do you not care?

[emmasmommy]

i don't
i was wondering, does anyone else not separate their laundry? I mean, like, whites, darks, stuff like that.

i DO separate them in DH's clothes (his are nasty, he works construction), the girls clothes, towels, and sheets, but that's about it. LOL

i was most things on cold so it hasn't ever been a problem, anyone else not care? LOL

[Libby Pritchett]

hehe I knew I loved you, Laura. I'm the same way. The only separating I do is that I usually do towels, underwear, jammies, etc all together but it's not because of the colors (I'll do a pair of dark blue jammies with white towels). I only do it that way because that's my "if I don't get around to folding these right away, it won't matter if they wrinkle" load. Then I do all of our clothes in a different load (again, colors don't matter). I *will* wash baby's stuff separately for a while, but other than that, no big separating going on here.

And like you, I wash pretty much everything on cold anyway.

[dailydwellin]

I don't care either...

I used to be really good about separating everything, but deciding to "not care" on this issue has helped so much on my laundry!

[YepBrook]

I was taught to do laundry by a slightly OCD mother who separated EVERYTHING. I mean, little piles of different colors. Towels, reds, darks, lights, colors, whites, delicates, hand-wash only, sheets & bedding, things with zippers. Seriously!

When I got married I about died from laundry OCD. It took me SO long. Tons of tiny loads of laundry. Ack! I was just doing what I'd been raised to do. In our second year of marriage we saw a counselor about some random newlywed arguments we'd been having and the issue of laundry came up. She looked astonished and said: "I just do whites, towels/bedding and colors/darks. Oh my gosh. It blew my mind! In a good way.

Ever since then I chill out about laundry. I do separate very very red clothing for its first wash and run it in a warm or hot cycle to make sure any potential to bleed will no longer be a problem. I also still separate Jeans, hoodies, etc. with zippers into another load. I know the zippers can do some damage to shirts when they're tossing together in the dryer.

[ripal]

Don't care. When we soak the load for a bit, we don't add jeans to it till we start the cycle. Other than that, no separating.

[4noisyboys]

yep...I care. I do a load of bras, all whites (they get bleached...towels, sheets, socks, etc...), jeans in one, workout clothes in another, gentles and items that will be hang dried in another....

I have one son who is like me, and he doesn't trust me enough to even do his laundry. My husband and other sons all have blue socks, blue shirts (that should've been white), etc...

I don't do their laundry. Everyone has to do their own, except for sheets and towels. I'll do those so I can bleach them.

I'm weird. I know.

[taracotta7]

Um, I guess I am a freak. I have a whites load. A towels load. Darks load. Sometimes I put sheets in with towels but it depends on how much I got. Sometimes they get their own load too.

I will say that I have those super capacity front load washer/dryers so even when I do all these loads it really doesn't take long and I only have to do 3 loads a week to stay on top of things. It is what use to be 1-2 loads per day for me. That is when it sucked. Now, it doesn't bother me having all those separated because it really doesn't take much effort.

[Jengerbread88]

I took classes in textiles for school, and honestly, the color doesn't matter after the first washing. Even specialized detergents really don't do anything for certain loads, for the most part (it's more about what coatings they strip or don't strip).

But, I also wash my clothes with about half of the detergent that the company says to use, wash everything on cold and dry on the lowest heat setting possible, and don't use fabric softener (softener can strip the garment of protective coatings, for example, fire retardant coating on children's pajamas, and it can lead to the clothing wearing out faster).

So... yeah. I don't care about sorting, either. I usually sort between heavily soiled and not soiled much, because I keep my heavily soiled loads smaller to allow for more agitation room. But other than that, all colors/whites/darks/etc all go in at once.

[emmasmommy]

see, those of you who DO separate, i think are the normal ones LOL
when my mom 'taught' me how to do laundry, she separated stuff and if she knew i put fabric softener in my towels, she'd DIE.

i fold as i take it out of the dryer because if i didn't, it'd never get done. i looooathe folding.

[Megan Turnidge]

I do separate my laundery: whites, medium & light colors, and darks. Hubby's work clothes get their own load because they're nasty (he does A/C work and crawls through gross attics and insulation).

[MamaBee]

I'm split... haha... I will separate hubby's and mine loads into lights, darks, and jeans... but that is mostly because we split them out in into separate baskets when we change our clothes. The towels and sheets get separate washing.... but for my kiddo's clothes... they all go in - but 90% of his clothes are dark to begin with... so it really doesn't matter.

The only thing I got really burned on just recently is that a brand new red table cloth went in with white kitchen towels... Oh was I mad!! Luckily bleach took out that horrible pink color in my towels - so all is good now...

[KateD]

I separate colors, bright colors (red, orange, yellow), and whites. With three boys/men, if I don't use regular bleach on the whites, they get really yukky. I'm hoping to find a non-bleach way to get them white (I have an option pinned, I just have to try it) and then I won't bother separating them anymore. There's really no good reason to separate the brights, either, I think. It's just habit. I wash most loads on warm because they smell a bit (again the boys) if I wash on cold. I think when I finally get around to line drying our clothes, that will solve a lot of my problems.

[mummytothree]

I wash clothes according to "people": like Mondays are my day and I take my clothes basket to the washer and dump it it. Tuesday's are DS #1 & DS #2....I take their clothes basket to the washer and dump it in! Ect...Ect...Ect...

The only exception is towels and white...those touch butts so they get washed in hot!!

[aggiefamily]

Only when there is enough to separate. I try to do a load a day so it tends to be mixed. If I get behind I will separate them. Every now and then I will bleach the socks, undies and undershirts.

[nun69]

Originally Posted by emmasmommy

i fold as i take it out of the dryer because if i didn't, it'd never get done. i looooathe folding.

me too!!!!!!!!! but I do darks, whites, towels, and ususally if I have alot of reds I will wash those seprately, but with 6 people. everything kinda gets washed together LOL Bedding usually gets washed in whatever load is the smallest LOL!!!

[eranslow]

Hubby does our laundry (ours being mine and his). He separates the whites and darks but still washes in cold.

I do the kiddos - Blake's are all thrown together. And so are Landon's but his are washed with Dreft.

So those Mom's who separate everything - what did you do when the kiddos were little and you used Dreft (or whatever special detergent)? Did you separate the whites, darks, etc. and just do a bunch of little loads? Just curious

[Jennilyn]

I have 3 categories...darks, whites, and sheets. The sheets I wash in hot water but everything else I wash in cold.

[Jenn Barrette]

My hubby does the laundry and I have no idea how he does it and really don't care...as long as it gets done!

[heathergw]

Originally Posted by Jenn Barrette

My hubby does the laundry and I have no idea how he does it and really don't care...as long as it gets done!

same here LOL

[YepBrook]

To answer the question about Dreft... I never used it. Ok, I did use it when my oldest was a baby... probably the first 3 months of his life. Man, that stuff is pricey! And it didn't get the p00py stains out like I wanted it to. But then I figured out that if I just switched over to a Free & Gentle detergent for a few of our loads (like whites & darks) I could incorporate the baby clothes with those loads.

Also, I think I separate whites and darks more for the drying than the washing (unless I'm bleaching the whites). It's the darks getting lint on the whites and vice-versa that bothers me. I'm not afraid of dyes bleeding or whatever.

[emmasmommy]

DANG. dishes and clothes are the 2 things darik won't do LOL

[heathergw]

we don't separate... we do one load of laundry a day

Monday is Moriah's clothes
Tuesday is Isaac's clothes
Wednesday is towels and sheets and stuff like that
Thursday is Mark's
Friday is mine

and diapers get done whenever they need to be done, usually every three days

and no, we don't separate them out by colors otherwise, it'd be a whole day of doing laundry... no thank you LOLOL... tho, we do be careful with brand new dark jeans and make sure we wash them a few times before we'll add them to the regular laundry.

and yes, Mark does our laundry... I always screw it up, so it's better if he does it LOL

[ColleenSwerb]

Originally Posted by mummytothree

The only exception is towels and white...those touch butts so they get washed in hot!!

This made me DIE! LOLOL!

I do lights and darks. Sheets are their own load and so are towels, but with the 2 of us and the 94302 towels we got from the wedding registry, I don't do towels very often, lol.
Jordan USED to do whites, lights, and darks, but I broke him of that. I wash everything on cold and dry everything on low.

ETA: We used to do our own laundry, because Jordan HATED the way I did mine. But now that I'm home all day, it just makes more sense for me to do it. So he has to deal with it, because I'm not changing how I do it, lol.

[mariewilcox]

Nope, I don't care, and I don't lose sleep over it - LOL. It's just Cheyanne and I, so I do one load every couple days. I will do a separate load for whites when they need to be bleached, but that's not very often because I avoid buying anything white if I can help it. I wash bras by hand in the sink so that takes care of those.

Kinda weird because I can be very OCD about things, but I'd rather have more time to myself then be OCD about my laundry

[kim21673]

I do the boys' laundry...Tim does our laundry....

We separate...reds, jeans, socks/underwear, darks, browns/tans

[nikkiARNGwife]

I don't care. The only thing I was separately is DH's uniforms. Everything else can go in together..never had any issues with it so I don't see why not lol

[maryinaz]

Originally Posted by taracotta7

Um, I guess I am a freak. I have a whites load. A towels load. Darks load. Sometimes I put sheets in with towels but it depends on how much I got. Sometimes they get their own load too.

I will say that I have those super capacity front load washer/dryers so even when I do all these loads it really doesn't take long and I only have to do 3 loads a week to stay on top of things.

This is me. Except I do all clothes laundry on Sunday and it's usually about 8 loads. I do towels when I get around to it because we have so many and besides washing towels with clothes is not good for the fabric of the clothes, ya know.

[Leila]

I don't care at all. Andrew does, so he does the wash. Works for me!

[hollyxann]

We don't separate our laundry. The only separating that really happens is J and I keep our clothes separate unless it's just a small load. And Kennedy's clothes get added into whichever load is going in when she needs clothes.

[NeverendingJen]

We do lights, darks, delicates, towels, bedding, and uniforms.

[marlathrall]

I don't care... At all. lol. My mom just threw everything in together (she had six kids) and I've followed suit. And I only use cold water, too. I'm pretty OCD about things, but I don't stress out about laundry.

[pewtertm]

When Rachel was a baby, I washed her stuff separately...still do, actually, because she has her own hamper.

With DH and I...our stuff gets mixed, and if I have enough whites to make another full load, I will. Otherwise they get mixed.

[color of my heart]

i separate out whites, blacks, reds, and jeans. underwear and bras go in the same load. but whites, blacks, reds, and jeans all have separate loads. everything else gets jumbled together.

[Darcy Baldwin]

I wash whites separate, and I do towels separate, otherwise, nope, everything gets washed together. Whites and sheets get washed in hot, but everything else is cold and in mass lumps

[nanienamou]

After ruining 4-5 white tops, I told DH to wash the jeans seperately. So he usually washes the sheets and towels together, the jeans together and the rest together. I have to fold and put the clothes in drawers.

[Laurarae13]

I always suspected I had a problem with laundry "issues" now I am sure! Lots of separate loads here: towels (hot), sheets (hot), white socks (hot w/ bleach), lights (warm), darks (cold), jeans (cold), my unmentionables (delicate) and any type of dress pants/khakis (perm press).

I have started using those color catcher sheets and I am slowly starting to mix loads a bit. You would be surprised what comes out on these sheets, even when the colors have been washed before.

[iScrap]

Originally Posted by taracotta7

Um, I guess I am a freak. I have a whites load. A towels load. Darks load. Sometimes I put sheets in with towels but it depends on how much I got. Sometimes they get their own load too.

This is me, too! I just can't mix towels with anything but the occasional sheet. If there is a dark t-shirt in there, it gets a soft fuzz on it from the towels. So, no mixing for me!

[brooke22]

I dont care either.
I will separate lights and darks if there is a huge pile of washing, and I will separate towels, but its not such a big deal to me.

[carrie1977]

I separate it all before washing...whites go with whites, darks go with darks, towels go with towels, hubbies don't go near anything but hubbies. I do wash the kids' clothes together though.

My problem is putting the laundry away. I hate that part of it.

[carrie1977]

Oh, and most of my clothes I hang to dry. I hate shrinkage and color fading. LOL! My husband gets irritated because my clothes will be hanging all over to dry.

Everything else goes in the dryer.

[Milmomma]

I separate colors, whites, sheets, and Army. Kids laundry is not separated and just thrown in. When they get older and it matters then I will separate them too.

[rach3975]

New things, especially new red things, get washed separately. Otherwise I do towels/sheets and everything else. I like to soak towels first, sometimes with vinegar. Everything gets washed on warm.

I used to be OCD about separating. Reds and purples were one load, lights, darks, and towels/sheets. That lasted until we had kids and the laundry started multiplying. Now I consider it wonderful if everyone has clean clothes folded in their drawers, LOL. DH does his own laundry and I do everyone elses.

[Lauramarie]

I pretty much wash everyone's laundry on their wash day. The man gets his clothes washed on their own because he like fabric softener and we do not. I do not use dryer sheets and of course he complains that he has static but we don't so eh, whatever.
I wash my sons clothes and than I wash mine. And I guess I do separate because I wash towels and sheets separate.

I do wash my whites and delicates separate so they stay white and delicate! I also learned not to put bras in the dryer so they last longer.

[haydensmommy217]

I separate my sons clothes from mine and then from there is just put them in the wash I don't separate them.

[LeeAndra]

Depends on who's doing it. Jeff hates the way I fold, especially towels, so he gets a wild hair every few weeks and does a couple loads. He does whites, darks, colors, and linens.

I do whites/lights/linens and darks/colors. There are not usually that many light/whites except Jeff's undershirts and socks (and who cares what they look like since they're hidden, right?!) so I have to wash those with the towels-formerly-known-as-white or it wouldn't be a full load. If something is brand new and really colorful or dark, I might wash it separately, but otherwise, I'll turn it inside out and throw it in with the darks/colors and call it good enough.

Can you tell I hate laundry?! [And dishes.]

[kscwgirl]

Nope.. I don't care. And my mom does small loads and separates everything so she would die if she knew how i did my laundry. It all goes in together. LOL

[cardinalskate]

Nope...don't care. We have 4 loads...whites, towels, Brandon's work clothes, and "good clothes." LOL

[mrshobbes]

Wow, this has been such an eye-opening thread! So if I don't separate my laundry it's not the end of the world??

[misfitinmn]

I am shocked at how many people don't separate!! I always thought I was in the minority! I HATE laundry, so I just chuck it all in and wash it together. I SHOULD fold upon removing from dryer but I don't so our stuff sits in baskets until my husband goes crazy & finally folds it. Then, he puts his stuff away & I live off of folded clothes in a basket because I REALLY hate putting clothes away. I don't know why I hate it so much, it doesn't take long...I just really really hate it!

[MissKim]

I separate by weight. Jeans and Towels (and some sweats) get washed and dried together. Everything else goes in together.

I also don't match socks when they come out of the dryer. I figure the person wearing the socks can do that as they wear them. Undies and socks get put in a pile and the wearer can either group them by pairs or grab 2 socks that match as he/she is getting dressed. None of my kids match theirs and I imagine they'd think it was strange to waste time matching up socks just to put them in a drawer.