Lights with lights, darks with darks. Everything else is negotiable, but let one red sock loose in a white load and you'll understand why this one isn't. Pull anything delicate into its own little pile while you're at it.
02
Read the tag
The tag inside the collar is the whole instruction manual, and almost nobody reads it. "Hand wash" and "lay flat to dry" are the difference between keeping a sweater and shrinking it into doll clothes.
03
Wash it cold
For almost everything you own, cold water is the answer. It keeps colors from bleeding and shapes from warping, and it is gentler and cheaper than hot. Save hot water for towels, sheets, and genuinely gross stuff.
04
Don't overload
Clothes need room to actually tumble and get clean. A machine crammed to the lid just shoves the same dirt in circles and hands it all back damp. Half to three-quarters full is the sweet spot.
05
Skip the dryer
High heat shrinks, fades, and pills your clothes, so the dryer quietly ruins most of them. Hang-dry anything you actually love and let the dryer keep the towels, socks, and the stuff you wouldn't mourn.
06
Dorm rules
Sharing machines with a whole floor is its own sport. Keep a mesh bag, the app or a stash of quarters, and never start a load at 7pm on a Sunday. Always set a timer, or you'll lose socks forever.
07
Find a rhythm
One load a week on the same day beats a frantic five-load marathon the night before you need everything clean. Pick a day, make it muscle memory, and you'll never run out again.