For those with numerous children: how do you organise your laundry (boring I know but I am stumped)

[pinkytheshrunkenhead]

I have 4 dcs and expecting number 5- we are moving house soon, much bigger and I am going to turn over a new organised leaf as we will now have a big enough house with storage! (very excited: sad but true).

Please tell me, how do you organise laundry and returning it for 7 people? Boxes for each? I don't know but there must be a better way than searching through numerous laundry baskets looking for the right socks etc!

Please wise laundry people share your secrets......


My thanks in advance

[gaunyerseljeannie]

Got DH to build a set of shelves in the utility room and plastic boxes for each person names on in Sharpie and see through worked best..... still had to nag to get them taken to rooms but it worked well... best advise which you will already know is don't let it slip.... only chaos follows :-)) Good luck

[BlackCatinaWitchesHatonaBroom]

We now have a laundry bin for each person.(4) Any house stuff say towels usually end up in my or dh laundry bin. We keep ours in the bedrooms as that's
usually where we get changed. I used to do it by whites in one bin colours in another but we always have more colours than whites so I find a bin for each person works better for us.
You just have to work out what would be easiest for you.[hsmile]

[pinkytheshrunkenhead]

My oldest DC is only10 and then 8, 2 and 1 so it is my fault we live in laundry hell but trying to encourage the older one's to do their bit. We genuinely have so little storage here it is impossible and we have too many clothes anyway

I cannot wait to have cupboards

[ChippyMinton]

Two bins on the landing - one for whites/pale/pink, one for darks. I also don't mind if stuff gets left on the floor by the machine.

My original plan was Ikea Antonius wire baskets, one per person for clean stuff, but the baskets proved more useful for swimming and sports kit. So now I fold everything and leave it it piles to be put away by its owner. DC are 10, 9 and 7 btw.

[BlackCatinaWitchesHatonaBroom]

pinkytheshrunkenhead I was am in laundry chaos before we moved here as our last house was too small. Since we have moved I seem to have become more organised --although it has taken a year. Just wanted to give you a bit of hope! I still have a backlog--

[Greenwing]

We live in laundry chaos as both DH and I work full time in very busy jobs and have five DCs.
I try to wash and dry all week and the clean, dry clothes etc pile up in baskets, sadly on our bedroom floor. (We do not iron anything, ever!)
School clothes are washed on Saturday (after nagging and shouting up stairs on my part) and then on Sunday morning ... I listen to the Archers omnibus whilst sorting it all out into seven piles plus towels, bedding etc on our double bed.
DCs are then summoned to fetch it and put away in their room.
I am sure it could be done in a more efficient way but it is the only way I can do it.
DC 1 and 2 also put their own washing on now they are older - especially if they want to have it back sooner rather than later as they know it takes a while to return from the laundry black hole in our room!
Good luck with the house move and laundry sorting!

[TheOriginalFAB]

One laundry basket on the landing where all clothes to be washed are put.
I do all the washing.
At the end of the day I will have a washing mountain to fold if they have dried on the line or a slightly smaller mountain if I have used the dryer.
I have a bag that all socks go in and then I match them a couple of times a week.
I put ds2's clothes away from him.
DD and DS1 get theirs put in their rooms and told to put away. I will sometimes put the clothes away for them but not always as they are old enough. I have to turn a blind eye to everything going in one place yes ds1, I mean you.

[DiscoDaisy]

My 5 children put dirty clothes in a pile in the living room each night and then I take it through to my bedroom.
Washing gets done at the weekend and I usually do 4 loads and a towel load gets done on a wednesday.
Don't do ironing!
If something is creased it gets left on top of the tumble dryer until I have a little pile and then it gets put in the dryer on easy iron.
Clean clothes get put in a washing basket and once a week (normally at the weekend) they get put away.
Sometimes I do it and sometimes the children put it away themselves.

[onwardandupwards]

I have one laundry basket on the landing and do a load every day, other wise it would be chaos, I also buy everyone their own coloured plain socks it saves me time matching pairs up, dc arguing over who owns the dr.who socks and it doesnt matter if u lose a sock as theres always one it will match sad but true!

[squashedfly]

Hi I have 5 DCs and we have one large laundry basket on the landing. I sort only between darks and pales and handwash stuff. I do at least 1 load a day and when it is dry I sit on the floor like buddha with a sea of clothes around me and fold it all. I find it quite theraputic really, must be the monotony! Then I put it in to piles for each person as its folded and then summon my 10 yr old to put each pile in each relevant room. If he is not around I put it on the stairs, one pile per stair and hope vaguely that someone might notice and carry their own pile or shock, horror, someone elses, but in reality I take it up each time I go upstairs. I never seem to go up or downstairs empty handed. Then while little ones are in bath (supervised!) I put it all away. 2 Eldest DCs are responsible for putting their own away. Obvs they never do :) and as for ironing, only high days and holidays!

[Fuzzywuzzywozabear]

3 laundry baskets in different places in house. Also don't mind on floor by machine. Tubtrug small bucket things. Each person has own colour - sort underwear into those and hand them bucket to put stuff away. 3 ds's clothes labelled with initial on label to enable fast sorting. Chests of drawers labelled with items eg. "child's name - trousers" this means they know where to put everything without just stuffing it anywhere - 4 dc's in our house