Laundry Pros Say It’s Time to End This Outdated Washer Rule – You’ll Save Time and Money with This Simple Switch

A resentment for laundry day is an almost universal feeling. It's a never-ending, time-consuming, and tiresome chore that we simply cannot skip.

But with all the modern features on washers, how essential is separating garments by lights, colors, and darks? According to laundry experts on this National Laundry Day, (April 15), this is an outdated rule you should stop doing right now.

Saying goodbye to this archaic practice won't magically do your laundry for you. But it will make the process far quicker and easier.

Why Experts Say It's Time to Stop Separating Your Laundry by Color

If you hate sorting clothes for laundry, you'll be delighted to know that, according to Stacee Parker, a leading laundry pro for Poplin, doing so is actually an outdated laundry rule you can break.

'It's the never-ending dread that laundry instills in most people that causes the stress, so the key is to stay on top of it and manage it – before it becomes a daunting task,' she says.

The easiest way to do this? 'Stop stressing about sorting,' she advises. 'Most modern detergents and cool-water cycles can handle mixed loads just fine. Ditch the darks and lights and keep it simple!'

A recent study Poplin conducted of 600 Americans over 25 years old found that 54 per cent of Americans consider laundry to be one of their top stressors or annoyances.

More than 40 per cent of people indicated that doing laundry or the thought of doing laundry makes them anxious or unhappy, with 21 per cent of respondents saying that if they could never do one chore again, it would be laundry, with only toilet scrubbing receiving marginally more votes.

It's so maligned as a household chore that over half of those surveyed said they would happily pay $10 per week to never do laundry again.

Head of Solved, Punteha van Terheyden, has been mixing her laundry for years. She says, 'The only time I wash anything separately is very pigmented red, blue, or purple clothes, or jeans, for the first few washes after purchasing. After that, they go straight in with whichever low-heat load I'm running. I've never had an accidental pink or gray sock.'

So this National Laundry Day, forget about sorting for a laundry hack to save you both time and stress. It's a surefire way to make laundry easier, and it won't cost you a penny to adopt. It will also save you money on energy bills as you can combine washing and drying sessions instead of needing up to three separate loads.

What to Shop

Whether you're ready to take the plunge on mixing your laundry loads or are a staunch sorter, the right products and accessories guarantee a perfect result. Below, you can shop my edit of the essentials that have been recommended to me by laundry experts time and time again.

All prices were correct at the time of publication.

Meet the Expert

Stacee Parker

Stacee is a Laundry Professional with Poplin, the nation's only coast-to-coast laundry service. As one of the top Laundry Pros on the Poplin platform, Stacee has completed thousands of pounds of laundry and earns a living by washing, drying, and delivering clean laundry to families that want to offload the chore. She has decades of laundry experience. 

So now you know – forgetting about sorting is an easy way to do less laundry.