Sorting, by fibre before colour
Everyone sorts lights from darks. Sorting by fabric weight matters more: a towel in with a blouse is an abrasive in with a delicate, and the blouse loses.
Weight first
Heavy cotton, denim and towels in one load. Shirts, blouses and fine knits in another. Abrasion between a rough fabric and a fine one is what produces pilling, thinning and the small pulls that age a garment faster than any number of washes.
Colour, properly
New dark dye bleeds for the first few washes, so wash new darks alone the first time. Whites go grey from picking up loose dye and from detergent residue, not from age. Reds and indigos are the usual culprits.
Inside out for anything dyed
Fading happens on the surface that rubs against the drum and against everything else. Turning darks, denim and printed cotton inside out puts the abrasion on the inside face, and it costs nothing.
Bags for the fragile
Bras, tights, anything with a hook, and loose knits go in a mesh bag. A hook finds lace with unerring accuracy, and a bag is the whole solution.
Close and open the right things
Zips closed, so the teeth do not saw at everything else. Buttons open, because a fastened button puts all the strain on its thread and its buttonhole through the whole spin.
