To want to cry at my sister's washing?

Can you take them home and do them at yours if you have better machines?

You sound like a lovely sister.

Yes, the PP said they missed it, just as you missed someone pointing it out to them almost immediately.

It's in the very first sentence of the opening post.

So fucking true. Made that mistake once, never again.

I think you mean well but it’s your sister’s house and therefore her business how she runs it. Couldn’t you ask her if she would appreciate some help and, if she would, you could work out when and how together.

@summeroccupation OP firstly thank you for being such a wonderful considerate sister. How I would love to be a fly on the wall when your sister comes home ❤️ & for others asking heated airers are not expensive to run. I have one from Lakeland and it is a godsend in Winter. You could always ask a Neighbour if they are nice Neighbours if you could use their washing line. Just a thought. I hope the weather stays dry where you are so you can get all of the laundry as soon as. Your sister won’t feel as overwhelmed when she gets back to do the laundry from the holiday right before she starts her new job & that’s all because of you. Sending you a huge hug for doing such a kind thing for your sister. Your sister is very lucky to have you and your husband must be so proud of how selfless you are.

It sounds as if they have way more clothes than they need, so clothes that won't withstand the extra wear and tear could probably be binned.

The OP has said that her sister went out and bought new clothes for the family for their holiday.

My guess is that she just buys new clothes whenever the kids need to go somewhere, and they've ended up with a mountain of laundry as a result. MH difficulties can seriously affect your ability to stay on top of housework, and not everyone has a partner who's willing to step up.

I agree. And although the OP is no doubt acting out of kindness, so I don’t mean to sound critical, but I can’t help feel a bit uneasy on the sister’s behalf, having this discussed on a public forum, with mention of her mental health, and a picture of her washing machine, etc.

Ok thanks, makes it clearer. It sounded as if cost was no issue at all to your ds, and if so you should not have to do this.

@summeroccupation I've got one of these, or something very similar. I'd suggest using the wool cycle, which runs at 40 for 55 mins, although it only spins at 600 so you'll need to run an additional spin cycle at maximum speed afterwards. As someone else asked about, you can run a cycle over night by pressing the "delay end" button multiple times before you hit start, so you can take it straight out of the machine the next morning. I've never set it to finish more than 8 hours after I've gone to bed, so I'm not sure what the maximum limit is on that, but it'll mean you'll have the next load ready and waiting to hang out when you get there.

its a very nice thing to do, you are feeling overwhelmed by it all after a few days so I can imagine how your sister is feeling

sometimes we all get overwhelmed and we don’t know where to start a little help would help us all at times I think it’s the nicest thing you can do to support your sister

I hang bed sheets and duvets over the corner of the doors, hang clothes on hangers and then hang them on the washing line with pegs in-between to stop them sliding into each other. Gives you loads more room and means less ironing. I have a rotary line and if there's lots of rain due, I peg a shower curtain over the top nice and taut and it keeps clothes dry and seems to trap heat in and drys everything quicker. If you have to use the dryer, put a dry towel in with the load to reduce the time.
A soctupus is a god send (hanger with lots of arms with pegs on each one) for socks and small underwear.
I wish I had a kind and considerate sister like you!

I have three kids and money isn’t an issue for us. I still get behind with the washing and would still be grateful if someone did it all when I was on holiday.

I think this is a truly lovely thing you are doing. It’s not just coming into a clean and sorted house and interfering. It’s giving her a new start to be able to try and keep on top of things. I think once you are drowning and so far behind it’s incredibly hard to catch up so this will be an amazing return from holiday. You are so kind

You are still not replying to the cost not being an issue to her? So this is more about you.

Does the extra spin not wear the clothes out more?

I'd pick out bits that aren't likely to be very dirty - adult t shirts, underwear, and stick that in a quick wash, then get that hung out, and put the longer washes on (towels, bedding, bibs, play wear) so hopefully the short wash stuff is dry when the longer wash stuff needs to come out.

I'd probably save towels to last as I do tend to give them half an hour in the dryer else they go really stuff.

I can understand being overwhelmed by laundry, and I'm also ND.

I'm glad for this thread if only for this tip, I'm going yo try it from now on.