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Laundry question

JAileen

Veteran

I sort the laundry this way:
1. my husband's dress shirts
2. whites
3. nonwhites
4. jeans and things with zippers or velcro
5. sheets
6. towels

Some of the sorting is for the dryer, such as the dress shirts. Also the jeans load gets hung up, as do the sheets if the weather cooperates.

Mostly I wear knit tees. I turn them inside out. My charcoal tees, which have probably 25 wears each, are starting to feel shabby. Am I doing them a disservice by turning inside out, or are they just wearing out? Do you turn you tees inside out? Is this better or worse for them? I have a front load washer.

General

24 replies

Latest reply was from JAileen

kkards

Veteran

i don't turn stuff inside out, but i do try to limit dyer time...even on tee's that say you can dry them, i'll pop them into the dryer for 10 minutes or so, and then line dry. but really 25 wears on knits....thats pretty good.

Carla

Veteran

I turn quite a few things inside out - anything with a graphic on it, most sweaters, and most pants (including jeans). I line dry lots of items, but not cotton T's. It seems to be the nature of cotton knit items - to get soft, flabby, and for the dye to be fugitive. Cold water wash helps, but I don't have enough T's only to justify a T only load, so I run them through with towels, and other items on a standard warm/cotton wash.

25 wears sounds good to me.

Anonymous

Things often get pulled out of the laundry basket already turned inside out - ha- and that's the way they go into the machine I sort by colour, and t's will go in with other things of similar colour depth . I try to remember to pull my "good" ones out of the dryer early, but honestly don't always get there in time. I am not that particular about laundry unless it's something uber delicate and special. My t's seem to survive just fine the way I do it. I know my dark grey Current Elliot t's (I have about 4) have been washed far more than 30 times and they are still great after a few years .

Staysfit

Veteran

My grey tees are also from Current Elliot and they seem to survive the wash and dryer. I don't notice whether they are inside out when I toss them in my front loader. I tend to wash everything in cold water. I use the lowest spin cycle. I have had zippers shred other items in the load when I use higher spin cycles. I also have some grey tees from James Perse, they are newer, only a year, so I am not sure yet if they will hold up as long.

shiny

Veteran

I'm also not very particular. In fact, hubby refuses to let me do his laundry, because he's way more particular than I am.... he meticulously sorts, and likes to pull out a lot of items including jeans and line dry them.

His laundry day is much longer than mine... as he does several loads. Whereas I just toss everything in together, set on cold wash, auto-sensing water level, then use the "optimum" feature on my dryer. We just got a new washer/dryer but it's a down-and-dirty top-loader stackable model, nothing fancy about it. That said I'm impressed as it seems to be doing a great job with the laundry.

I did just get out my summer clothes and go through them, and I'm washing them all since they've been packed away surrounded by renovation dust. I washed the whites all together in hot water as they were looking dingy. Came out just fine.

Now it is true that my hubby's clothes last way way longer than my own. He has clothing he's owned for over a decade. Because he babies everything. I get bored with my clothes long before then.

shiny

Veteran

My most worn knits are Jcrew vintage tees, H&M cami's, and Old Navy summer dresses.

The ON dresses wear out within a season. I consign the older ones to loungewear/pj's/beach cover ups, and buy fresh each year, since they aren't that expensive.

The Jcrew vintage tees still look fine after several years, though I guess they have faded a bit.

The H&M cami's are really old... and I wear them constantly to sleep in/lounge in... those cami's have worn like iron. And they were cheap. I stocked up on like 10 of them one year. I did have to finally toss out a few of them last year. And my old dryer did mangle a couple of them (the straps got caught in the dryer). I still have 4 left.

Anonymous

I turn everything inside out to wash. I rarely use the dryer. I air dry everything.

JAileen

Veteran

Thanks Kkards, Carla,Lisa, Staysfit, Shiny. It sounds like it doesn't matter whether it's inside out or not. Maybe these long sleeve tees from Eddie Bauer are just nearing the end of their useful life. They are still wearable, just not as soft as before and almost pilling. They don't look as good as they did. In chilly weather I wear them everyday, around the house and to run errands. That's why I like to wear a scarf with a coat, because I'm wearing a tee underneath.

JAileen

Veteran

Sterling, thanks. I pull out woven tops to hang, but put knits in the dryer.

Anonymous

I turn everything inside out. Air/Line dry most clothes. My DH's shirts go into the drier - less wrinkly afterwards.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Do you wash them after every wear? I also find t shirt quality completely unpredictable, some H&M & Target are great, some not. Fancy designer often worse.

Tisa

I don't think it makes that much of a difference for regular tees. I do turn inside out tees with more delicate graphic prints or sewn-on details.

I also turn inside out all knits, that go to the washing machine, and sometimes tops made from more delicate materials.

Knits won't look like new after being washed 25 times, no matter what you do. You can preserve their longevity by washing them on delicate cycle and using suitable laundry detergents or powder for delicate fabrics.
I've heard that putting new knits in a freezer for a night might help reduce pilling later, but I've never tried that myself. You might like to search for info about this solution on the web.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

I don't turn tees inside out. For the ones I care most about, I hang them to dry. The dryer is what wears out and fades t-shirt knits the most. To save space on my wooden drying rack, I put my least expensive, plain tees that are easily replaceable into the dryer. I hang the ones I make!

Emily K

(website)

Veteran

For tees that I consider "best" I put them individually in delicates bags--if only to help me remember to snatch them out for line-drying. Also, I like our front-loader machine as things do not seem to get as twisted-up in the wash.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I do what Emily does with tops that I want to be sure I don't mistakenly put in the dryer.

Some things I will turn inside out -- if there is a detail I want to protect, or something I think might bleed. I wash almost all clothes in cold water anyway, and I rely more on delicate cycles than normal ones. I separate lights from darks/brights, but that's about it. I usually only partially machine dry most of my clothes, and hang them to dry the rest of the way. Easier on the fabrics, and uses less energy.

JAileen

Veteran

Thank you, danusia, Anna, Tisa, Firecracker, Emily, and Janet, for your thoughts on this. I didn't know it was the dryer that wore out my tees!!

Unless I'm traveling, I do wash them after each wear. I shower every day and like to put on clean clothes. I wear jeans over and over, though.

Diana

Veteran

I'm like Sharan. I only air dry the ones that are special and I only turn inside out the ones with details (like embroidery) that might get snagged. Plain tees.. eh, whatever. I think 25 wears is pretty good!

ETA: I do wash everything on cold except linens. (And my husband does his own laundry. I have no idea what to do with dress shirts lol.)

Joha

I follow the advice of an old textbook for professional housekeepers: wash as much as possible in washing nets or inside out on the coldest setting possible (which today is 30 degrees Celsius anyway). Then I dry everything on the line. Before hanging, I pull everything back in it's original shape. I keep a hanging rod on the balcony and hang the dress shirts, dresses, blouses etc. on said rod to dry. On regular hangers. This seems to lengthen the "lifetime " of shirts in particular and helps if ironing is necessary.

Anonymous

I turn most things inside out, wash with cold water and air fluff for a few minutes in the dryer, then hung on hangers to finish. Very few things actually get dried in the dryer...mostly towels and kitchen linens.

cindysmith

Veteran

I turn a lot of stuff inside out. Jeans and pants get buttoned and zipped and turned inside out. Sweaters get turned inside out so if anything DOES snag them it pulls it in instead of out; the same principle applies to all clothes, really (in my mind). Keep any damage confined to the inside so the garment isn't rendered unwearable.

I hang dry a lot of clothes, and I always hang them inside out to keep the sun from fading them.

If you're sorting laundry that well, and doing the clothes inside out, and they're still wearing out, then IMO it's not you --it's the clothes.

DonnaF

Veteran

Most of my clothing is washed on Delicate inside out in cold water; heavier weight stuff is washed together on Delicate or possibly Permapress. If dryer safe the setting is Delicate; otherwise it is hung to dry. Whites with spandex and the like are washed on Permapress in warm water and dried on Delicate. DH's all cotton Ts are washed on Regular in cold water. His white underwear on Regular in hot water. Both dry in Regular. Towels and DH's heavy cotton jeans are washed on Regular and dried on Regular.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I wash most of them inside out and I never use the dryer (except by mistake).

The Cat

Veteran

I turn my T-shirts and most of my other clothes inside out and let them air dry.

The dryer can be very hard on clothes. So if using the dryer, it is extra important to turn clothes inside out! From earlier years, I remember nice new blouses that to my great disappointment got an "old and tired" look after just ONE time in the dryer. So I have learnt my lesson ...

I use the dryer primarily for things like sheets and towels. And if possible, I actually prefer to let them air dry as well.

JAileen

Veteran

Thanks Diana, Joha, Joy, Cindy, Donna, Suz, TheCat. The variation among everyone's laundry procedures is very interesting. I need to hang more stuff to dry. In winter it's hard, but now that it's warming up it's much easier.