Is It Okay To Wash Clothing And Towels Together? - House Digest (2024)

FAQs

Is It Okay To Wash Clothing And Towels Together? - House Digest? ›

To keep things as sanitary and germ-free as possible, avoid washing clothes and bath towels together in the same load of laundry. Towels also are best washed with different settings than some clothing items, so it's best to keep them separated to preserve both their qualities and textures.

Sanitizing your towels will require warmer water than what you might normally use—something that could be detrimental to your clothes. Washing your towels and clothes together risks damage to your clothes and potential bacteria transfer—so it's best to keep them separate!

Washing dish towels with regular laundry is okay, but you should follow the above guidelines to ensure they're clean and effective. Separating by color, using appropriate detergent, and avoiding fabric softeners are key steps in caring for your kitchen towels.

A. Generally, it is best not to mix the bathroom cleaning cloths with those used to clean food preparation surfaces or dishes. Bathroom cleaning cloths could carry a risk of contamination with fecal, skin-borne or other pathogens.

Wash heavier items, like towels, seperately from lighter weight clothes to prevent abrasion and damage to finer fabrics. For the same reason, separate clothing with zippers and buttons from knits and lingerie. If an item sheds lint, wash it seperately from microfiber, corduroy or other fabrics that attract lint.

Your light-colored clothes are perfectly safe to be washed together with your whites. That means light-blue, light-brown, pink, light-green, lavender, yellow, beige, cream, orange, fuchsia and other pastel shades can go into the same pile as your whites, light greys, and garments with white background prints.

Generally, warm or hot water is recommended for washing towels. Use a cycle specifically for towels or a normal/regular cycle. A sanitizing cycle can also be used, but may not be recommended for every wash, depending on the towel fabric.

Washing towels with clothes can transfer germs and bacteria between items in the wash. For sanitary reasons, you should always wash bath towels separately from clothing items. Putting towels in their own load also makes it easier to adjust the setting based on color.

Always wash clothes, towels, and sheets separately and follow the recommendations located on the tags of these items. Washing towels (and for that matter, sheets, and kitchen towels) with your clothes can expose your clothes to bacteria that has been absorbed into other items.

Heat wet sponges and dishcloths for 1 minute on the “high” cycle in a microwave. They will be very hot, so remove them with care. Soak sponges or dishcloths in water with chlorine bleach. Clean dishcloths and sponges every day to kill germs.

Is it okay to wash pillowcases and towels together? ›

Linens and towels should be washed separately for the following reasons: Material Weight: Different material thickness means sharing a wash cycle can cause damage! Different Material: Pilling can be prevented by washing with similar materials and textures.

If you primarily use the dish towel to dry your hands after washing dishes, it's most likely OK to wait the full five days before laundering. But if you're not sure, follow this motto: When in doubt, swap it out. Kitchen towels are known sources of bacteria, so it's important to wash them on a regular basis.

“We recommend washing your bath towels once a week at least,” Wu says. However, depending on the size of your bath linen collection, you may need to wash towels more often, as it is advised to use them no more than two to three times before laundering.

While there may be exceptions based on specific clothing and laundry, separating laundry is generally regarded as a best practice to optimize cleaning results and extend the life of your garments. These are the guidelines you should follow, according to the pros.

A simple rule of thumb to follow is to wash underwear and socks apart from the rest of your clothes, while soaking deep color and light color items separately.

To cut back on the amount of laundry you're doing, you might have considered washing your clothes in the same load as towels for a "get it all done at once" approach. But while washing clothes and towels together may save you time, it will not yield the best results—and can actually cause damage to your clothing.

Washing your towels with a detergent that cleans deep like Defunkify will result in a funk-free towel for future use - but please, don't share towels (aka bacteria breeding receptacles) with your family members between washes! Secondly, sharing towels can lead to skin problems.

You can actually pre-sort items to make life easier by using a handy sorting hamper, with compartments that allow you to separate items before wash day rolls around. Then, for best results and maximum color longevity, separate each pile into three smaller piles: white or light clothes, dark clothes, and colors.

Washing after every 3-4 uses is enough to keep them hygienic, according to our experts at the GHI. But, for towels used at the gym, we recommend washing after every use; not only are your gym towels covered in sweat, but they can also come into contact with lots of airborne bacteria.

Wash New Clothes Separately

If a tag warns to "wash separately before wearing," and with "like colors," the garment may transfer dye and bleed color. Even if the label doesn't specify, it's always a good idea to wash any new item separately in its first cycles.