I can't keep up with my washing. Am so ashamed.

[Conspiracy3]

Firstly I have really bad depression. Anxiety. Other mental health issues at play (personality disorder)

Family of 7.

Ive tried today to sort it and I have about 12 baskets of washing to do.

I'm sat here crying my eyes out. I just can't do it.

Even when I have a huge sort out it just piles up again.

The kids SEEM to have too many clothes but then the older ones have a growth spurt and need more and stuff gets passed down.

There's bags and baskets of washing everywhere.
I don't drive so can't go laundrette.

I just want to have a bonfire and burn it all and be nudists

I'm so embarrassed. So ashamed.

I just can't keep on top of it

Are you being treated for the mh problems?, from what I can tell mh problems are harder to get the treatment right for so if your on meds and not better ring the drs. You can’t do anything if you’ve got uncontrolled anxiety.

In an ideal world you’d have a 10kg machine, a laundry basket that separates lights and darks in each bedroom and a pack of colour catchers.

Have you tried paying the older kids to do it? Cheaper than a laundry service.

I haven’t read the full thread but thought I’d say I do the crate thing too. I don’t mind washing and drying but putting away, I just hate it. The crates help.

I wash, dry then fold up and put each persons into their own crate. DH puts his own away, dd9 puts her own away and I help dd4 out gets away while I do my own.

I don’t iron. It goes from the dryer or the line straight in the crates folded. If something comes out of the wardrobe creased up then I will rub the iron over it quickly before it’s worn

First of all, try not to feel ashamed. Looking after 7 must be a lot more work than a full time job. I let the washing get out of control sometimes and there are only four of us.

Do one to two loads every day.
If your machine has a timer, put it on the night before to start in the morning. Get it drying early and then children/partner. to help fold and put away if they are old enough.

There are lots of videos on YouTube about this that might help give you ideas and might help motivate you.

A bit of a random answer but when we moved we inherited a twin tub washer left in the house.
Used to plough though bedding towels bath mats sock and underwear in an hour once a week everything else in normal machine.
also spun at 3000 rpm everything took fraction of time to dry

OP, hope you are ok. Did 120 or so messages scare you off? 😄

I don't know where OP is, but you lovely Mumsnetters have totally inspired me. I've got a second rotary drier on order and 120 new pegs. I'm gonna see the bottom of that laundry basket one day. Yay!!

Right, it is just washing so no need to feel ashamed.

Make sure if it doesn't need washing it doesn't go into the pile to start with. Most clothing (with the exception of underwear) doesn't need washing every time it is worn, especially if your kids are not teenagers yet.

Second, get some of those colour catcher sheets. Then don't bother sorting (except maybe to pull out white whites), just chuck a load in all together with a colour catcher.

Next, each kid gets a clothes basket, you fold and sort into their basket. It doesn't matter whether they just wear clothes straight from the basket.

My two now choose to put their clothes away, but they didn't always and I just let it go. It doesn't matter.

3 pounds per load, including folding and sorting.

Let the kids know and let them rush to do it for u

If you feel they’re doing more than their fair share so maybe you can pay them to take on more willingly.

Or maybe you need to reassign roles.

Everyone above 14 should probably do their own washes

Just get rid of bulk first to give yourself a kick start. Towels, blankets, bedding, hoodies. The stuff that takes up space but is super easy to shove in and hang up.

I’ve never separated a colour in my life either. I wash by type because I find it so much easier. A load of kids tops. A load of adult tops. A load of kids bottoms etc. Whites, colours all in. Never had anything run and my whites are still white 🤷🏻‍♀️

Get up early so you have a whole drying day in this weather to make use of. Put it all out in the garden so you can have a bit of sunshine to cheer you up, one huge pile, then sort it into bags - darks, whites, lights, colours and towels/t towels etc. Then take one bag at a time, start with one wash, set your phone so you get it out immediately and put then next load on. Use airers outside as well if you have them. You could easily get six loads done in a day in this weather. I find I am much more on top of the laundry since I got this for the laundry room from amazon - every day I empty the 3 laundry bags from the house into it and when full each compartment is a
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QMDSSV6/ref=cmswwrcpptai_HyA1Eb18W57VX
And don't beat yourself up as it won't help and you deserve better

*When full each compartment is a full load

OK. So tackle one load at a time.

There's 6 of us.

My kids collect up dirty washing from each room and bring it down to the washer. I then sort it into the machine. I then have 1 or 2 help me hang it out.

I fold it into piles for each person, bedding and towels on the sofa. Each child then takes 2 piles up and puts them away.

If it's bed day, they strip their own beds and bring it down.

If they don't help (it's part of the chores list), they don't get WiFi. Tbh they don't fuss, it's just part of life.

Other chores on the rota:

Empty dishwasher
Fill dishwasher
Clear table/clean sides
Feed animals

The rota is on the wall and they stick to it.

One step at a time. You've got this.

We are a family of six. People ask how I cope. With each new child my standards slip a bit if I'm honest. I wash every day.with my teen I check his washing actually dirty. He sometimes wears it for a hour or two. In that case it goes backing his wardrobe. If I suspect things have been been put back more than once put still appear pristine it goes on a fast wash.

I iron nothing. Ever. I pull the clothes into shape as they come out of the wash and when dry on the line I hang them up on the line.

I fold the rest and if its sits around for a day or two clean and folded that's ok, but I only have to laundary baskets for that so it cant sit there for a third day.

If I feel ill or over whelmed I dump it all sorted into black bags on the landing then when I'm better I can do five loads a day.

It's a endless task. You have to do it constantly so set a time a try to get into a routine.

I also write out my jobs for the day, set 30 minute times on my phone then do nothing but that job as I have no will power I het distracted.

If you just do 30 minutes to grad a load and put on, then 30nmintirs to fold and put out. 30 to put away then it's done. I even time myself so I know I can put out a 10kg load in 15 minutes which is handy fitting it in after breakfast before the school run as I know I can complete each step in a certain time so I can juggle slotting those jobs in.

It's really hard with MH issues. But it's a job that never goes away. I would love to burn my washing some days but that's a short term solution 😁

When I was pregnant and puking every day, my washing just piled up because I couldn't move without puking. It got to the point where we were washing on demand and we were wearing the same cycle of clothes. I decided that we were going to get rid of the clothes we weren't in a cycle of wearing and slowly started washing and drying and bagging when I felt up to it. I have got pretty bad PPD but I'm a year postpartum and we're just about sorted.
I did end up giving my husband a bollocking though because he thought maternity leave meant a year off to play maid, without consideration for my physical or mental well-being. He now also does his own laundry.
Cut down your responsibility by delegating it elsewhere. Once you do that you'll realise life is a lot more manageable. You don't need to tackle an everything and you're actually doing your partner and kids a favour by showing them they're also capable humans who need to manage their responsibilities.

Sorry you're having it so rough right now, as someone who has a "thing" about washing the dishes not only have I in the past sat and cried at the pile, but I've avoided having people round for shame.

First don't be so hard on yourself, so it's not an ideal situation but it can be fixed. You got up, fed the kids and started to tackle the washing pile, you're doing fine. I spent many a day unable to get out of bed at all at my worst.

I wish I could help you, I hope you have people IRL who can help you out, maybe speak to your GP?

Family of 5.
I do one load a day, minimum. I have a sorting basket upstairs divided in 40 and 60 degrees and one also next to the washing machine. Next to the washing machine are baskets for each person plus one for towels, bed sheets and cleaning cloths so as soon as I take things out dryer they go into their designated basket. The kids are responsible for putting away their own clothes. Instead of wardrobes they have a few boxes for their clothes in their room, saves the folding. I never iron. Husband and I are equally respectful for loading the washing machine. He irons his shirts.