Daily, I receive emails from several individuals that have no idea of sorting their laundry – from businesspersons and professionals to college students.
Needless to say, being able to sort laundry plays a huge part in effective washing
The lack of laundry-sorting art has nothing to do with profession, age, or status. It is a problem that anyone can struggle with.
Even I was there. Before I joined college, laundry was never in my mind. My mother always did it for me – until I joined college and had to learn to do it myself.
After seeing how inconvenient the laundromats were, I purchased a portable washing machine and dryer and learned to do laundry. One of the issues I tussled with at first was sorting the clothes. Eventually, I discovered a sorting process that was easy and efficient, which I intend to share with you in this article.
So, here, you will find straightforward steps on how to sort your laundry.
Let’s get started.
Check Each Item
If you have a giant pile of laundry, check each garment as you sort it. This is to make sure that a purple sock doesn’t end up colouring your dazzling white clothes.
- Read the care instructions on each article of clothing the first.
- Check each item you’ve sorted and put it into the washing machine.
Sorting Laundry By Colour
There are several specific piles which you should use to sort clothes: the light ones/whites, dark ones, jeans, and delicate garments.
Use the following commonly used categories.
- White laundry-White socks, White t-shirts, white underwear, and similar linen fall in this category. This load is for white bulky cotton clothes that can cope agitation in the washing machine on a hot or warm wash cycle.
- Dark laundry– Gray clothes, red, navy blue, black ones, dark purples, and comparable colors are sorted into this pile.
- Light laundry-More soft-hued colors such as pink, light green, yellow, lavender, and light blue are put in this load.
- Jeans– All clothes made of denim should be washed in this load.
- Delicate clothes- Lingerie, silks, panty hoses and any clothing you would like to separate from the severe agitation of your washing machine
Sorting Laundry By Weight
Note that color should not be the only character to consider when sorting clothes. The weight of your clothes ought to be considered as well.
- For example, if your pants are made of heavy cotton, you don’t have to wash them with light shirts and t-shirts because they can rip thin and light clothes while washing.
- If they are put together in your dryer, they apparently cannot dry uniformly since one fabric is more massive than the other.
It’s better to separate these types of wash from the start and wash them in separate loads.
Dealing With Stained And Soiled Laundry
If you have clothes that are very stained or soiled, assign them to a separate pile.
The clothes may require a quick spray with a stain remover or washing on a special cycle that may be too harsh for another laundry. Separating also prevents stains or soils from dirtying other clothes.
After this, you can sort them to whichever category they fall.
Urgency
It’s resourceful to start your laundry by washing the most urgent ones first. A good example is pajamas because we mostly wear them every moment at home.
Create Sub-Categories
If you’re devoted to washing your clothes in the most effective way, consider creating sub-categories.
For example, items like beddings and towels and are often heavier than clothing while baby clothes are light. Creating sub-categories protects your clothing and another laundry from damage.
Tips to Streamline Your Laundry Organization
Strategize Your Sorting
Strategizing might sound like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be. Depending on how regular you do laundry, you may sort the clothes and put them into a basket or hamper. Do this before you place your clothes in a portable washing machine.
Presort your laundry as you buck it into the hamper if you do different loads per week. If you are just one person, it may be more comfortable and time-efficient to sort before inserting the clothes into a washer.
Laundry Sorter
If you do multiple loads weekly or you want to make loading different types of clothes easier, use a laundry sorter. A laundry sorter can speed up the washing and sorting and process.
- Figure out the categories of laundry you are doing before purchasing a laundry sorter. For example, you might prefer a sorter with different segments for whites, darks, and lights.
- Get a laundry sorter that has many sections as you need. Most stores have options with anywhere as from two segments to five or six.
If you don’t prefer to spend on a divided hamper or laundry sorter, you can create one by using readily available items around your household. Homemade sorters are useful as the ones bought from the store.
Use items around the house, such as bins, shopping bags, or boxes as hampers.
Lingerie Bags
Invest in lingerie bags since they protect delicate laundry and keep pairs of socks from mismatching.
- Keep delicate linen and socks in individual bags.
- Use zippered pillowcases for storing socks and delicate clothing if you can’t invest in lingerie bags.
- Buy lingerie bags made of simple mesh.
Combine Loads Whenever Possible.
If you have smaller piles of laundry that need immediate washing, combine them into one load. Washing compatible clothes reduce the workload and save you energy, detergents, and water.
- Remove any clothes with different fabrics or require separate handling.
- Separate any laundry that requires separate handling.
Other Sorting Tips
How do you handle newborn babies’ clothes? I do wash my newborn’s clothes together with the rest. Newborn clothes mostly have delicate colors; hence they can be easily removed in the same pile with others.
So in case you have a newborn baby, wash their clothes together with the rest.
Colours To Wash Together
When separating your laundry, your white clothes should go in the portable washing machine together, black dresses go in a machine alone, and light colors should go together.
Why Sorting Your Laundry Matters?
Is sorting your laundry necessary? Yes, sorting matters big time! For instance, colors might get transferred. For example, if you wash a new blue shirt with your white bedsheets, your sheets may become dirty dark blue.
Warnings!
- Colored clothes will naturally fade after several washings.
- Fabrics like polyester easily pick up stains from other clothing. Avoid washing such fabrics with heavily soiled laundry
- Always read the instruction labels before washing any laundry.
Wrapping It Up
Many folks don’t sort clothes at all. They just put them in the portable washing machine and hit “start”. While that might seem convenient, it might present problems like lost socks, stained clothes, and ineffective washing.
Sorting clothes is actually really important. For better and more efficient washing, have it in mind as a primary consideration.