Sorting by fabric type and not only by colour

Short answer: Sort by how hard the fabric is as well, and not only by colour. Bamboo viscose washed together with zips and denim gets pilling and snagged threads. Here is a simple way to sort that suits most households.

Why colour is not enough

Two garments can both be navy and still ruin each other. Colour tells you something about how much can run, but not about how hard the fabric is. That is why sorting by colour is not enough if you want to look after soft clothes and avoid pilling and snagged threads.

Rivets and zips

A pair of jeans with rivets in the drum together with a soft t-shirt scrapes up the surface throughout the wash. Zips work the same way, and they can catch in the knit. Bamboo viscose is soft and soon shows marks from hard parts when they rub against it for many minutes.

How to sort better

Put soft knits in one pile and hard, heavy things in another. It is a simple split that is easier to remember than a long list, and it suits most of the clothes found in an ordinary household. Start by looking at what has hard parts and what does not.

Soft knits

Put t-shirts, underwear and sleepwear together. These are clothes with a soft surface that do not scratch each other, and they stay nice when they are not rubbed against anything hard. If you wash them together, the whole wash is spared the hard parts. See bamboo underwear for women.

Hard and heavy

Put jeans, workwear and anything with zips or rivets in a pile of its own. These are clothes that are hard on the other garments, and they should not go in the drum together with the soft ones. With a pile of their own, you can wash them without worrying about the delicate things or the pilling.

The exception that works

Towels may be washed together with bedding. Both are smoothly woven without hard parts, so they do not rub each other up. It is an exception that saves you an extra wash and costs nothing in quality. See bamboo towels and bamboo bedding.

Socks and t-shirts

Socks can be washed together with t-shirts, because they are the same fabric type. The socks are just dirtier, but that does not change the fact that they belong with the soft things in the same wash. You do not need an extra pile for them, and you save time and a half empty machine.

Velcro

Close the velcro, or put the garment in a bag. Velcro tears at everything, soft and hard alike, and it leaves snagged threads and pilling. It is a small thing that is easily forgotten, but it makes a big difference to the rest of the wash and is easy to fix.

Are three piles enough

Yes: light, dark and hard. That covers most households, and it is a split you can keep up in daily life without making a big fuss about it. If you have only a few items in one pile, wait to wash until there is enough to fill the machine.