When at home, I do laundry once a week. When at school, I make it stretch as long as possible, usually two weeks. No matter when or where I’m doing my laundry, though, I always do two loads- one hot and one cold. “Hots” is all sorts of underclothes, light-colored pajamas, pillowcases, and other light-colored articles of cloths or clothes. “Cold” consists of everything else: anything dark or red, clothes that shrink easily, and clothes that aren’t especially dirty. I don’t put everything in my colds load in the dryer either- because it usually has more delicate things that will shrink or not last as long if they are machine dried.
I know a lot of people, especially college students, who do all their laundry in one load to save money. But this can cause a lot of problems, the most obvious of which is the “pink sock problem” (the phenomenon that happens when you put anything red in a hot load, and everything else comes out a shade pinker than when it went in). It will also cause cotton clothes to shrink, and the hot water can be abrasive on more delicate cloth. Although you may save money on a single load of washing, you will ultimately be spending more money on new clothes when your old ones get ruined more quickly. You also run the risk of over-filling the washer which makes it so the spin cycle doesn’t work properly, and your clothes may not get fully wet, washed, or rinsed.
If you don’t believe me, I dare you to defy me. Go ahead and put all your clothes in one load, and watch them not get fully clean, and come out pink and too small.
