Laundry Sorting-My Way

With a family of five, there's always laundry to be done. Laundry is my job, every day. I have a system for getting it done that I think works pretty well. Sorting the laundry might seem like common sense, and it probably is, but I've learned a couple things over the years that keeps our clothes looking good and lasting longer.

Sorting is key.

1. Separate colors and whites. (I know, common sense. But stay with me.)

2. Wash jeans separately. Jeans are heavy duty, and are rough on other clothing if washed together. Buttons and zippers are hazardous to their health. I found this out the hard way many years ago when I threw one of my favorite t-shirts in with a load of jeans and it came out of the washer twisted and mangled in the zipper of one pair.

3. Wash towels separately. Dark colored towels in one load, light colored towels in another load. Trust me. Your towels will last longer and look nicer this way.

4. With five people in the house, there's usually enough socks by the end of the week to do a whole load. I will do a whole load of socks, setting the washer to soak for a half hour before washing. This allows me to add bleach/vinegar to the soak cycle and the socks come out sparkling white.

5. Wash any delicates separately. The ideal thing to do is to put them in a nylon laundering bag to wash so they don't get tangled, but if you don't have a bag, washing them separately is still good.

6. Wash all other colored clothes together, paying attention to colors. Wash dark colors with dark colors, light colors with light colors.

7. Any other white clothes besides socks can be washed together.

8. My husband is a machinist, so his work clothes are absolutely disgusting. These get washed separately.

I don't know if any of this will help any of you or not, but it's what works for me.

Oh, and one more thing. This is one of my biggest pet peeves around here. If and when someone else in the house decides to do a load of laundry, they take whatever is in the dryer and throw it in a basket, leaving it to wrinkle. I personally hang and fold everything directly out of the dryer so nothing wrinkles. The key is to do it while the clothes are still warm!