How can I keep pet hair from spreading across clothing in the laundry?

Start before the washer: identify items with the most visible hair and brush off as much loose hair as you can. LG recommends brushing hair off fabrics before washing, following garment care labels, and separating lint producers from lint collectors. It gives terry towels and knit sweaters as examples of those two groups [S1]. For your laundry, treat heavily hair-covered items as their own load when practical, rather than mixing them with clothing you know attracts lint.

Check the care label for every item and follow your washer’s loading instructions. These steps can reduce opportunities for loose hair to spread, but they cannot guarantee that all hair will be removed.

Separate by what the fabrics do, as well as by color or garment-care needs. LG describes knit sweaters as lint collectors and terry towels as lint producers, and advises against mixing producers with collectors because lint can transfer [S1]. As a practical starting point, put the pet-covered sweatshirt with similar hair-heavy items and keep it away from the sweater. Wash towels separately from lint-collecting clothing where possible.

That grouping is a planning suggestion, not a claim that every sweatshirt behaves the same way. Check labels first; if an item has special washing instructions, let those guide whether it can join a particular load.

Brush loose hair from the fabric before washing. You can also consider a dryer cycle, but only when the garment’s care label and the dryer’s owner’s manual permit it. GE suggests a 10-minute, no-heat Air Fluff cycle for pet-hair-covered items before washing, saying it can remove much of the hair and loosen what remains [S2]. That is a general laundry tip; it does not establish that every garment can tolerate a dryer cycle or that the cycle will remove all hair.

If you use that option, consult the dryer manual for guidance on cleaning the drum afterward. If the care label says not to tumble-dry, skip the dryer step and use label-compatible preparation instead.

Assuming the sweatshirts’ labels permit the same wash conditions and the sweater can be washed separately according to its own label, use this plan:

1. Check all three care labels and the washer’s instructions.
2. Brush loose hair off both sweatshirts before loading.
3. Keep the sweater out of the hair-heavy load; it may collect lint, and LG identifies knit sweaters as an example of a lint collector [S1].
4. Wash the sweatshirts together only if their care instructions are compatible. Otherwise, split them into suitable loads.
5. If considering the no-heat dryer step, use it only when both garment and dryer instructions allow it; GE suggests 10 minutes of Air Fluff [S2].
6. After washing, check the garments. If hair remains, adjust the sorting and preparation next time rather than assuming one method will eliminate it.

The cited guidance supports brushing, separating lint producers and collectors, and GE’s specific dryer suggestion. It does not establish a guaranteed result for pet hair on every fabric.