If you haven’t heard it from your parents a thousand times before, allow us to remind you: sorting your clothing is an essential laundry step.
Are you still avoiding this task? It’s easy to assume that sorting doesn’t do much, but it’s actually one of the best ways to make your clothes last longer.
Let’s rewind back to Laundry 101 and review how to sort your laundry before washing!
How to Sort Laundry Before Washing
Step 1: Group Dry Clean Garments
While we’re on the topic of Laundry 101, let’s run through the types of garments that should always be dry-cleaned. You should learn how to find dry clean-only symbols on the care label, but as a general rule of thumb, always dry clean:
Dark colored silks
Suits
Anything with pleating like skirts and trousers
Anything with lining like jackets and skirts
Leather and suede
Furs
Items with delicate embellishments like sequins, beads, and studs
Heavily soiled or stained items
Want more information on what can be dry-cleaned?
Step 2: Everyday Laundry vs. Specialty Garments
Next, you’ll want to group your laundry by material. The goal is to separate more durable items from delicate garments.
Make one pile for everyday laundry like t-shirts, underwear, khakis, jeans, towels, and linens. Make a separate pile for lightweight synthetic pieces, like lingerie, swimwear, activewear, hosiery, and blouses. You’ll also want to separate sensitive items like wool.
Step 3: Separate by Soil Level
If you haven’t already, separate anything that’s suffering from serious soiling. This could include items with heavy stains, strong odors, spills – you get the picture. It’s always a good idea to wash these separately to avoid spreading the issue!
If the soiled garment is also a specialty item like evening gowns or button-downs, it’s time to search ‘laundromat near me’ for local dry cleaning services.
Step 4: Color Piles
Finally, within your various piles, complete the step you already know about: sorting by color!
White, pastel, and light gray go in one pile, and navy, brown, dark gray, black, and red go in another.
Pro-Tip: These categories apply to both the washer and dryer, as colors bleed in the dryer as often as the washer!
Step 5: Categorize Sheets, Towels & Bedding
For bonus laundry expert points, revisit your linens pile and separate lint-producers from microfiber pieces. To avoid lint and pilling, cotton sheets and towels should be washed separately from blankets and items with synthetic blends.
Congratulations—you now know how to correctly sort your laundry before washing!
Does this sound like a lot more work than your old routine? Your WaveMAX laundromat in Thornton can help in a few ways. Our state-of-the-art machines make laundry day a breeze by cranking out multiple loads simultaneously. Or, schedule a pick-up and drop-off laundry service to take laundry off your plate entirely!
