What is folding laundry?

[idlevice]

I occasionally see or hear reference to the term "folding laundry", as in a woman at mothers' group saying she's got three baskets of laundry to fold when she gets home, & I just don't know what it means

When I have dry washing, some goes in the ironing mountain pile & the rest is put away - some of that folded like sheets & towels due to how they are stored. Am I missing out a crucial step?

[notso]

When I am being very good and organised I fold my laundry as soon as it comes of the liner or out of the drier, this reduces the need for ironing vastly.
I tend to come unstuck with the putting away. Someone, usually DD or DH needs something out of the pile, pulls it out, knocks the pile over and shoves it into the basket.

Some people I think don't iron at all just fold and put away.

[notso]

My laundry does not come out of a liner! It comes off the line.

[PaintedToenails]

When my laundry comes off the line/out of the dryer, it generally gets screwed folded up into a slightly smaller shape and shoved into a washing basket, to be dumped put away in the relevant place when I eventually get round to taking it upstairs. Do some people fling it all in the basket and leave it for a round of concentrated folding at a later date? Does this save/waste time or does it all work out the same? Has this been addressed properly? Do we need to lobby for some sort of Time and Motion study to be undertaken with full backing from a scientific grant?

[Cappster]

Does it mean 'sort it out'?

I thought it just meant 'sort it out'

[Sarsaparilllla]

I fold as it comes off the airer, I guess if you pull it all off the airer and dump it in a basket it'd then need folding (which seems to be creating you an unneccesary job ) or I guess if you tumble dry everything then it'd need folding when it came out :)

[ChuckYouFarlie]

It means sorting it out and putting it away. Don't you have multiple people in your house, each of whom has separate clothes storage? A more painful job I think than just putting it out on the line to dry.

[caughtinanet]

Does it mean putting it away?

For me its when I get if from the line and fold so that the ironing mountain is slightly less likely to topple over than if I just tipped a basketful onto the top.

I do think it saves time when you iron as the stuff is less creased before you start but I don't do it 100% of the time, sometimes I just can't be bothered but wish I did when I look at the mountain the next time

[BlackandGold]

When I get my washing in from the line (or out of the tumble dryer) I take it upstairs and tip it out onto the bed. I then fold it all in a neat pile and put it in the airing cupboard before it gets forgotten aboutironed when convenient.

[StealthPolarBear]

"I fold as it comes off the airer, I guess if you pull it all off the airer and dump it in a basket it'd then need folding (which seems to be creating you an unneccesary job )"

Well I am usually gettting stuff off the airer with about 5 mins to spare to put the next lot on. I need the airer space, so it just gets shoved in a basket

[doggiesayswoof]

I don't iron. I fold as I'm taking it off the line or the clothes horse. I'm guessing your woman pulled it all out of the drier and stuffed it in a basket x 3, to be folded at a later date - a dangerous manoeuvre because it then hangs over you and you find yourself telling strangers about it

[SayItLoud]

What a weird question. If you take your washing off the line or out of the dryrer, bung it in a basket and take it upstairs, at some point you need to fold it or put it on on hangers before putting it away, yes? If you fold it as you take it off/out, you are doing the same step of the process earlier. So someone with piles of unfolded washing would need to fold and put away which is presumably what this woman means. Are you confused because you can't comprehend the extreme slatternment of not folding as you put it in the basket, or what?

[idlevice]

I don't fold it as I put in the basket to transport from one location to another - why would I if it's going to be folded later when put away, isn't that a waste of time? Yes, I do fold when putting things away that are stored folded but cos it sounds like such a specific job I thought it must refer to something specific, otherwise why not say "put the laundry away" as not all of it is folded & that encompasses the whole process? Maybe it's just semantics.

I don't buy the less ironing if things are folded whilst waiting to be ironed. If I am going to run my iron over the cloth then that removes all creases so why create different creases to remove instead?

[musttidyupmusttidyup]

Take off line. Finish in tumble dryer (sometimes). Fold. Put in airing cupboard or ironing pile. Leave. Put away. Yes?

[kiteflying]

I don't iron. I fold straight off the line or straight out the dryer.
Only cotton and linen shirts actually need ironing if you do this so no ironing mountain happens.
What I don't understand is the comment that someone has folding to do - as this sort of implies that laundry is already off the line or out of dryer and in a mountain already, so I kind of wonder what the point is.

I like musttidyup's succintness.

[musttidyupmusttidyup]

Yes surely it's pointless to leave - the whole point of folding is to prevent the need for ironing. Which is the devils work.

[TheRealMBJ]

For me it means, sorting, folding and putting away. When my washing comes off the line or out of the dryer it gets dumped into the clean washing basket until we get desperate I have a change to do the above.

[TheRealMBJ]

Chance

[Georgimama]

My darling mother, who is also (at her own initiation and request) my cleaner, will not fold stuff when she takes it off the airer/washing line - she crumples it all up in a big heap and dumps it in the ironing basket. Then moans about the ironing. I fold everything as soon as it comes off airer/line because then it doesn't crease so much and needs less ironing. But she is 65 and I am 32 and any comment I make attracts response involving the words "teaching your grandmother to suck eggs" so I don't comment any more.

[valiumredhead]

I fold as I take it off the line or out of the drier.

[gardenpixies32]

I fold and NEVER iron. I have never ironed one item clothing in my life! I hang take washing straight out the washing machine as soon as it is done then I hang it very carefully in the line, airer. Then, when dry, I put things on hangers or fold them away. My DH irons his own work shirts. Makes life so much easier with no ironing.

[valiumredhead]

I hang things up on the line on hangers