My name is Jenn, and I'm a 27 year old married and babied chick. In addition to a husband, a seven year old daughter, and a five year old autistic son, I also have four cats, three hermit crabs, two frogs, a few fish, and one snorty little Pug. I work from home doing a variety of writing and even some web design. I love blogging, digital photography and web design.
A brief discussion with a friend this weekend has left me wondering how you guys do your laundry. I do my laundry the same way my mom does and my grandmother did — whites, lights, and darks. Darks include denims, anything red or another bright, bold, run-happy color, and tie-dye, since those types of dyed shirts (especially the ones you’d get from Disney vacation packages and other amusement parks and attractions) tend to run. I wash towels with our bed linens, all of which, with the exception of one pair, are various lighter colors. Whites include, well, everything white, and any underwear, regardless of color (hygiene, yo, bring on the bleach!).
Yet other people seem to just mix stuff up, or wash things according to how it should be washed first (cold, gentle, etc.). Don’t get me wrong, I do follow tags, but I sort by color first and foremost. Unlike Dan, who once threw in my red Target shirt with my khaki colored pants and wondered how on earth the pants came out pink. *eyeroll*
As far as detergents, I generally use Clorox or Target brand detergent (though I have a bottle of Method I want to try out), Clorox Ultimate Care Bleach (always; I don’t use any other type of bleach), and Downy Simple Pleasures liquid fabric softener; AND Downy Simple Pleasures dryer sheets (yes, I’ve spoiled us all with uber soft and good smelling clothes).
So, how do you do laundry?
I usually just mix things together. Surprisingly I’ve never had a problem with things coming out dingy or different colors. Of course, reds and pinks and stuff that could run I either wash seperately or by hand.
Stephanie’s last blog entry: Short video…
To do laundry, first sort your dirty clothes, making separate piles for whites, bright colors and darks. If you mix whites with colors in the wash, the colors may bleed onto and ruin your whites. Also separate clothes that tend to produce lint (towels, sweatshirts, chenille and flannel) from clothes that tend to attract lint (corduroy, velvets and permanent-press clothes).
I used to always do laundry nearly identically to how you stated. However, once I was out of college and no longer utilizing a laundry mat to do my laundry, I got more daring and started mixing colors. When I was in college, I would literally wait to do laundry until I had no clothes left. I had more than enough whites, darks, reds and delicates to fill several washers. When I moved into the “real world” and had my own washer and dryer, I couldn’t justify doing four super small loads of laundry every week. Therefore, sometimes I mixed colors. Not always the best choice though!