Is going away worth it -M drowning in laundry!

There's only me and teen dd and we seem to have loads of laundry, dd has just got back from a few days in London and has a heap of clothes that need washing.

I easily do 7-8 loads a week 🤯

I know what you mean but it’s still worth the holiday.
Ive taken to “treating” myself at the end of our holidays and finding a laundrette where I can wash as much dirty stuff as possible and more importantly, tumble dry it. It’s a bit pricey but it means we go home and one was load to do and everything else get shoved back on the drawer. It honestly makes going home so much less hassle.

Same here, we have a two year old and a nine year old, I wonder how many outfits people wear a day, and whether they have one of those small shallow washing machines.

We went on a tour of India years ago and both noticed a couple who looked even less well kempt than us! It transpired that they always saved their almost worn out clothes, wore them and left them, using the suitcase space for lovely rugs etc.. We started to save our oldest, most decrepit pants after that, wear and dump, saved a lot of washing, sadly I could never detach OH from that decade's t-shirt.

Very true and then they're whining about energy costs at the same time claiming to be so environmentally aware!

Same! It’s endless. Everyone exercises most days so it’s not a case of it being worn again as it’s sweaty. And those doing two loads a week, surely all the bed sheets take up more than one load a week on their own?

People take multiple PJs on holiday? I don't wear nightclothes at all but now i realise why people need such massive suitcases!

Me & 2 DS's aged 20 & 17. Usually one load of lights & one load io darks a week. Towels & bedding separately but again probably just one load a week.
How can you fit 3 lots of bedding and 3 lots of towels into one load? We have king size beds and use 2 towels each. Even with a big machine the bedding and towels is 2-3 loads for the 3 of us, plus an extra load worth for hand towels, bath mats, teatowels, cleaning cloths (which get separate quick cycles before a wash). Then there's the mattress and pillow protectors, occasional blanket or guest bed/towels. 2-3 cycles for clothes light, dark, delicate dark. We don't do everything every week, but 4 loads is the minimum and can be 6 loads.

How dirty are you that you need new PJs every night? I put new underwear on for bed, but wear the same PJs for a week usually

I don't understand how people have so much laundry, I find it the easiest chore. I use the dryer for most things and never iron.

From reading this thread it very much seems like women are STILL doing all the laundry. Why is this? Washing machines can be used by people of either sex.

@DiscoBeat you wear fresh PJs every single night??! I feel like such a minger right now lol

I would not like to wear them for a week! Much rather a 10 minute job every day to do a load and have clean nightwear.

I make sure the laundry baskets are empty when we pack, then wash while away. The weather was hot so it was a 10 minute job every day to hang it on an airer outside and collect it back in each day. I hate ending up with piles of it at home!

I just take it all to the laundrette still in the suitcases when I get home.

One of my colleagues uses laundry services when on holiday so just comes home with a case of washed and ironed clothes - genius

DD and I went away for 10 days (no machine) and wore everything we took.
I turned that around plus 2 other people’s backlog, sheets and towels, in the 6 days (4 plus drying) before leaving again. First world problem, I know, but it felt neverending.

MINI HACK: I gave everybody (all adults so able to sort their own clean laundry) a bag-for-life and said “whatever you want to take on holiday, put it here and put the other clean stuff away.”
That saved a step. The BFL slotted straight into the car boot, no suitcase packing. One for the dog, one for kitchen supplies and off we set!

I’ll have 12 days when we get back for DH and DD to do the same again!

I just do the washing when we're away, it dries instantly in the sun. I am also one of those people that leaves a clean house, clean beds etc to come home to. I wouldn't be able to enjoy the holiday otherwise.

I wash nearly every day as i have a billion kids ( well 4) but I have just been on holiday. Took six outfits,and wore 4. I'm going away again next week and I'm going to aim to wear everything at least twice and pack less. I do however seem to spill drinks over myself so it's a risk.

When we go abroad I have done 7 loads of washing on our return so I feel your pain.

Young me 'only the poor travel light' ( what a dick!)
Mum me 'no ones looking I can wear one outfit for two weeks, the case is heavy'

I used to be exactly the same. Now I look for laundry service while we're away or service washes when we're back.
It is part of the holiday cost and makes a huge difference to my enjoyment of the break overall.
I discovered years ago that Center Parcs did this and it changed everything for me. I have no idea if they still do ( haven't been for over 20 years) but the lesson they taught me about getting the laundry done before you leave has stayed with me all these years!

Maybe other people overload their machines. I read that overloading the washing machine shortens it's lifespan or makes it break down more. Dh puts in huge amounts on the rare occasion he does the washing...and mixes all the colours up too

I have a fairly big washing machine but if I wash all bedding, that would be two loads worth alone.

Wow that's a huge amount. Much more than most people if imagine. Even when I had 3 kids at home was maximum of 4 loads a week inc bedding

Also not all loads are going to be full loads. So I might do a white wash but I don't have heaps of white stuff so it won't be a full load. If I didn't have to separate things by colour and temp I could probably do less

No... because when we're at home, we do a minimum of one load of laundry a day, usually two. On holiday I refuse to do laundry... Obviously there's no bedding but there will be beach towels