When do you sort your laundry?

@foxyfire33 (10005)
United States
November 26, 2007 11:28am CST
Do you do it as you put it in the hampers or on laundry day when things are being washed? I don't like to have much dirty laundry sitting around or multiple hampers so I prefer to only use two hampers besides the one for wet towels. I just toss the clothes in them and when they are full I know I have enough for a load of dark clothes, a load of light clothes, and half a load of whites. I sort them out as I'm putting one load in the washer. I don't think there's anything horribly wrong with each person having seperate hampers for their darks and their lights and their whites and their towels and the miscellaneous other things that need to be washed in a special way like sweaters, under garments, cool dry, no dryer, etc type items....it just seems like an awful lot of laundy piles up before all the hampers are full. (not to mention it can add up to a lot of hampers!)
4 people like this
16 responses
• United States
26 Nov 07
Hi Foxyfire, As of late, Im constantly doing the wash! And I dont have a washer and dryer, got a spot but thats where the hampers sit! lol Ive been extra good, I really hope I get one for Christmas. :) I have two hampers, I dont want to drag multiple hampers to the laundromat when I go. I dont like doing a whole lot where Im there for hours, so Ive been going a few times a week. Hubby works outdoors and dirties more clothes than ever on a daily basis. I dont like heaps of it lying around either. I put jeans and dark colors in one basket and whites and towels in the other. Id rather not sort my clothes at the laundromat. I just want to go in and get them in the washer to wash. I cant very well wash all things together because of hubby's work. Im not washing my clothes and towels with his work clothes. So I end up having a couple loads every few days. Why Id like a washer and dryer at home, I think I deserve that. Dont you? Hehe! Bay Lay Gray xx
1 person likes this
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
27 Nov 07
I will tell Santa that Bay has been extra good this year! I forgot I do have one extra spot reserved for s/o's garage clothes. He comes in with them all mudy and greasy so there's no way I'm putting them with the rest! But that only amounts to one complete outfit a week this time of year at the the most so I don't need a full sized hamper for that.
1 person likes this
• United States
27 Nov 07
Thanks Foxy!! Yeah you dont want mud and stuff in with your other clothes. My hubby works in a barn and there is too much dirt out there. I really need 2 sets, one to wash our regular clothes in and one to wash his stuff in. lol Bay xx
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
Barn clothes are really bad. My ex-hubby (boyfriend at the time) would have to hose his out before his mom would let him bring them in the house to be washed.
1 person likes this
@lyndaj70 (293)
• United States
26 Nov 07
I have one hamper, and a bucket I keep filled with solution to put my white kitchen cloths in as they become used, to store until laundry day. I sort lights, darks (mainly my work clithes), and whites... Everything except wet dirty kitchen towels gets tossed into the main hamper, and I sort as I decide to wash. Whenever the hamper fills, I pull out a load or two and empty it out...
1 person likes this
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
That's a pretty good idea for your kitchen towels. I think I will try to remember that when I have enough space for a bucket.
@TerryZ (22076)
• United States
26 Nov 07
Hi foxyfire I have two hampers and I just through everything together. Then when its time to do the wash I sort everything when Im washing. And I dont have a washer or dryer I have to travel to my aunts house. But at least Im spending anything at the laundramat.LOL We are saving for a washer and dryer.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
I remember the year I got a dryer for Christmas/wedding anniversary (my ex-hubby and I got married 2 days after Christmas), after 2 years without one I didn't even mind that a dryer isn't at all romantic.
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
26 Nov 07
We have 3 hampers upstairs. One in our room, my daughters room and our bathroom. When they get full I take them downstairs to the laundry room and separate them. We have a 3 section laundry separater in our laundry room. I put towels in one, my husbands work clothes and then our regular clothes.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
Having a seperate laundry room would make a difference in how I prefer to do things. Right now the washer and dryer are tucked in by the bathroom door in the hallway across and to the side of 2 bedroom doors. It's the most crowded place even without extra hampers sitting around. I had to get dressed in the living room one day...pants on over pajama bottoms, shirt slid on under pajama top...all because 'she' was doing laundry and the two bedrooms between her and the living room were being worked on.
• United States
26 Nov 07
I dont like much dirty laundry either. But I also dont have a lot of room. I like to sort everything when I wash them. If I had more room I would rather put them in the appropriate basket prior to washing them. It would save some time, and if I needed to wash something specific (like socks) it would be wasy to get to them.
1 person likes this
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
I absolutely agree that if there was enough room, sorting beforehand wouldn't be a bad idea. Things are just tight enough here without all these hampers everywhere!
@vicki2876 (5636)
• Canada
26 Nov 07
I hate laundry. I am terrible at laundry! I don't do laundry very good at all. I do laundry every day so I never really sort it. Just throw the whole mess in the washer and go. I never wash anything in a special way. It all gets shoved in together. Not my great skill. LOL
1 person likes this
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
LOL...I have days like that too. Today I was so behind that I didn't bother sorting. I just grabbed the clothes by the armful and dumped them in until it was full.
@ebsharer (5515)
• United States
27 Nov 07
Laundry sorter - This is simular to what I use. Mine has 3 mess bags that you can take out and put back in.
Our room and our daughters room is right next to each other I have a laundry basket with 3 bins in the hall way between our rooms. For our clothing and hers. I keep the clothes sorted in whites, darks, color and jeans. Then when I bring the clothes to the laundry room they are basically sorted I finish by putting every thing in piles (so i do not miss any thing) then do the laundry. It seems to be working well.
@ebsharer (5515)
• United States
27 Nov 07
BTW - I don't know if you have kids or not but since I have a 1 year old clothing is often very dirty. I keep a bottle of shout next the the laundry basket and spray each thing that needs it each time. By the time it goes in the washer the spots are gone.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
"I don't know if you have kids or not" LOL yes, yes we do 3 of them are boys under 5 years of age and that's not evn half.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
26 Nov 07
I have two hampers, one in my sons room and one in our room. As they fill up I take them to the laundry room and sort them by color or fabric, depending on what is in both hampers. I do washing everytime the hampers are full or near the top or enough to do at least one load. All wet stuff go straight to the laundry as I don't like it sitting inside the hamper for a day or two.
1 person likes this
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
27 Nov 07
I don't like wet things sitting around either. I hang our things to dry before putting them in the hamper....but that's only because the towels are not for me to wash and I know they'll sit there for a few days at least.
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
20 Feb 08
I dump it all together and sort it on laundry day - which now that we go to a matt I find it quite inconvenient and time consuming to do (separate before going) but I can hardly get the rest of the family to pick up their laundry let alone sort it as they remove it.
@lightningMD (5931)
• United States
3 Dec 07
I sort my laundry on Monday. Monday is always laundry day at my house. I work all day Friday,Saturday and Sunday. So by Monday we have a lot of laundry to do. I wash sheets and bedding on Wednesdays. I like having a set schedule for chores.Even if I had seperate hampers for everything I'm sure my family would have it all mixed up anyways.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
I so wish I could get everybody to agree to a schedule like that. I love to have things planned ahead but I don't seem to be in charge of the scheduling around here.
@nica269 (1395)
• United States
28 Nov 07
We have two hampers, one for the color clothes and another for the whites. I sort the color hamper as i'm getting ready to wash them, since we have dress shirts, t shirts, shorts, towels, etc. I like to keep the clothes in their 'type' of clothes pile.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
And that makes perfect sense. Thank goodness "she" doesn't make us have a seperate hamper for each type based on color also...!
@nica269 (1395)
• United States
3 Dec 07
I think that would be crazy! But I guess some people are so anal that, that would make perfect sense! LOL
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
4 Dec 07
For socks I'll sort them/pair them, right at the respective compartment. Other items I can sort easily at the compartment for those items or at the machine.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
4 Dec 07
You sort your socks!? I had not heard that one before...unless you just mean separating white socks from colored socks. Although you probably don't lose many socks doing it that way, maybe I should start doing that with the boys' socks at least.
@fanji008 (775)
• China
27 Nov 07
Hi,there! I usually just put the clothes that I wanna wash in the hamper but I don't sort it immediately.I do sort the clothes but not too clear.I pay much attention to the color.I do separate dark and light colors cause the dark ones will affect the light ones pretty much.I had some unpleasant experiences before. My clothes were totally destroyed:( So then I try to wash the light ones together and then wash the dark ones together.I sort them when the day I'd like to wash them.LOL! Thanks for the discussion and have a nice day:)
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
Ahh yes lights and darks together is a bad combination! Dark reds and blues accidentally thrown in with whites does not turn out well either. Thanks!
• United States
27 Nov 07
Okay, myLot does not want me to post a response to this discussion, for some reason...I've tried five times and it just keeps going back to the blank post response page.... Okay, here's what I do, I go through the house, gathering laundry from underneath furniture and off the ceiling fan, and dump it in the bathtub to be sorted. One pile of jeans, one pile of darks, and one pile of light colored and whites. I do not use bleach. And if something needs special care, you'd better wash it yourself LOL. I wash, dry, fold, put away, and two days later it looks like I never do laundry! O well...
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
3 Dec 07
Thanks for remminding me, I need to move the couch and look for socks...maybe I'll get lucky and find my sanity while I'm under there. Yesterday my boys dumped the contents of TWO large dressers and a large dirty clothes hamper out on the bedroom floor. Three loads of laundry later I finally spotted the floor...
@terri0824 (4991)
• United States
7 Dec 07
I've sorted all sorts of ways over the years. But I prefer a hamper for each load so that I know when I have a full load to wash. I have an unfinished basement so it makes it easier to sort in different hampers this way.
• United States
7 Dec 07
that's interesting. how you seperate your clothes that is. i've never known anyone who does it like that, although i'm sure that it's actually really convenient even though, as you said, it does make for a lot of hampers! haha. we always just put all the clothes together in one hamper and when it gets full i seperate them into the piles they belong in by color and wash them one load at a time.