Laundry – Whites, Lights and Darks

How I learned to sort laundry: whites, lights and darks, one pile for each. I think laundry is among the important things learned through family, specifically mother, grandmother and aunts. Why? Because they were taught the methods that we still use to clean our clothes. From my mother I learned by taking good care of clothing, it will last much longer. Since I am overly attached to everything I wear, this has proven to be very true.

Before each of our kids prepared to go off to college, I taught them the same way of sorting and washing. I’m thinking that it was a success since neither of them ruined any clothing or called from their dorm in distress about anything related to laundry.

Bluing for whitest whites

Whites are traditionally considered bleachable items; cottons and sturdy fabrics that can withstand the process. Never, ever use chlorine bleach on anything that is not a natural fiber fabric. Please don’t grab the bleach bottle for vintage linens. It’s too aggressive for the cotton or rayon fibers. And no, bleach is not a stain remover; it will devour whatever you spill it on with large holes. “A little goes a long way” is the mantra. I don’t think any more than 1/2 cup of bleach per load or up to the line on the dispenser of your washer.

But the secret laundry weapon, for the whitest whites, also passed down in my family is bluing. ‘Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing’, or ‘Bluette‘ brand in its iconic cobalt blue bottle with lemon yellow label (no commission or plug, it’s just the brand I’ve always used). It’s readily available and it’s been around for ever, bluing that is. Bluing is fine to use on vintage linens, first soak them in cool water using a mild soap. Castile soap is perfect for delicate and heirloom linens. I hold the bar under the running faucet or quickly grate some into the water. Depending on the age and condition of the linens, you may need to soak more than once to remove soil.

Now, bluing can be added by the tablespoon to the rinse water; just be sure to agitate it a little by hand. Ok, if you’re skittish, add your bluing to a small pitcher of cool water first, stir and then add to the rinse cycle after the washer has filled. Bluing can also be used when handwashing, just be sure to swirl it around in the rinse water before adding those hand-crocheted doilies. Bluing leaves a slight bluish hue, of course. Slight being the operative word here. Not to worry, it won’t be bluish for long. Unless, that is, you accidentally pour too much directly from the bottle. Less is always better…

The next part required for truly successful use of bluing is sunlight. Hanging the clothes outdoors on a clothes line, in the fresh air and sunshine will leave the whites smashingly bright (more about drying laundry in another post).

Next load: Lights

Onto the next category- ‘lights‘. In warm weather, this may very well represent the bulk of your laundry. Pastels, beiges, light blue, mixed light and white colors and items requiring non-chlorine bleach all go in this pile. Lingerie, that is not too fancy or delicate can be put into a mesh bag and machine washed- bras, panties, nylon and lace items- can be added into this load. Tip: don’t put panties in the same bag as bras. Even if you fasten the bras, hooks can still come undone in the wash and snag delicate lace.

Darks

Lastly, ‘darks‘ consisting of navy, purple, maroon, brown, dark gray and black. You get the idea. Wait, what about red, orange and dark pink or magenta?? Ah, if you’d like to keep them red, orange etc., wash them together in their own cycle as some polyester and cotton blends can bleed or absorb other colors. Nothing is worse than taking a new red shirt or sweater out of the washer and seeing horrific blue splotches down the front from the new pair of jeans you washed in the same load. It’s now your new yard-work shirt because the dye will never come out. Tip: New jeans? Turn them inside out and wash before the first wearing, unless you don’t mind some blue on your legs.

Darks are actually the bulk of my laundry due to some of the addicted-to-black-clothing inhabitants in my house. Gosh, how boring to wear the same color over and over! Black nylon shirts for the gym to go with black nylon shorts, also for the gym. Black cotton t-shirts because they “show less sweat and look good for flexing” and the old stand by: “it’s just easier” and that hideous holdover: black leggings. Did I mention black no-show socks, for any occasion??

Towels and sheets

But what about towels? Sheets? I use the the same laundry rule: whites, lights and darks. I like to wash towels with sheets and separately from clothing since cotton towels are notorious for shedding lint and I don’t want lint on anything that is not a towel. Since I use an outdoor clothesline, I make sure to put a generous amount of fabric softener in the rinse cycle. Tip: If you do use a dryer, I would not recommend fabric softener; combined with the high heat of drying it makes towels less absorbent

There is nothing that compares to freshly washed sheets, dried outdoors. The comfort of pulling the covers snuggly around yourself; putting your head on the pillow and breathing in thefresh, clean scent is instantly soothing. It’s the scent of home.

Just remember the laundry sorting rule: whites, lights and darks. It will keep clothes looking great for longer.