Laundry conventions are clear: Always separate the loads. Otherwise you might end up with white clothes stained pink from a loose red sock. Or a bunch of clothes left just as smelly and stained as before. Therefore, cleaning experts recommend sorting laundry according to fabric types and color shades. Yet it’s so convenient to wash clothes, sheets, and towels together, especially if you need a specific item but don’t want to run a mostly-empty washing machine, and especially if the hamper is bursting and you don’t have the time to sort through it. The experts weigh in on if the separating step is really necessary.
Keep towel lint off of clothes
Towels are an outlier when it comes to fabrics. Kitchen towels, bath towels, and cleaning towels all have a different texture compared to linens and clothes, and they provide a different function. For that reason, Taylor Matthews, the owner of cleaning company Sparkling Queens, recommends washing them separately. “For one, your other clothes and sheets will get lint and fibers on them from being washed with towels,” she says to Southern Living. “Towels should be washed on a heavier cycle, without fabric softener, in hot water.”
Avoid towel damage on clothes
Generally, one of the main goals of sorting loads is to protect delicate articles of clothing from getting ruined while thoroughly washing heavier items. “Towels are a heavier fabric, and when washed with lightweight, more delicate fabrics, the heaviness of the towels can pull on or twist around those fabrics, tearing or stretching them out of shape,” says cleaning and organization influencer Stephanie Booth.
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Prevent shrinking in the dryer
Additionally, if you wash clothes and towels together, you’ll probably put them in the dryer at the same time. However, towels take much longer to dry compared to socks, pajamas, and T-shirts. They are heavy and rough, and are designed to absorb a lot of liquid. The extra unnecessary time in the dryer could cause the other items to shrink. If you are forced to wash the two loads together, dry them during separate loads.
Washing towels with linens
Despite the different fabric, towels and bedding are often washed together because they are close in size and take similarly long periods of time to dry. However, towels tend to get much dirtier than bedding. “You don’t want to wash towels that have been used to clean up food, pets, or other dirty job messes with your clothing or bed linens,” says Booth. “You run the risk of transferring bacteria or stains onto your other wash items.”
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Balancing the washing machine
Fabric types aside, the size of the items can impact how well they are cleaned. Towels become dense and heavy, which can unbalance the washing machine as it’s spinning with smaller, lighter clothes. This can lead to uneven cleaning, where either heavier or lighter items get cleaned well, but not both. (This can also be true when washing large bedding and clothes at the same time.)
Ideal washing temperature
When it comes to laundry, “use hot water when possible to help sanitize towels and kill bacteria,” says Marie Dreyer, CEO and founder of Organize With Marie to Martha Stewart. Of course, many types of clothes require cold water and gentle washing to maintain their color, structure, and quality. So, adding these items to a towel cycle could ruin them, but adding towels to a cold load could prevent them from getting properly cleaned.
How to wash towels and clothes together
Let’s face it: Life circumstances don’t care about expert advice. So here’s how to wash towels and clothing items together to get the best results possible. First, try to choose clothes with similarly sturdy fabrics. For instance, mix cotton towels with cotton articles of clothing. But don’t add materials like lace, wool, polyester, etc. Secondly, choose the gentle/delicate cycle that will reduce the level of friction between the fabrics.
Don’t overload the machine
And finally, be extra careful not to overload the washing machine. Overloading in general prevents the contents from getting thoroughly washed and can lead to damaged or tangled items. Instead, only fill about three-quarters of the machine to allow the items to move around so they can rinse and spin properly. Although it may be tempting to stuff in all of the dirty laundry at once, take the extra time to sort and avoid overloading for the best results.
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