You’ve got a mountain of laundry, one hour before dinner plans, and exactly one load to spare. The question: do your towels and your T-shirts play nice in the same cycle, or are you about to turn your favorite tee into lint-covered collateral damage?
The short answer? You can wash towels with clothes. But it depends on a few key factors, like fabric type, color, soil level, and your hygiene standards.
We’ll break down when it’s okay to toss towels and clothes together, when to keep them far apart, and how to get the best-smelling load of laundry without ruining anything in the process.
Can You Wash Towels with Clothes?
Technically, you can wash towels and clothes together. But it’s generally best to wash them separately to avoid lint transfer, fabric damage, and hygiene issues.
Towels are bulky, they trap lint, and they soak up detergent and water like a sponge. That makes them a not-so-ideal roommate for your everyday clothes. Still, there are a few scenarios where it’s fine to combine forces:
- Both items are made of similar fabrics (like cotton tees and cotton towels)
- Everything’s in the same color family (dark towels with dark clothes, lights with lights)
- Nothing is super delicate or extremely dirty
- You’re not washing anything that belonged to a sick person
And when should you absolutely not mix them?
- You’re washing delicates, synthetics, or anything you like too much to risk
- You just bought new, brightly colored towels
- You’re washing beach towels that are sandy and sweaty
- Someone in the house is sick, and you don’t feel like sharing that energy
Why Towels Should Be Washed Separately
Towels aren’t team players. They’re bulky and generally require more water, more detergent, and more time to dry. When you wash them with lighter items like t-shirts, leggings, or underwear, a few things can happen:
- Lint transfer: Your clothes will come out with a layer of fuzz.
- Poor rinsing: Towels soak up a ton of water and laundry detergent, which means your clothes might not get fully rinsed if the washer’s overloaded.
- Drying drama: Towels take longer to dry than clothes. When you dry them together, you either overdry your clothes (hello, shrinkage) or under-dry your towels (cue mildew).
When It’s Fine to Wash Towels and Clothes Together
If you’re short on time (or patience), there are a few situations where it’s fine to combine towels and clothes. Here’s when it won’t lead to laundry chaos:
- You’re washing durable items: Think sweatpants, T-shirts, and socks that can handle warm water and a standard wash cycle.
- Everything’s dark or everything’s light: Mixing a white tee with a burgundy towel? Don’t. But dark towels with dark clothes? Go for it.
- You’re using a mesh bag for smaller items: Toss your underwear or lightweight tees in a mesh laundry bag to keep them from getting tangled up in towel corners.
- Towels are already broken-in: Older towels that don’t shed lint or bleed color are way safer to mix with clothes.
When to Absolutely Keep Towels and Clothes Separate
Here are some non-negotiables when it comes to towel separation:
- Washing delicates or synthetics: That lace bralette or silky top doesn’t want to hang out with your gym towel.
- You just bought new towels: The colors will bleed, and your pale pink hoodie will eventually turn “dusty rose.”
- Post-illness laundry: Towels can hang on to bacteria and viruses longer than you’d like to think. Keep them separate if someone’s been sick.
- Towels are really dirty: Mud, sweat, sunscreen, self-tanner—whatever’s on your towel, it doesn’t need to party with your clothes.
4 Tips for Washing Towels and Clothes Together (If You Must)
If you’re determined to make the towels-meet-clothes situation happen, here’s how to do it right:
- 1. Wash in lukewarm water: It helps kill bacteria without being too harsh on most fabrics. Just make sure your clothes can handle it—check the care tags.
- 2. Don’t overload the washer: Towels are heavy when wet. Overstuffing the drum means poor rinsing and uneven cleaning. Leave space for water to do its job.
- 3. Use an enzyme-based laundry pod: Laundry Sauce pods are made to break down stains, neutralize odor, and keep both towels and clothes fresh—without needing extra products. (Skip the fabric softener on towels, seriously.)
- 4. Dry separately: Towels need more time and heat to dry. Separating your load before hitting the dryer will help everything dry evenly and avoid cooking your cotton tee into a crop top.
Towel or Tee, Make It Smell Irresistible
We’re not here to judge how you sort your laundry. But we will judge you for using a generic detergent that smells like sadness and regret.
Whether you’re throwing towels and clothes into one mega-load or separating them with surgical precision, Laundry Sauce makes sure everything comes out smelling next-level. We’re talking about the elegant vibrance of Italian Bergamot and the juicy heat of our newest fragrance, Mojave Peach—not whatever “Spring Breeze” was supposed to be.
Wash what you want. Just don’t wash it in boring.
