Laundry

Yes, laundry is one of those words that feels dirty, probably because dirty is usually put before it when discussing unsavory topics. However, I have a few tips not discussed in my previous laundry day post that can turn dirty laundry into clean laundry.

We all know to separate like colors when doing laundry, but why? Well, dyes from some clothes can leach onto others and make them seem muddy. This is especially true of blue jeans, which when washed with a pink shirt can make the pink shirt look dirty. Yes, I know this from experience. So what are like colors? Jeans, greys, greens, purples and blues all seem to do fine together. Khakis, greys, greens and browns seem to do fine together too. The exception is pastels of these colors, and I’ll get to that soon. Ideally, I’d only wash our blue jeans with other blue jeans, but since we simply don’t wash them often (yes, I admit to wearing my jeans for a week in a row before washing them) but just having one pair in a load of greys and blues won’t harm anything, as long as the zippers are zipped and buttons buttoned. And by the way, reds should only be washed with reds or other red colors like burgundy and maroon, at least during the first few cycles.

The color spectrum of laundry seems to go light, medium and dark. I tend to toss out the medium spectrum and reassign the clothing to either the light pile or the dark pile. Lights in our house mostly consist of whites in the form of T-shirts, socks, towels and wash cloths. I also like to wash my pastels with the whites because it keeps them brighter and doesn’t muddle up their colors. Also, it adds to the load of whites, since this is usually the smallest load of the week. Another way I ensure brightness is by adding a scoopful of Borax with the detergent.

There are also times when it is necessary to wash clothes by the dryer cycle. It may seem silly to do a separate load of laundry just by how they have to be dried, but if you already have them separated it will make it easier to just toss everything into the dryer on that setting rather than pulling out what needs to be on one setting over another and drying two loads.

Separating your laundry may not be for everyone. However, if you do, you just might prevent that favorite pink polo shirt from becoming a pinkish-bluish polo shirt. And never underestimate the power of Borax in the laundry to not only soften your water (if you have hard water which doesn’t clean as well as soft) but brighten whites and boosts the cleaning power of your detergent.