I was arguing with my sister because she insisted we should never wash towels with clothing. I always wash everything together to save time, so I told her she was overthinking it. Sylvie just folded her arms and said, “You’re ruining your clothes. Towels are heavy, rough, and full of lint.” I brushed it off—until things started happening. First, my navy blouse came out of the wash covered in tiny white fuzzies.

Then my black leggings started pilling and looking worn out, even though they were fairly new. I tried to ignore it, but Sylvie’s warning replayed in my mind. The final straw came when I pulled out my favorite cream sweater… and it had shrunk so much it looked like it belonged to a teenager. That one hurt. When Sylvie walked in and saw me holding it, she didn’t even have to say a word.

That night, I finally looked it up. She was right: towels are abrasive, hold more water, and create heavy friction during the wash. That friction damages softer fabrics, causes pilling, fading, and lint everywhere. Basically, I’d been slowly wrecking my wardrobe to save a few minutes. So the next weekend, I changed my routine—towels in one load, clothes in another.

My clothes immediately started lasting longer and looked better. But the funny twist came later: Sylvie called me panicking because her washer wasn’t draining. Turns out, the filter was completely clogged… with towel lint. In the end, we both learned something. Sometimes saving time isn’t worth the damage. And sometimes being “right” isn’t as important as being open to learning.