Mixing loads for drying: Yes or no?

[henene4]

With the Haier thread in mind, a question came up in my head:

Lots of people on this site have 2 or more washers.
My family does have 2 as well. We are a verry mixed line or dryer family. Half goes dryer, half line. So having only 1 dryer is usually fine.

But even so, I tend to mix loads for the dryer. If I have for example white and colored beddings to do, but both are only partial loads, I just dry them in one go. I doubt there ever will be color transfer in a dryer.

So, basicly, as long as the load is not to big and there are only like fabrics in one load (for example, T-Shirts and sheets or jeans and thick towels), I go ahead and mix and match loads.

What's your take on this? Mix and match partial loads or absolute load seperation?

Waiting for your answers
Henrik

 

[liamy1]

Really does depend, if I am certain that there will be no colour run and the occasion arises where I can do a mix load, then I will.

However, sometimes no, for example white tshirt and dark blue jeans - never.

 

[launderess]

Do not machine dry jeans, shirts, blouses, etc.. They are lined dried and or left for ironing.

Where possible try to keep up on laundry so to have a full cottons load and whatever is in , goes. Long as they are white/colorfast and can withstand 40c to 60c (or even 95c) they all are done together. Since am using either Persil or a good dose of oxygen bleach that's me for you.

Dress shirts, blouses, table and bed linens are done in separate loads as they are processed differently.

Drying wise find both the WP compact and AEG Lavamat are fine with such "mixed" loads. May have to open the door of either towards the end of drying time to take out what is done, but again that is small beer.

When haven't been on top of laundry and there is > 4kg of each, things are separated. Bath towels, wash mitts and white socks in one load, everything else white in an other. Beauty of this is with the Miele can save some energy by starting with hot tap water and boosting to 40c, 50c or even 95c without causing problems. Unlike the AEG the Miele has "cycle guarantee" which means the wash time is constant regardless of how fast the machine reaches temp. On the AEG (cold fill)if incoming water is warmer than programmed and thus machine reaches temperature sooner than it should, it minuses out that time from the wash cycle

 

[mrboilwash]

Considering the blueish hue on my dryer`s plastic screen left from blue jeans I would say color transfer in the dryer is quite a possible occurrence.

I usually don`t mix different wash loads in the dryer, but I have to admit I`m not that fussy about mixing colors and whites in the wash right before it goes in the dryer. The thing is I own only very few whites and most of my colored things have been colorfast after a few washings. So when I have only one or two (older) white items I just toss them into a colored wash load.

 

[moparwash]

I put the towels,jeans and heavy items in one dryer and lighter fabrics in the other...if there is a fitted sheet, it goes in its own dryer so it doesnt eat the other clothes

 

[iheartmaytag]

Besides color transfer

be aware when mixing loads for:

 

Lint givers/Lint attractors. 

Lighter fabrics that can over dry before heavier fabrics are just damp.

 

 

[panthera]

Not always

Blue jeans transfer color.

Polyester sheds (obviously not talking about anything I wear, I loath synthetics).

Everything thing else goes into the dryer together and comes out just fine.

 

[vacerator]

Yes, I find

that newer, or lower quality garments bleed or transfer color. Also make more lint along with newer towels.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Drying

I do not currently have a clothing line, however that is something I am looking into this summer to save some money. Currently, all of our loads are separated by the washing temperature. Darker items are washed in cold water and dried on low. The lighter the fabric color, the higher the temperatures. This is not true for colored socks and underwear, which is washed in hot and high heat regardless. There is no color transfer from what I can see. My Kenmore dryer pulls quite a bit of air through it, so there isn't much lint transfer. The Duet spins quickly enough that thicker items dry much faster than in my old washers. Normally we do not have any issues with mixing fabrics in the dryer. There might be a stray pocket that is slightly damp at the end of the cycle, but that really is it.

 

[appnut]

Me?  Never.  What comprises a washer load, large or small, is a dryer load due to its unique characteristics. 

 

[appnut]

Me?  Never.  What comprises a washer load, large or small, is a dryer load due to its unique characteristics. 

 

[ilovewindex]

If it goes in the Washer it goes in the Dryer

 

[murando531]

Typically, because my washer handles so much, whatever is a load in the wash is a full to the brim load in the dryer for this 7.6cuft Kenpool machine. I've actually begun splitting up loads of towels because a full wash load will end up being fluffed to the tip top of the dryer drum once dry, which makes for longer dry times and more lint transfer/less lint removal. Usually the nice towels dry separately because they lint very little, followed by the rest which are gym towels, dish cloths and towels, etc. because they lint more, and the extra tumbling room helps to alleviate that problem.

For the most part, I hold off until I have a full wash basket for each grouping of laundry; up to the top row of holes or the bottom of the basket ring loosely piled, so normally I never have reason to mix in the dryer, but now and then I'll wash what I have of the darks, then of the light colors, and that will be one load in the dryer mixed since there's not a risk of color transfer or lint givers and takers. I could not, however, bring myself to put jeans and towels or a similar combination in the dryer together. My OCD couldn't take it, ha! My dad used to cram towels, darks, whites, jeans, you name it, all in the same load to wash and dry, so of course black socks and pants would have white lint, whites would have black lint, and there would usually be something that bled enough to turn a few white socks or underwear a slight tinge of pink. How I survived in that household, I do not know. That's why by age 13-14 I was the "mother" of the house, being the primary caretaker of the home doing all laundry, dishes, cleaning, yard work, and plenty more, and forbidding my parents from touching any of it if they weren't going to at least do it right. Back in those days, it was either live in a filthy home and have clothes that smelled of mildew, or take it all in my own hands.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

HA!

Andrew, Im glad im not the only one! After my parents' divorce I stepped up to do all the laundry. I have probably been doing all the laundry for 12 years. Now, I just need my brother to start stepping in..

 

[vacerator]

OCD has many

gradients. My step daughter has it with room oderizers, food expire dates, and over sanitizing her house.
I knew of one guy who was a cutter on him self.
Is hoarding a form of it?
When I was a kid, I would count all of my Halloween candy, and if any was missing when I got home from school that afternoon, I knew my little brother and sister had been in it.

 

[aquacycle]

I never tumble dry jeans, t-shirts or jumpers. The only thing that goes in our dryer are work shirts & trousers, pj's, underwear bedsheets and towels.

I prefer to line dry where possible, but when the weather is wet outside, I usually get 1 mixed drying load out of 3 clothes washes - the rest goes on the airer.

The only thing that I always put in the dryer are towels. I don't use fabric softener on towels and if I line dry them, they go like cardboard.