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Original poster

Can your teen/s put on a wash?

71 replies

Babykoala1 · 04/10/2018 18:56

Watching the One Show last night and there was a lad who had just started university and his parents had created videos to show him how to put on a wash, change bed sheets etc.

Apparently this was the first time he'd ever put on a wash sure, the videos may be cute or whatever but surely by the time they've reached university age you'd surely have been taught how to put on a wash?! And why not show him in the years leading up to it? Is this the norm now?! I didn't go to university though so maybe I spent too much time washing clothes and not studying but it just seems a bit bizarre to me to not teach your kids basic life skills!

OP posts:

PandaG · 04/10/2018 18:59

Yes they can - 16 and 18. Eldest has just gone to university and I did something I haven't done for at least 5 years - made his bed.

shapeshifter88 · 04/10/2018 19:00

mine has been " helping " do washing and the bedding from about age 2 for fun and properly themselves from maybe 8

Sparklingbrook · 04/10/2018 19:00

Both my teens can put a wash on. One is at Uni and can do everything he needs to do.
A lot of the household stuff doesn't really need a demonstration does it? Changing bed sheets is pretty straightforward.

DonDrapersOldFashioned · 04/10/2018 19:03

Yes. There are easy to follow instructions taped to the cupboard next to the washing machine.

dewberrylipbalm · 04/10/2018 19:03

My 8 year old can.

PutItAwayDear · 04/10/2018 19:05

Yes, my 15 year old has been doing her own washing for over a year.

She told me that the teacher in her GCSE Textiles class asked who did their own washing a couple of weeks ago and she was the only one who did though

Unihorn · 04/10/2018 19:06

I was 19 and at university the first time I put on a wash. My mum did all the washing and ironing and hated anyone else going near it. I "taught" myself and carried on.

BigSandyBalls2015 · 04/10/2018 19:06

Yes mine can put a wash on (17) and have done for some years …. however, I sometimes wince at how little is in there when it's finished!!

user1499173618 · 04/10/2018 19:09

Yes, though I don’t encourage it as I like to oversee the washing routine. My laundry nightmare was a DC who came home for Christmas from university with a month’s worth of festering laundry who thought it would be good to wash it all on 24 December. I told him I had alternative Christmas decoration plans...

IncyWincyGrownUp · 04/10/2018 19:10

The teen can and does. The 11 year old knows the mechanics, but gets scared that he’s doing it all wrong and gets hideous anxiety about it. He has ASD, we’re working on it. The six year old is good at rounding up laundry and helping me sort.

CherryPavlova · 04/10/2018 19:10

Mine did in the theory but youngest had to be reminded three weeks after starting to do her laundry. She packed it all into her laundry bag and took it to the laundry, making sure her name was on the bag. Then she left. She phoned us to say how proud she was of herself as at school, the matron invariably had to pick her washing off the floor. She was absolutely flabbergasted that there was nobody to actually do the laundry.

OhFlipMama · 04/10/2018 19:12

My 9 year old can, and my 6 year old knows which buttons to use for a mixed wash, how to separate things, where the liquid goes etc. I guess some people just weren't taught?

TheThirdOfHerName · 04/10/2018 19:16

My 18 year old has been able to use a domestic washing machine for several years, but has been postponing the task of attempting the first load of laundry at university because in his words, "there's all this admin you have to do first."

This is what he needs to do:
Create an account on the Circuit website using the number on the bottom of the laundry card.
Click on top-up my laundry card.
Choose the nearest top-up point.
Enter the amount to top up.
Pay using PayPal or debit card.
Make a note of the PIN.
Follow the instructions at the top-up point and enter the pin when prompted.

He will (hopefully) then be able to use the laundry card at a washing machine to pay for a load of laundry.

frenchfancy · 04/10/2018 19:19

Age 13+ do all their own washing. The 12 year old gets supervision but still does it. Their friends don't though. Mostly I think it is a mum control thing rather than a useless teen thing.

OatsBeansBarley · 04/10/2018 19:20

Yes.

Whether they would ever do it of their own volition is a more interesting point.

ChairinSage · 04/10/2018 19:22

Yes. After leaving home with zero idea on how washing machines work and how to prepare food, I've made sure all of mine understand the theory of cleaning and cooking. They can wash and dry clothes, change beds and cook a variety of meals. I'm working on putting shoes in the cupboard and hanging up wet towels...

BigGreenOlives · 04/10/2018 19:25

TheThird mine has to do those things but his uni has run out of laundry cards! It was freshers week last week and they didn’t have enough. Makes life tricky.

Pinkprincess1978 · 04/10/2018 19:26

My 10 year old DS can, 9 yr old dd can't buy that is because she doesn't want to learn!

Sparklingbrook · 04/10/2018 19:27

I always have to look at the instructions for the washing machine at holiday lets, so they can always do that if they are stuck. DS has a tumble drier this year in his student house. He's on his own with that because we haven't got one but he's worked it out.

Separating lights and darks is simple enough.

Teens can do it even with no official 'lessons'.

A580Hojas · 04/10/2018 19:33

Mine could but I won't allow the washing machine to be put on unless there is a full load and I am also very fussy about separating types of clothes/fabrics. So unless I can get over them putting on a mixed load of just their clothes (which I can't for now) I will continue to do it. They sort it out for me to wash though ... I announce what type of load I'm doing (ie. whites, colours, darks, jeans/trousers) and they have to go through their laundry baskets and separate it out.

StrugglingMumma · 04/10/2018 19:34

My 14 year old son does all his own washing, ironing, sewing etc and has done for the last 12-18months.

My 2 year old also enjoys "helping" sorting the laundry

Aragog · 04/10/2018 19:37

16y Dd can put on a wash. She doesn't do it in general though, as either me or dh tend to put it on on the whole. We only do washing at the weekend generally - a couple of darks, a white and a lights. All three of our stuff at same time.

Bedding is done as and when desperately. Dd can put on her own bedding but gets in a right mess doing the duvet sometimes 😂 But she can actually do it though often dh will do it anyway, like he tends to do ours. She does the rest.

MiddlingMum · 04/10/2018 19:38

Yes, of course they could. Although I wouldn't have expected them to do just their own washing as that's usually not an economical use of the machine. Far better to sort out a load of everyone's washing and put it in together.

I'd be pretty worried if any teen (without severe special needs) couldn't do laundry, ironing, cooking, basic diy etc.

TheThirdOfHerName · 04/10/2018 19:41

BigGreenOlives that will make it quite difficult to do laundry. Did they not know how many students were arriving?

DramaAlpaca · 04/10/2018 19:42

My three boys have done all their own washing, including their bed linen & towels, since about the age of 14. They only do their laundry when they have a full load. They can all iron but never bother. If anything needs mending they ask me & I don't mind doing that. They can cook & clean too. I've made sure I won't be handing over domestically useless males to their future partners

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