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

We wash everything together at a low temperature.

Separate strong colours for the first few washes. Don't own many white clothes!

very dark or strong colours/new I deff keep to similar items. but I can add lighter blue shirts or paler colours to a general white washes.
espcieclaly in sheets,lots of them have blocks of colours now in them so its easy to wash other paler shirts etc with them.
I also believe you can get great washes on lots lowered temps than the label says.most shirts say 50 but are fine much lower.the same with sheets.
for sheets/blankets and shirts and white I would deff say there is something extra washing I nthe white powder does to them though that washes them better.
the same for coloured items with the colour powder.
we also do more quick washes now on 30.espceically when you have teenagers or little ones who small spills or want just fresher clothes more often the quikc washes will sort them easily.

As long as I'm using the 30 degree wash, and check labels for things being non-colourfast, I don't suffer from colour run. Washes at higher temp such as towels I keep separate.

I love colour catchers- haven't let me down yet!

the best tip is to get someone else to do the washing. :)

do everything on a 40 wash then once a month do a 60 wash with nothing in washer just washing soda to help wash seal on door of washer clean out pipes. try to mix loads ie not all big towels some light stuff some heavy stuff ie jumpers /towels .wash out washer filter every few ,months and washer drawer,try not to overload washer as well

Always separate whites and colours, and always use a special whitening powder for the whites. Once a week I use a limescale remover in the wash and once every six months I run a hot wash with a pint of vinegar.

I've recently introduced a two basket system and am trying to train the DCs to differentiate between darks and lights. I figured if they can operate an Xbox it shouldn't be too much of a challenge for them.

I was wrong.

I used to do darks and lights, that was enough. But with a child there are more actual whites which sometimes suffer from being mixed in... and loads more washing anyway so I run a whites load every week. Everything else gets bunged in together :-)

I'm really lazy! I just wash everything at 40! I do keep my whites/lights separate but I'm not too strict about it, hasn't got me in trouble...Yet!!

Wash at low temperatures.
Keep dark colours separate for the first couple of washes. After that, I don't think it matters.

I always use Colour Catchers & generally wash on low temperatures so have never experienced a problem although I put all colours in together. I usually wash a whole load of whites together.

Always leave the drum door open once you have completed a wash, until the door/rubber seal/ drum is completely dry. This has a massive impact minimising any damp smells/surface mould that can occur in the machines.

I always keep light and darks in separate wash. Underwear and tshirts I wash at 40 and other colour clothes jeans etc I wash at 30. I will use a colour catcher and wash new colours separately for a couple of washes. Every month or so I will do a really hot wash with a bio and a touch of bleach to give the machine a clean as we live in a hard water area and it keeps it running well. Also keep the machine door wide open after washes to let it dry out and stop the chance of any mould

We have three laundry baskets. One for lights, one for darks, one for blacks. We had a dark pink set of PJ's that dyed everything light pink so now we wash it with blacks. I find most modern fabrics can be mixed without too much fuss. Anything organic or bought cheap or forgein get extra attention because we found out they are the most likely to run.

Washing at lower temperarures and making sure to turn the clothes inside out before putting them inside the washing machine.

If I'm not sure whether my coloured items run, I'll stick in a colour catcher for the wash. If it comes out uncoloured I don't use one the next time. I also wash new dark coloured clothes separately the first time they are washed.

I do darks and lights but new items do get more attention if they look like they might run. Also those colour Catcher things are quite good in those circumstances.

I also use three pile system
White
Dark
Medium

One load consists of the white pile plus items from medium. Next load consists of the dark pile plus items from medium.
Also dont forget that if something is 100% polyester and has been washed before, you can put it in a white wash perfectly safely. And Im probably being over cautious in saying it needed to have been washed before. Polyester clothes are basically plastic*

*ish

I never separate anything. I will wash dark clothes the first time with other darks but after that never.

It’s never caused me a problem mixing everything and it saves a lot of time.

I try to group my washing into light and dark to avoid clothes getting dull but find that I mostly avoid washing disasters now (apart from the yellow dusting cloth getting into the whites)

I just wash whites as one load thendarks and colours as another. Usually on 30 or 40 degree washes.
Unless there’s something i really care about going in, then I was it alone .

I separate whites and lights for a separate wash, darks and colours go together. All on a 30/40 wash.

Only thing that may get bunged in with the whites and lights is the kids fleecy onesies. They don't run at all.

If it's in the laundry basket together, it goes in the machine together. Doesn't usually end too badly