2. SEPARATE AND EVALUATE YOUR CLOTHES

Preparation is crucial in executing an effective wash. The most fundamental step to laundering clothes is to evaluate how many loads of laundry you will need to do and to separate your dirty clothes accordingly. The way to separate is by color. This is not racist, so don't send us angry letters. Why separate by color? Because the clothes with colors tend to bleed in the wash, and it'll make your whites dingy (or if you have red in the wash, pink). Mixing colors is the biggest screw-up that novice launderers make, so if you can manage to sort your clothes, you're already on the path to success.

The most basic and fool-proof formula to use for separating clothes is to sort into four distinct piles: whites, lights, darks, and delicates.

  • Whites: Think basic t-shirts, white socks and undies, sheets, pillowcases, and all the other plain white clothing or linens that you own.

  • Lights: These encompass everything from pastels to striped or patterned white garments. You really can't go wrong with the lights category: if an article of clothing is largely white but contains enough color (logos or writing) to make you doubt your sorting prowess, group it with the lights.

  • Darks: Dark socks, dark underwear (you sexy thang you!), and shirts, along with jeans and dark-colored pants. Sometimes, newly purchased dark clothing is too dark or strongly colored for the darks load of laundry. It is best to wash dark clothing separately and by hand before grouping it in the machine-washable category. To determine whether or not a garment is ready for the big-time in the laundry machine with the other clothes, fill your bathroom sink with water and soak the garment. Evaluate how severe the bleeding of the color is by checking the color of the water after soaking. If the garment has not bled significantly, you can machine-wash.

  • Delicates: Wool garments, sweaters, satin, or any luxurious or foreign fabrics. While most machines have a "delicate" cycle, these items are best washed by hand or dry-cleaned. To hand-wash clothing, simply fill your bathroom sink with a bottle-cap size amount of Woolite, soak the garments in the foam, rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water, and hang to dry. To dry clean, take the items to a dry cleaning establishment. Very intuitive.

Separating your clothes will protect the color of each garment as well as the durability. Should you mix darks and lights, the damage done cannot be eliminated in the next wash. The white t-shirt mixed accidentally with the red sweatshirt is, alas, pink for life.

When in doubt, look to the care labels inside your garments. Though many choose to ignore these friendly little warnings, phrases such as "Wash with like colors" may help you put things in perspective.

One last note: as you sort your clothes, be sure to make sure they're not inside out, that the pockets are empty (unless you want to wash a $20 bill), and that the zippers are closed (to prevent snagging).