To wonder why other people's homes don't have huge washing piles?

[Fairynufff]

Do you remember the pictures in Ruplestiltskin of the rooms filled with straw? Well my house looks like that - but with washing instead of straw. I feel like it's a full time job just managing it, and I don't even iron!

No one else I know seems to have the same problem. They all have lives, spend time with their kids and have full time jobs? What do they do with it all? What secret to they know that I don't?

[BadgersArse]

put a load in overnight
take out put in dryer
take out of dryer fold on bed
make kids put away

[proverbial]

We hide it. Or seperate it into a hundred different laundry baskets so it looks much smaller.
Or even throw clothes out rather than add them to the washing piles, citing them as "worn out".

Not that I'd know, obviously.

[BadgersArse]

you just have to bite hte bullet and do two loads a day

[GossipMonger]

That would make me ill!

I have 2 airers in the bath and a small rack in the airing cupboard.

I do a wash when I have enough for a load and then bedding when I change the beds.

Did a white wash last night and put it out today. Just done a dark wash and will put out later. Just got 2 quilt covers to wash now.

I do reuse clothes though and dont wash everything just because it has been worn. Boys get new tshirts and underwear daily but jeans and jumpers get used until dirty.

[hereidrawtheline]

I do two loads a day if the weather is good - I dont have a dryer anymore after mine caught light in the hallway outside DS's old bedroom (moved house since)

When it is rainy and the heating isnt on it does build up but I get it washed & ready to go as soon as its sunny.

Putting away I hate and that is officially DH's job.

[Morloth]

I have washing piles, dining room table is currently stacked with clean, folded washing that I am just too lazy to put away.

I miss my house in Oz where I have a laundry and can toss it all in there and close the door.

[shonaspurtle]

You have to put it away as soon as it's dry (if not ironing). If I do this religiously all is well.

If not, even one tiny pile attracts others and causes a clothes explosion. And then dh tries to get something from the bottom of the pile and everything ends up on the floor.

[Fairynufff]

I could do five loads a day! It's not the 'washing' per se - that's the easy bit. It's the aftermath...I could spend my entire life folding and putting away. My DS uses some of it as furniture - he and his friends sit on it all to play xbox!

[paranoidmother]

Fairynuff I have 6 loads of washing waiting to go in the machine at the moment and just hung up 2 loads. We always have lots of washing around the house. In the last 5 years since having kids I've never managed to have an empty washing basket - my aim for the hols is to manage it once in the next 6 weeks.

I have 2 standing airers, 1 heated airer from lakeland and 1 hanging airer over the kitchen sink. I also have 3 washing lines outside and an hoping to put up another 2 this weekend.

[redskyatnight]

Put load in washing machine to run overnight (while making evening cup of tea).
Put washing to dry first thing
Put in extra load at same time if required
Go to work
As soon as you get home, put 2nd load to dry
At end of day play "hunt your own things" with the DC and get them to put them away

also, wear clothes for longer. Don't insist they are washed just because you've worn them once for an hour (unless you are my DD and it is no longer possible to see the colour of the original fabric)

[Geepers]

I wash everything, every day.

I have a seperate laundry room.

I tumble dry everything.

And I don't iron.

I don't seperate washing, it all goes in together at 40 degrees.

So basically, it goes from body, to washing machine, to tumble drier, folded and put away every day.

[pagwatch]

It is the sports stuff that gets me. DS1 plays sports most day ( cricket, rugby, fitness trainning. Dh works out four times a week and then cricet at the weekend.
Plus DS2 changes his clothes all the time and leaves them for me to find and DD just occasionally does a costume change like some extra from Dynasty.

I do two to three loads a day and when it piles up I just leave neat stacks in various less- used rooms. The basement is particularly handy.

[Blackduck]

we hid them

[BadgersArse]

yy agree with paggy

BUT YOU JUST HAVE TO GET ON WITH IT

also check what the kids deem to be "dirty"

[Tortington]

my children leave their stuff strewn on the floor

it means that only a few things are ever in my washing basket

voila!

[BadgersArse]

i do at least two a day
diffo spin speeds and temp

haev a " delicates" on atm, jeans go on at 1200, towels at 1400 poly cotons on 800

[ThingOne]

Do you have piles of dirty washing or of clean washing?

I fold up the stuff as I take it off the line/rack. It goes straight from the rack to the cupboards. If I'm really pushed for time, I deliver the pile of clean clothes to the outside of the cupboard and put them away later. If I'm really, really pushed for time, I leave it on the rack.

I usually put the dry stuff away while the children are in the bath or are getting dressed in the morning, so I can supervise that at the same time as doing something useful.

[Noonki]

fairynuff - how many DCs do you have?

We have three and DH wears work clothes that have to be washed daily. so had loads

then I realised that as DCs don't smell of much their clothes can be re-worn a few days in a row if not filthy. I get them undressed in the bathroom, and any tops/trousers get spot washed while they have their bath.

I often re-wear clothes if they are clean

It has reduced my washing by a third at least.

And a wash a day is essential.

ps ironing is a waste of time, hang it out right and never iron!

[BadgersArse]

yes thats a good tip - I used to fold at bathtime

[sayithowitis]

Me too fairynuff! We just never seem to get the time to iron everything in one go! I wait until I have a machine load full of whites/darks/reds/whatever but then often find I have several loads ready to wash at the same time. There is no way of getting it all ironed in one go so however we plan it, there is always ironing waiting to be done! (and that is even though DH irons almost daily for me!) He tends to do clothes and I do household things like sheets etc.

[Overmydeadbody]

All my washing id hidden in a big washing bag that goes behind the huge armchair cleverly positioned in the corner of my bedroom.

All my ironing is cleverly hidden in a big pile at the bottom of my large wardrobe.

It is just clever hiding

[GeorgeTheSlitheen]

Its not washing that's the problem it's ironing !

the cupboard under my stairs is so full of it i have to lean on the door to close it

[elvislives]

I have too many kids, a full time job and washing everywhere. It really gets me down. I don't actually mind the washing bit, or even the putting on the line, but bringing it in it's rarely completely dry so it goes in the airing cupboard. Where it stays. Sorting and putting away is the bit I loathe. I give piles of clothes to each DS and DH. They throw them on the floor and mix them with their dirty clothes. Eventually they "tidy up" by just chucking it in the wash again

[stressed2007]

what's a heated airer? I want one.

[sayithowitis]

I iron everything after a nasty experience with a wasp in a sock that had been brought in from the line and just folded and put away! I try not to tumble dry in summer, but do in winter. I find I iron tumble dried things less often because I can fold them whilst warm and they don't crease. ( also no wasps in the tumble drier)