How to Sort Laundry for Cleaner, Fresher Garments

Sorting your laundry may feel like a nuisance, but it really does make a difference when it comes to how efficiently your garments are cleaned. Separating your pieces by color, soil level, and fabric type helps avoid dye transfer, ensures stains are treated properly, and prevents accidental shrinkage. Although it's easier to skip this process when preparing your laundry for the washer, sorting contributes to the longevity of your garments. Here, cleaning experts explain how to sort your laundry the right way to ensure fresh, clean clothes after every load.

Before Getting Started

Before sorting your laundry, it's essential to carefully read the care tags on each garment. "Different fabrics and fabric blends need to be laundered appropriately to avoid discoloration, shrinking, fading, and damage to fabrics and the garment," says Jennifer Parnell, co-founder of Humble Suds.

Care labels include important information about the water temperature, wash cycle, and whether the items should be dry cleaned, hand-washed, or machine washed, says Alicia Sokolowski, president and co-CEO of AspenClean.

Sort by Color

Sorting by color is one of the easiest and most obvious ways to separate your laundry. Doing so prevents dye transfer, which contributes to clothes looking dingy over time, says Wendy Saladyga, a stain expert for Persil ProClean.

• Whites: Sort white items together to keep them looking bright.
• Lights: Sort light-colored clothes, like pastels and light grays, together, says Sokolowski.
• Darks: Always sort dark-colored clothes, such as black, navy, or dark reds, together. This prevents dye transfer and color bleeding from dark fabrics to lighter ones, says Sokolowski.
• Brights: Sort your brights separately, as their dyes are often very likely to bleed and can discolor other garments, says Sokolowski.

Sort by Fabric Type

Once your laundry has been sorted by color, sort those piles again by fabric type. "For mixed fabric blends, launder based on the dominant fabric blend unless it contains a delicate fabric such as silk or wool. Silk or wool should be laundered as noted on labels," says Parnell.

• Heavy fabrics: Items like jeans, towels, and heavy cotton should be sorted separately as they require a longer washing cycle and can damage delicate fabrics if washed together, says Sokolowski.
• Delicate fabrics: Items like silk, lace, and synthetic fibers should be sorted and washed separately as these items need gentle cycles and often cold water to prevent damage, says Sokolowski.
• Knits and stretch fabrics: These items (think sweaters, workout clothes, etc.) should be sorted to avoid stretching and distortion that can occur if mixed with heavier items, says Sokolowski.

Sort by the Amount of Dirt

When sorting your laundry, be sure to reserve a separate pile for clothes that are very dirty, like cloth diapers, garments with grease stains, dirty towels, etc. In turn, you'll be able to pre-treat items with tough stains in advance. "It’s always a good idea to pre-treat stained items before washing them in a washing machine," says Sokolowski. "Pre-treating helps to break down and lift the stain from the fabric before it goes through the washing cycle, increasing the chances of complete stain removal. This is especially important for stubborn stains or stains that are dried-in already."

• Lightly soiled: Sort clothes that are only lightly soiled together as they usually require a shorter wash cycle.
• Heavily soiled: Sort heavily soiled items together as they may need a longer wash cycle or pre-soak, says Sokolowski.
• Stained items: Stained garments usually need a pre-treatment before washing, so it's best to wash them together, says Sokolowski.

Clothes to Always Wash Separately

In addition to sorting by color, fabric type, and soil level, there are some other garments you should always wash separately from the rest of your clothes.

• Clothes with embellishments: Clothes with beads, sequins, or other embellishments should be washed separately to prevent them from snagging on other garments.
• Items with velcro or zippers: Velcro or zippers can catch on to other fabrics and cause damage. Wash them separately or make sure they are fastened securely, says Sokolowski.
• Non-colorfast items: Clothes that are not colorfast can bleed their dyes during washing, says Sokolowski. Washing these items separately avoids color bleeding and staining other clothes.
• Sheets and bedding: Always wash your sheets and bedding separately from other laundry. They can handle a regular wash cycle with warm or hot water. 
• Towels: It's often recommended to wash towels in hot water to kill the bacteria and keep them fresh, so washing separately is often ideal. Plus, towels produce a lot of lint and can take longer to dry, says Sokolowski.