Do you want a full laundry load for your washing machine and wondering if you can wash towels and sheets together? After all, it’s common knowledge that mixing laundry items could save energy and money and probably spare you the time to launder two or more loads. Undoubtedly, you know how to wash clothes, and it’s easy to toss both towels and sheets into a washing machine. However, whether you should do so is an entirely different issue.
To help you figure out how to wash clothes and whether you can wash towels and sheets together, we have created a comprehensive guide for you. Learn more about the benefits and downsides of mixed loads and laundry room ideas from our laundry experts who know how to wash clothes.
Learn how to wash clothes
Selecting laundry loads
Many Canadians will tell you that you can’t wash sheets and towels together. The internet is also full of guides on how to wash clothes and reasons you shouldn’t wash sheets and towels together. In the ideal world, many laundry services providers and experts believe that you should wash them separately.
However, unless you have ivory-white bedsheets and navy blue towels, then washing your towels and sheets at the time will do no considerable harm. In fact, the environment will thank you for your lesser laundry carbon footprint.
Remember, sorting your sheets and towels before washing can help keep them from bleeding (if you have colored towels or sheets) and fading during the wash and dry cycles. Group colors together – try to wash all pastels together, then separate the oranges, reds, and yellows from green, purple, or blue items with dark hues. In case your bright sheets and towels are new, consider washing them separately for the first couple of washes to ensure they don’t bleed dye (if they’re colored) onto the older ones.
Sorting your towels and sheets by color is an important step on how to wash clothes and can help keep them looking vibrant. Also, sorting them by weight and fabric type is equally important. Note that you can avoid damaging fibers by grouping all fabrics of similar weight together. Remember, your sheets and towels may require a long, hot wash cycle to get cleaned thoroughly.
Washing towels and sheets together.
The desire to fill your washing machine is reason enough to put different laundry items together. So, if there are not enough sheets or towels for a full laundry load, then you can put them together. However, you must ensure they are compatible in a single wash load and that the load doesn’t become too large for the machine. Washing towels and sheets together make for greater efficiency in terms of electricity, water, and more.
Unfortunately, mixing towels and sheets in a single laundry cycle is likely to cause more trouble than benefits. Here are the reasons you should not wash sheets and towels together and learn how to wash clothes.
Towels and sheets don’t weigh the same.
Generally, sheets are made of light fabrics like cotton, linen, silk, or synthetic. The most popular material is percale – a plain weave of pure cotton or cotton-polyester blend. On the other hand, towels are often used to absorb moisture, which is why they are made of sturdier and highly absorbent materials.
During a wash cycle, a washing machine tosses the laundry load. That means washing your towels and sheets together risks the chances of getting your sheets torn. The difference in towel and sheet weight requires varying washing and drying time. Remember, sheets are soft and made of delicate materials. So, you can wash and dry sheets for a short period.
Towels require a longer wash and dry cycle since they’re made of sturdy and thick materials. This, you can avoid over-drying or under-drying by drying sheets and towels separately.
Towels often produce excess lint.
Most towels are made of terry cloth which produces lint. If you don’t separate towels from sheets and other laundry items, you risk having lint on them. Note that lint from the towels can cling onto sheets when you wash these items together in a washing machine. Just think about taking out your dried sheets and the disappointment of finding all the lint on them.
Towels may get trapped inside the sheets.
Sometimes, clothes can get balled up inside sheets during a wash cycle. For example, fitted sheets usually have garters on all corners that help get them fitted on the bed. Unfortunately, this design is the reason other garments sometimes ball up inside fitted sheets. The towels and other clothes stuck on the sheets may not get washed properly and fail to dry properly.
Final thoughts
Now that you know how to wash clothes, it is best to avoid washing sheets and towels together in a single wash cycle when you do laundry. This is because washing them together could lead to poor wash results. Towels and sheets have different weights are they’re not made of similar materials. So, they need varying washing and drying cycle. If you need linen and towel washing services, find a laundry service provider who knows how to wash clothes properly.
