I have seen it all, from people who do no sorting whatsoever and mix colors and whites to people who create elaborate systems for washing clothes.
I'm kinda in-between those 2 extremes. I've developed this system over the years that I think works.
Colors: Normal cycle. Cold wash/rinse with borax laundry booster and regular detergent. Anything colored from jeans to tshirts to towels. Most general colored items wash here. Dry on low.
Whites: Normal cycle. Warm wash/cold rinse with detergent + oxyclean and bleach. Only for whites that can stand bleach like cotton undershirts, socks and towels/rags. Dry on low.
Delicate Whites: Normal cycle. Warm wash/cold rinse with detergent + oxyclean but no bleach. White fabrics with elastics, tshirts with logos or fabrics that cant stand up to bleach so I use Oxyclean+detergent only. Dry on low.
Other delicates: Delicate cycle. Cold wash/rinse using only woolite detergent, adding borax booster only if very soiled. Wash wools, other delicate fabrics or items like bras, under-armor, smart wool etc... Dry always on a line rack, never clothes dryer.
Waterproof/breathable fabrics (gore-tex, hyvent, eVent etc...) Synthetic cycle. Warm wash/rcold inse and no fabric softener. Mostly for outdoor gear such as shell pants and jackets, ski gear, hiking gaiters etc made from this special fabric. Wash in special detergent (Nikwax Techwash plus separate waterproofing treatment restoral wah with Nikwax TX-Direct) Usually done once a year or when gear gets really dirty. Line dry.
Down: Cold wash/rinse with no fabric softener with Down Wash and Down Proof from Nikwax. Mainly sleeping bags, coats and other down filled items. Line dry followed by air fluff in dryer with no heat.
Oversize items: Dog beds, enormous comforters get taken to laundromat or cleaners.
Additionally, I use minimal fabric softener. Supposedly it accelerates wearing/tearing of fabrics.
In the warmer months, I dry all laundry outdoors on a drip line (except for women's intimates, those get dried indoors draped on the shower rod). Since end of March, I've used my clothes dryer once and that was during a week where it rained non stop. Energy bill reflects positively on this. If I do use the clothes dryer, its always on low. In my college days, I knew no better and destroyed all my wearable clothes by drying on high. I guess you can say I've been kinda paranoid ever since. Plus the higher heat also accelerates wear/tear.
I'm kinda in-between those 2 extremes. I've developed this system over the years that I think works.
Colors: Normal cycle. Cold wash/rinse with borax laundry booster and regular detergent. Anything colored from jeans to tshirts to towels. Most general colored items wash here. Dry on low.
Whites: Normal cycle. Warm wash/cold rinse with detergent + oxyclean and bleach. Only for whites that can stand bleach like cotton undershirts, socks and towels/rags. Dry on low.
Delicate Whites: Normal cycle. Warm wash/cold rinse with detergent + oxyclean but no bleach. White fabrics with elastics, tshirts with logos or fabrics that cant stand up to bleach so I use Oxyclean+detergent only. Dry on low.
Other delicates: Delicate cycle. Cold wash/rinse using only woolite detergent, adding borax booster only if very soiled. Wash wools, other delicate fabrics or items like bras, under-armor, smart wool etc... Dry always on a line rack, never clothes dryer.
Waterproof/breathable fabrics (gore-tex, hyvent, eVent etc...) Synthetic cycle. Warm wash/rcold inse and no fabric softener. Mostly for outdoor gear such as shell pants and jackets, ski gear, hiking gaiters etc made from this special fabric. Wash in special detergent (Nikwax Techwash plus separate waterproofing treatment restoral wah with Nikwax TX-Direct) Usually done once a year or when gear gets really dirty. Line dry.
Down: Cold wash/rinse with no fabric softener with Down Wash and Down Proof from Nikwax. Mainly sleeping bags, coats and other down filled items. Line dry followed by air fluff in dryer with no heat.
Oversize items: Dog beds, enormous comforters get taken to laundromat or cleaners.
Additionally, I use minimal fabric softener. Supposedly it accelerates wearing/tearing of fabrics.
In the warmer months, I dry all laundry outdoors on a drip line (except for women's intimates, those get dried indoors draped on the shower rod). Since end of March, I've used my clothes dryer once and that was during a week where it rained non stop. Energy bill reflects positively on this. If I do use the clothes dryer, its always on low. In my college days, I knew no better and destroyed all my wearable clothes by drying on high. I guess you can say I've been kinda paranoid ever since. Plus the higher heat also accelerates wear/tear.
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