I’ve Been Writing About Cleaning for 5 Years, and This Is My No-Fail Laundry Routine

I started writing about cleaning in 2020, and one of my favorite parts of the job has been interviewing cleaning pros to find out their top tips. This is especially true of laundry hacks, because I have a total love-hate relationship with doing the laundry.

In my mind, laundry is the ultimate brainless chore. I can do it all on autopilot with my headphones on, but it’s also the chore that takes up most of my time. And I have to admit—it’s taken some time to perfect my routine.

Sort By Color

This isn’t something I learned from the pros—this is something my mom always did. I don’t simply sort my clothes into lights and darks; I sort by color.

I know, some people say sorting your laundry doesn’t matter, but the pros disagree! Plus, the detergents we prefer aren’t the most color-safe. We have some sensitive skin in our family, and when I’ve used the ones that promise they’ll keep colors in place, someone’s skin seems to react.

With this in mind, it’s much easier to sort everything into specific colors than it is to deal with dry or flaky skin. For me, this generally includes a load of the darkest colors like black, brown, and navy, as well as separates loads for white, cream, and off-white clothes.

Beyond that, I break our brighter clothes into one pile of red and pinks and another of greens and blues. Yellow and purple get sorted into either of these depending on their shade… and I know, it’s probably needlessly complicated. But look at it this way, if you have kids, it’s an excellent way to teach them the color wheel!

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Use a Color Catcher

As another part of my routine, I use something called a color catcher. It’s like a laundry sheet, but it’s meant specifically to catch any running dye and absorb it, which helps keep said dye out of your clothes.

I also learned early on that these sheets crumple easily and can get caught in the filter. After our first call-out to check our machine a few years ago, I now make sure to always slip the sheet into a mesh laundry bag to keep it in place.

Ditch the Fabric Softener

When I had my first baby—years before I started writing for The Spruce—I learned how bad fabric softener is for baby clothes, because it can make their clothes less flame retardant. At the same time, I learned it also makes towels less efficient.

This was an easy thing to give up, and I haven’t looked back since. Occasionally, I’ll toss in wool dryer balls to help soften things up, but it’s not a necessity and I often forget.

Use the Best Detergent for You

I’ll use liquid detergent in a pinch, but I have a confession: I love laundry pods. 

I like the fact that the pods are easier to store in my small laundry room than liquid detergent. And unlike sheets, they give me more of visual on how much detergent I’m adding to the load (one pod for a small load and two for a larger load).

Run Everything on Cold

For the most part, I run all our laundry on cold and never more than 86°F. 

The exception to this is anything that’s stained or extra dirty, which often applies to my kids’ school uniforms on certain sports days and for the brief period in time where they introduced taco Tuesdays.

Along with wool, I also wash all our knitwear on either the delicate or wool setting—except, again, for the kids’ school cardigans and sweater vests, which can handle a regular wash setting.

When in Doubt, Hang Dry

In the UK, it’s incredibly common to have a combination washer and dryer rather than two separate machines. It’s also weirdly common to have them in the kitchen, which—I’ll be honest—is kind of a nightmare.

To add to the headache, the dryer function in a combination machine rarely works well, so for most of our life abroad, I’ve been hang drying our clothes and wishing we were back in the one place that actually had separate machines.

Now, we finally live in a house that has its own small utility room, complete with two machines. It’s a dream! Except… I’ve noticed I still hang dry way more clothes than I probably need to. It preserves the color and quality, as well as the longevity, so it’s become a permanent habit.

Wash Your Machine Regularly

If you have a front-load washing machine, you know how annoying the odors can be. It’s obviously a common conundrum, because if you search for solutions, pages worth of results come up.

I’ve tried all the hacks, tricks, and cleaning solutions, but the most effective? Do one empty cycle on 195°F once a month. It’s the thing that most keeps our washer odor-free, and cuts down on any build-up in the sealing lip around the door.