To want to cry at my sister's washing?

With a big busy, a washer dryer is a piece of shit. I’m not surprised it has snowballed like this.

Re the length of time for a wash - check how many rinses it’s doing. More than one stacks up the time and dome cycles do as many as four. Second giving loads a second spin - I used to have to do it with my old machine to speed up the drying time .

You are being very kind - she must have been very overwhelmed.

What are the options if you press the "Options" button on the machine, while the dial is set to Mixed Load?

Fast 15 wash, then set the temperature to either 30c or 40c, will go to either 20 or 30 minutes, then when wash is finished - select spin - I think about 10 minutes.

Tbh having washer drier is a really bad decision unless you live alone/in a couple.
They take ages to do the job.
If you skip a day or two with to appliences you can just make use of both and do a lot of washing in a day
With comby you are stuck.

I think this is lovely of you OP. If you’re sure it won’t feel like an invasion and you are able I would definitely give it a clean as well. How kind of you and what a nice surprise for your sister to come back to. It will make her first week in a new job so much easier. She is lucky to have a caring sister like you.

can she afford a cleaner going forward? Some will help with laundry too.

If she’s been struggling with MH lately and you have spare time while staying maybe try to wash and fold 2 loads of laundry a day and do as much deep cleaning as you can w/o getting overwhelmed yourself.

I bet she’ll cry happy tears when she sees what you’ve done! Sometimes people can get really bogged down and let housekeeping get away then are overwhelmed by it, I know I had a few years that I didn’t clean house well at all.

Another one who wants to adopt you as a new sister op. My washing isn't too bad, because DH and I get through it but I can imagine if I was a single parent like your sis with a washer/dryer I'd be drowning in washing (three boys!!). My fantasy is coming home from holiday and someone deep cleaning and sorting my house

how old are the kids? I’d just do it all in lots of washes if it’s all little kids clothes. Don’t bother sorting! or would she be funny about that?

Gosh, I'd appreciate this so much. Just pile through it a couple of a loads a day and then begins what is (for me) the hardest bit - the folding and putting away! I wonder if you might find anything that is obviously far too small that you could make a special pile for your sister to go through when she gets back and that could then go to the charity shop?

We have a washer dryer and I sort my washing like this

whites- suitable for dryer (eg underwear, towels and babygros)

darks- suitable for dryer (as above)

bedding (which can go in dryer)

whites, and darks not suitable for dryer

through the day we do the “non dryer” ones

overnight we do the wash dry cycles, as they obv take longer.

we make sure we do one overnight and one per day as a minimum.

means don’t have loads hanging around waiting to dry

I appreciate not everyone wants to use an appliance overnight, we do it because our electricity is cheaper overnight due to an electric car and our appliance is new. Never had any issue.

just a suggestion as ways to sort it so it’s not overwhelming OP.

what a lovely thing you are doing!

Will the kids like their rooms been tidied, once DS was a certain age, his room was how he wanted it. I would run the hoover over or go through it with him, but wouldn't touch it on my own. He was good at sorting his laundry (better than he is now as a uni student!)

Well given her lovely sister has only come on to talk through her stress, hasn't said anything about her sister except wanting to help, it won't actually matter will it? She hasn't said anything her sister can't safely read.

You're kind! I have ADHD and jobs like laundry are so hard for me. I'd be hugely embarrassed (because to the outside world I hold down a job and run a house in the gin and jag belt without issue but I'm really madly paddling and panicking not to be found out and to keep myself afloat). Just please don't judge ❤. I'm fab at many many other things by the way, just not house jobs.

If the clothes aren’t actually stained I’d be tempted to use the quick 15 min wash. Possibly much of it just needs freshening.

You can also set the machine to wash overnight so it’s ready to hang out first thing. You might need to check the handbook (which you’ll be able to find online by the brand and model number) but for my Bosch machine you set the number of hours when you want the programme to end. So, if I set the wash at 9pm, and I want it to finish at 7 a.m, I select the programme, set the delay for 10 hrs then switch on.

I've never done this so I have no idea whether it's financially insane, but have you thought about maybe hiring a laundry service and calling it a Christmas/birthday present for her? It sounds like laundry is her big "impossible job" and maybe it would be less stress just to get someone else to do it.

@Viscoelasticity it might say spin and drain.

Genuinely, what is the point of comments like this? It's so.... Snide and unecessary.

OP you're a sweetheart. Just do what you can. I'm sure she will be over the moon.

Ignore the shitty comments. Don't even reply to them.

On mine, If I pick the fast 15 wash, then set the temp to 40, then the spin to 1200 (it's the quickest one mine does), it changes to a 26 min was and a 13 min spin. May be worth seeing if it does sometimes like that

@Icantremembermyusername I agree. You put it on an extra spin/drain @Viscoelasticity cuts drying time massively as it squeezes out a bit more water and moisture

I think this is a lovely kind thing to do, as would be to deep clean the bathrooms and kitchen, even if you just replace all the random crap/belongings where you found it.

Not sure what you mean, can you explain more please?

If you can afford it can you get a few clothes horses/airers. And then put them outside to dry. In this warm weather it will dry quickly. I'm getting through 4 full loads a day with the sun at the moment. I have a huge back log too. I have 3 clothes airers.