Should You Wash Jeans & Towels Together?

Sometimes, the endless laundry list of laundry rules can get exhausting. Color matching, hot vs. cold washes, spin cycles and delicate cycles — sometimes, it all jumbles together. So, here's a new one for you: Should you wash jeans and towels together? It might be a question that you've encountered many a time in your laundering career, or it might be a thought that's never once crossed your mind. Either way, the answer is no.

Why, you may ask? Well, as XOJane points out, it's actually for the benefit of both parties involved — your fluffy, most likely pale-shaded towels shouldn't mix with your coarsely-textured indigo-wash jeans, because the jeans can dull both the shades and the fluffiness. As for your jeans? Well, towels are known lint villains for a good reason.

When you think about it, laundry cycles are actually pretty rough and tumble, and the resulting friction can cause shorter lifespans for your clothing and towels, both in terms of texture and color. Plus, it's likely that you'll want to wash your bath towels on hot, for sanitary reasons — and washing jeans on hot is usually something of a no-no (unless you're trying to shrink them). With all that in mind, it's generally best to keep your jeans and your towels separated.

The Ask A Clean Person column on The Hairpin recommends washing towels with cotton materials and turning jeans "inside out to help protect the integrity of the color."

Of course, nothing too terrible will happen if jeans and towels mix, so if it's something you're accustomed to doing, there's not pressing need to change your routine — if it ain't broke, don't fix it! That said, keeping them separate (along with turning your jeans inside out and taking it easy on the fabric softener, as Good Housekeeping suggests) can help to protect the integrity of each item, ensuring that they will last longer. And we all want our expensive jeans and fluffy towels to live a long and happy life, right?

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