To take all our washing to the launderette once a week to escape the daily washing nightmare?

There are two things here which should happen additional to the launderette, which seems sensible if you can afford it. Firstly, other members of the family (time for tough love) and secondly, doing something to reduce your hours of work.

When do you and your husband actually see your children if you're working such long hours? How old are the kids?

That is really clever!

You need better systems.

the laundrette is great idea in principle and may help but it won’t solve your problem. You need to out in place a better system for putting away clean clothes because that is where the issue is…. I find the time consuming but the sorting and folding. Each person needs to have their own drawer or even storage box where clean clothes are out for them to fold once sorted. And it clearly needs to be a closed box / drawer to prevent the cat sitting on them (and I really hope it was a typo and you mean sitting not shitting cos that’s a different matter entirely) Or one single bigger place where all families clean clothes are put for each person to then gather their own stuff and fold and put away. Your call which I’d say - obviously the later involves less work (although you still need to find your own stuff in amongst everyone else’s) but needs a bigger spot in a communal place. I go with the former because although I still need to do all the sorting the boxes got in each persons room and are subsequently not in my way

plus each person has their own washing basket in room but they know which days are washing days and they’re responsible for bringing their washing to a communal place (bathroom floor) for me to wash. If I’m feeling generous they get one reminder but if it’s not in the communal washing pile on that day it doesn’t get washed…. Not my issue.

Yanbu

You could also look at having someone come in to do your laundry for you or send it out. I think launderettes also offer service washes which I think is where they do it for you - you just drop off & collect.

But you do need to find a way of addressing those you live with treating you like a drudge!

OP if I was you I'd definitely get one of those services who collect your washing in bags and drop it back washed and folded. Sounds like it would be your best money spent

Housetrain the cat and the lazy people you live with.

I'd go for it!

Then again, I'd also be getting rid of the cat 🤢

Cats are arseholes - if the vet has checked him you could try a behaviourist but if you love him then yes removing the item he likes to ruin is the only reasonably priced option.

Where do you live? It's just awful you are both working those hours and running a household and raising kids.

Stop doing all the laundry. Focus on yours and your husband's if he works more out of necessity. Assuming they are old enough to be calable of laundry then your kids will have to wear dirty clothes or help.

Oo that sounds perfect

Working 10 hours for 7 days a week is not sustainable. Your children need to learn how to be more responsible. You don't sound like you're in a position to have pets given how long you work. I don't know how you're functioning at all - it sounds awful for you and I mean that kindly not as a dig. Can you do something to improve your overall wellbeing - financial health / reduce outgoings / and quality time?

It doesn’t tackle the actual lazy fickers, which is your real problem. You are skirting around the issue

The simplest solution to your problem is to decant the clean dry clothes from the tumble/ airer/ line into something that even if the cat poos on it, it doesn’t get the clothes dirty. Those large zippable plasticky woven bags would work.

However if your dc have so little respect for themselves and you and the home you are working 140 hours plus a week to provide for them that they will sit in filth and squalor rather than help you, this is really the problem you need to solve.

Ultimately this way of life is not sustainable for any of you and I hope you can find a way out of having to work so hard for such a poor quality of life.

Your kids need to be putting the washing away and your cat needs to stop shitting on the washing.
that’s all there is to it really.

The issue is your family not the laundry. Provide them all with weekly tasks including putting clean washing away. If they don’t do their tasks then there are consequences. Remove gaming consoles/phones whatever would have the biggest impact. Soon enough they will notice it’s easier to do the jobs required.

How old are the lazy fuckers? I’d stop doing their laundry if they’re teenagers and taking the piss. Their clothes, their problem.

She had socks in different colours for each child so if it's red it's child 2. All thst child's socks were red so no need to ball into pairs ,as long as the child had 2 socks they were a pair.I wish I'd thought of it when my children were young.

We tried the one colour socks for one child when kids were young - DH told him mother and for next decade she bought socks to mess that system up even same sock style in different sizes.

When the teens started moaning I did quietly try again with different sock styles- and also got wash bags so they could put their stuff in - they don't use the wash bags but the different styles do help - even when they all has to have black for school.

I don’t see how this solves the OP’s problem unless she gets a service wash?

surely she’s just moving the issue to a different place?

I like doing laundry when I’m WFH as it gives me a 5 minute break from the computer every couple of hours.

I would:

• do a one off laundry wash to get everything done
• split laundry back into individual's own piles, in their own bedrooms
• tell everyone that from this point onwards you are only washing something if it's been placed in a laundry basket.
• tell everyone that from this point onwards they will put away their own washing and if you think that something looks unworn/clean in the laundry basket you will be giving it back to them.
• tell everyone that from this point onwards if the cat shits on something they own, THEY will be dealing with it and washing it, (or binning it and buying a replacement)

Then stick with it. DO NOT GIVE IN! Do not back down, do not agree "on this occasion".

If they still cause problems, tell them that's it, and it's now their responsibility to do their own washing because you've had enough. And stick with it.

So DH works more hours than you? Boo hoo - it's not a competition to the bottom. If he wants clean clothes he'll manage.

I can't remember if you said what age the kids are, but my nephews are helping do laundry and they're 9 and 13. They've got to learn to stand on their own two feet at some point.

When my DPs got married (1970s), my DF had a horrible habit of pushing his dirty washing under the bed, despite there being a laundry basket in the corner (his DM mollycoddled him and he went into a job where everything was done for him too). My DM mentioned it a few times but he carried on, so she just started only washing what was in the laundry basket.

One evening he asked "where are all my work shirts?" and my DM innocently replied "well, I have no idea. I've washed everything that was in the laundry basket..." and left the sentence hanging.

Cue DF having to receive a last minute lesson in how the washing machine worked and the best method of drying at least one work shirt by the morning.

He never used under the bed as a laundry station again!

There was a lady on another thread a while ago who had a landing big enough that everyone in the family had a large clear storage box and they were lined up neatly. Her children were young so no uniform shirts to iron. She washed and dried everything and then it was just put/ chucked in the person's storage box. She had socks in different colours for each child so if it's red it's child 2. All thst child's socks were red so no need to ball into pairs ,as long as the child had 2 socks they were a pair.I wish I'd thought of it when my children were young.

You definitely might be overfilling it. Mine doesn’t take the same size of load as my washing machine. Maybe put less in it, and check what the settings options are? Also are you clearing fluff and filters regularly? And emptying water if it’s that type. I put my washing on for an extra spin to reduce the drying time which also helps.

Getting them to put clean clothes way-

Stand over them till they put them away - or have some kind of clean clothes hamper/storage - you can just dump them in that the cat can't get into and send them there to look for clean clothes.

Something like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094RCG79W?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

If you think the laundrette will help - try it and see.

I'd be focused on getting them to do their washing - DD1 came home from uni and without and prodding from me took care of her washing. DS 17 and DD2 15 have been shown how to use washing machine and drier and do very occasionally put a suddenly needed item in.

My own mother used to fiercely guard the washing machine - even Dad touching it got her wrath us kids she went nuclear - then moan no-one but her did any washing.

I used to work in a launderette, it's not cheap but a lot of people used us for washing, drying and folding. If you can afford it and it makes your life easier, why not?

I often used to take our washing to the launderette- a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon sitting quietly with my book.

But getting it washed and dried/folded in peace isn't going to get it back in your family's cupboards or stop them putting clean stuff back in the laundry hamper .

And if you are working 70 hours a week out of necessity- then time spent in the laundrette is going to be in addition to this so in your position I would continue doing it at home in between calls/meetings/whatever you do.

You and your DH need to get together to lay down some rules with your DC though - how old are they? And is your cat unwell ? Visit to the vet?

Sounds like what you could do with is not two hours in the laundrette but a regular break from your home for a walk, meet a friend for coffee, or even sit by yourself in a coffee shop with a book.

You’re not unreasonable to go hide in the launderette, but it won’t solve the two problems that you have - that you live with lazy fuckers and that they don’t put their clean laundry away.

How old are the people in your family? Do other adults live in your household? Can you reduce your daily grind by doing less for them?

I’m also struggling to comprehend the 70 hours are you saying you work 7 days per week in paid employment? No day off? Do you have more than one job? How would you even have the time to go to the launderette? Or do you work night shifts?