A College Student's Primer to Sorting Laundry

Six weeks after my son left for college, I got a call asking how to sort laundry. Seems he only had a couple of dollars for the coin op washing machine, and couldn't figure out how to sort his lights, brights, darks, towels, jeans, bedspread, sports duffel, and rayon shirts into two loads.

So how do you sort laundry when you can only do a couple of loads?

Different materials react in different ways which is why not all laundry can be thrown in a heavy duty, hot water cycle. Jeans will turn white tee shirts gray, red sweatshirts will turn white underwear pink, wools and rayons will shrink, and towels will coat polar fleece with a layer of lint that's impossible to remove. Sorting laundry means separating those clothes into piles with similar characteristics.

Most of us have at least a few things requiring a cold water, gentle wash. These include wool sweaters, rayon and silk shirts, and other delicates. Cold water garments usually have washing instructions right on the neck, beneath the manufacturer's label. For these clothes, don't waste quarters washing them in a Laundromat; hand wash them in a bucket or in the bathroom sink instead.

A spoonful of soap, a gallon of tepid water, and a few minutes of agitating the item by hand is usually enough to get the garment clean. Pour out the soapy water, rinse with clean, and then roll the item in a towel to squeeze out excess moisture. Hang the item to dry on a hanger or over the balcony.

For the rest of the laundry, they can usually be done in two separate loads.