put in brand new brights or darks in with whites, otherwise it all goes grey/pink.

Colour catchers are great for putting in machines, but I never think to use them. I love the fragrance of fairy non-bio on my children’s clothing, my mum used it on my clothes, so it reminds me of my childhood.

I separate my laundry into 3 piles. Whites and very light colours, Medium colours, and very dark strong colours. I keep some things completely separate if its a first wash and the dye is likely to run.

A lower temperature seems to guarantee no bleeding.

I split things into light and dark, but am pretty relaxed about the mid range colours (greys/beiges etc) - they can go in either.

Light colours one wash, bright/dark colours another wash and watch out for suicide socks!

Lights generally go in at 40, darks at 30 and I occasionally do a separate wool wash and a hot wash for tea towels and cleaning cloths etc. Never use fabric conditioner - did have some but it is so cold where the washing machine is it solidifies and unlike the wash liquid doesn't seem to recover on warming!

If it is a new clothing item, i am always wary of it running on its first wash as i feel the dye is likely to as its fresh. After that, it is normally fine... Clothing that is red is always on my high-risk list and i try to be careful mixing that with anything light! xx