When it comes to laundry, most people know to separate light and dark clothes to prevent color bleeding. However, there's another rule that many are unaware of: Color separation is also required during the drying stage. This step is important to keep your clothes clean. Not only is it a bad idea to overload the dryer after doing a separate load in the washing machine, potentially overfilling it, but there are other risks when mixing clothes.
The main risk of drying clothes together is the transfer of colors and lint fibers. Dark items can transfer color onto light clothes and leave fibers that may make white clothes appear dirty, as these fibers are often difficult to remove. It’s important to note that these lint fibers can travel in both directions—from dark to light and vice versa.
Instead, clothes should be dried by fabric type as recommended. Remember: Anything in deep blue, black, red, brown, or dark gray is considered dark. Light-colored clothes such as pastels, cream, beige, and light gray should go into the white pile. Mid-tone items—like purple, pink, orange, light blues, and light greens—should go into the colored pile for safety, or alternatively, you can make a separate pile for them.
The recommendation is to get used to doing small, frequent loads, rather than trying to cram everything into one load. One of the best tips for daily laundry instead of once a week or every two weeks is to place separate laundry baskets in bedrooms, the bathroom, and the laundry room. This helps create separation between fabric types and serves as a reminder that you can wash one pile at a time, with color separation, of course.