Crossword Genius

Cover faults in laundry, not including the coloureds (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

whitewash

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cover' is the definition.
(whitewashing is a kind of covering)

'faults in laundry not including the coloureds' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'laundry' could be 'wash' (synonyms) and 'wash' is found within the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for whitewash that I've seen before include "overwhelming defeat" , "Substance applied to a wall - total defeat" , "Lime solution; cover up" , "Attempt to conceal bad news" , "Cover up - wall coating" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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