Anonymous wrote:white underwear & socks -- hot water and bleach
dark underwear & socks -- hot water and vinegar
towels -- hot water and vinegar
colorful clothing -- warm water and vinegar
delicates -- warm wash /cool rinse and vinegar
sheets -- hot water and vinegar
Almost everything line dried.

What does the vinegar do?

Anonymous wrote:I wash everything in warm and I don't separate. Never had an issue.

Same here. I also own nothing white. White clothes for me are a magnet for coffee, berries, and laundry stains.

Who are you people upping your gas bill wasting warm water when cold water is just as good? Warm water bleeds colors.

Underwear, towels and sheets in hot. Everything else in cold. We aim for one load per person per week. We hit the goal in summer. In winter, it is more like 1.25 loads per person. Dry clean a few times a year for the suit DH has to wear occasionally. I iron once or twice a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get chastised here at school, I wash all in warm. I have suffered the effects. How do you do laundry? I change sheets every other week. I wash underwear and bras separate

School? Huh???

I'm assuming college, but the real question for me is what are the effects that were suffered?

Kid clothes - washed in tap cold, each kid's washed in their own load so I don't have to try to figure out which socks and which underpants belong to which child.

Grown up clothes: We have one of those 3 bin hampers because ain't nobody got time to sort on laundry day. Dark stuff goes in one and gets washed in cold. White/light stuff goes in the second and gets washed in hot. Sheets and towels go in the third and get washed in warm. Delicates go in a separate basket and get washed on cold gentle cycle.

Anonymous wrote:Surprised that we have yet to hear from the psycho who thinks anyone who doesn't wash their underwear separately from all other laundry is gross.

I am that psycho, underwear should be washed separate. Hot, hot water!

For those (like me) who throw all the kids clothes in together, I have found Tide Color Catcher to be a laundry saver ever since my DC decided red was the color du jour. Most interesting is that a load of all whites with a color catcher will sometimes turn the catcher dingy blue/gray and the clothes come out whiter. Not kidding.

whites - cold (or warm)
colors/darks - cold
towels - on their own, usually hot if I remember to change it
sheets - on their own, hot if I remember

Underwear and bras go in with their color category.

Hang dry bras, sweaters, and anything I don't want to shrink.

Whites; darks; towels (no fabric softener!); sheets.

I have to pay for every load of laundry I do, so it all goes in together. Jeans are washed inside out. Jeans and bras are hung to dry but everything else goes in the dryer.

Anonymous wrote:I get chastised here at school, I wash all in warm. I have suffered the effects. How do you do laundry? I change sheets every other week. I wash underwear and bras separate

I wash everything in hot water, no separating, except I wash bras separately on gentle and hang them to dry.

Raised four kids to adulthood and no mishaps yet.

Towels, sheets, lights all on warm
Colors, cold. I usually separate dark colors from bright reds/pinks etc

Sheets and towels - hot

If it happens I only have one towel to wash it gets washed with regular clothes on cold cycle.

Everything else - cold and mixed.

The ONLY Thing I will ALWAYS wash separately are my jeans because they bleed. Cold water.

1. All dark clothes
2. All school uniform khakis and lights
3. Dark delicates
4. Towels and whites (bleached)