Do you have to seperate whites from colors when doing laundry?

Question

I have some white tees and black shorts would i have to seperate them

Answer 1

yes,if you don't,the white chothwill not white.

Answer 2

Yes separate them, or your whites will come out dingy and looking grayish. Always separate your clothes, from Whites, Colors, and Darks.  :-) Towels wash separately from clothes and use HOT water to wash towels.

Answer 3

Yes, if you don't the whites will start turning grey.  If you wash the white tees and black shorts, the black could fade unto the white.

Answer 4

Separate the white from black.....black dye is notorious for fading and you don't want to risk it ending up in your whites.  

Ditto other dark colors.  When you get to lighter colors, you can probably but them in with the whites.

Answer 5

You should do it to prevent darker colors from "bleeding" into lighter colors. but technically you dont have to. but to get the best results it is recommended.

Answer 6

White t-shirts need hot water to make them clean and bright

black clothing needs cold water to keep the colour dark

so, yes, they must be washed separately

Answer 7

Usually, so you can add bleach to the whites.

Dark colours are often not totally colour safe.

Light colours can be mixed, if you use colour-safe bleach.

Answer 8

Yes, separate the whites & colors.  After a few washes together, the whites will have a slightly dingy look.

Answer 9

I wash laundry for 6 people heck I dont seperate anything and I wash it all in cold water.  Never changed colors on anything.

Answer 10

i would seperate them. Especially if it's black. The dye in the shorts will turn your white T's greyish, and you will look like you washed something dark in with your whites.  :P

Answer 11

Whites in "hot" water, colors in "warm" water and darks in "cold" water.  Or if you don't have a big load of whites wash the colors and whites in warm water together with Clorox 2 and detergent. Darks only in cold water with detergent only.

Answer 12

You should. That is the cardinal rule of doing laundry. However if you use cold water you can wash items that are mixed in colors. But do not leave them in the washer, remove right away just in case the darks resting on the lights do cause some discoloration. This can happen and does. Polyester blends usually will not discharge any color nor do they absorb color....not usually at least. Most Cottons are notorious for bleeding colors. Cheap clothing also usually will bleed.

To set colors you have to soak them in white vinegar. In a bucket or the sink of warm water or cold add about 1 cup of white vinegar and add the clothing. Let set for about 30 min. Wring out and let dry. No the vinegar will not smell when left in the clothing. Towels, should be washed with the vinegar in the washer on a rinse cycle. I put about 2 cups in the washer to make sure I have enough with the load of colored towels. You only have to do this once. Then wash them separately just in case afterwards. Or do it twice then you should be ok.

New towels are always going to bleed some so it is a good rule of thumb to do this vinegar wash.

Answer 13

absolutely so the colors don't bleed through the other clothes.

Answer 14

Yes, unless you want your whites to pick up dyes from the colored clothing in your wash. Had an accident with a red top getting into my whites and had them come out PINK!!

Blacks would GRAY your whites.

Answer 15

Yes, if you want the whites to stay white. Also add bleach to the whites.

Use less soap for the blacks, and use cold water, or the blacks will fade. If you really want your blacks to stay black longer, air dry them.

Answer 16

dark clothes go in cold water

whites go in hot water

you cannot mix them or they will end up looking dingy.

Answer 17

Are you just washing these two things?, you can put them together, just DON'T use bleach and wash it in COLD WATER and you shuld be okay.

Answer 18

i dont, but i just do the simple cold water and however large the load and hit start. it wont hurt with just cold water, but it does depend if you use bleach. i just use tide the regular brand.

Answer 19

you dont have to, only if the laundry detergent you're using has bleach in it, or its the 1st time you're washing the white or colored shirt.

Answer 20

Well, let me put it this way. If the black shorts fade, your write stuff is going to turn a yucky grey.  

It is probably a good idea to sort colors by dark colors and light colors, plus keep anything white separate. Cold water will sometimes help prevent colored clothes from fading...but not always.

You can either do small loads of each, or wait until you have full loads of each...depending on how many clothes you have to wash. One thing I would like to mention though, is to ALWAYS wash new items alone the first time...just in case. Most articles of clothing have washing/drying directions on them and it is advisable to follow them, not only to prevent color transfer but also to extend the life of the item itself.

Answer 21

Whites will only turn colors if youre washing them with something that hasnt been washed at least a few times before. They wont turn totally gray but they will get dingy looking.

Answer 22

Yes it would be best to separate them.  If you wash them together your white tee with turn dingy .  It will not be a pure white as before.

Answer 23

~~Always wash your whites seperately if you want to keep them bright white. Color comes off in water so whites will pick it up and start looking dingy. It's worth the extra load to seperate, it's cheaper than ruining your clothes which costs so much!~~

Answer 24

Yes absolutl.... even if you accidently put a red sock in with the whites then the whites will turn pink because the colours have run

Hope this has helped

Rach

Answer 25

please seperate u'r whites.

and please tell me you ouse CLOROX for your white. not too much because it starts to eat your clothes up.

seperate them b/c the colored clothes will start to turn your whites gray or even PINK!

good luck

Answer 26

You should, especially if the darks haven't been washed before. Darks wash on cold & you should wash whites on hot. If you don't separate them, then wash it all on cold.

Answer 27

im gonna have to agree with liz.....i have a husband and three kids and i never seperate a thing because i dont have the time i have three kids under 6 all you have to do is use only cold water and it wont fade.....dont use warm water or you may get some fading.....the only time i ever do whites alone is when they are stained and need chlorox...hope this helps......by the way my method works well....my kids always look nice and tidy :]

Answer 28

I'm a widower and learned the hard way that you'd better separate whites from colors.  The way I do it now is to separate things into three piles 1) white stuff and nearly white stuff like off-whites; 2) darker colors and 3) black stuff.  I wash the white stuff in hot water with powered detergent, liquid bleach (not really bleach), borax and softner; the darker stuff with the same witches concoction but in cold water and the black stuff with liquid detergent, liquid bleach, a little borax and no softner (black stuff tends to get soapy stuff on it hence the liquid detergent).  Oh yeah, any new thing that hasn't been washed before you'd better be pretty careful with because some colors will stain every d**n thing in the load.  Use Shout color catchers when you're unsure.   Good luck.  I hate washing clothes.

Answer 29

Cha Yessss.You can wash and LIGHTS together only dont add bleach. But whites and darks should be washed separately because the dark clothes will bleed their dye in to the whites. Even if you dont wash the whites and darks together and you dry them together the darks clothes will leave dye stains on the whites.

Answer 30

Do you wnat to look clean?  Mom should have shown you this little laundry trick...seperating the colors, whites and how to wash them!  Crisp white shirts and dark black shorts can be happy united when worn, however, not when washed!  

Read the back of the laundry detergant!  Use some bleach   only on the whites and remember to read the back of the soap box!  :)

Answer 31

No not at all.  I always wash my colors with my whites.  I often wash bright red things with my whites.  Funny thing is, I don't have real white whites any more unless I buy new ones.  And after I wash them they turn colors too.  I always use super hot water too, and I even wash my dry cleaning, it's much cheaper.