Finally found a system to keep on top of the laundry, thought it might help someone else

[Bowtie292]

Incredibly boring I know but I've always struggling with the laundry. Usually end up with mountains of it that I then can't get dry. Our tumble drier is temperamental and I'm trying to keep our electric bill down.

So every week day morning I do a quick wash (ours is 15 mins) followed by a 10 minute spin.

Clothes go on the airer while we're at work.

Around 7pm I put the big items (t shirts, trousers, towels) in the tumble drier for about 10 mins. That's all they need to finish off drying. I then put the socks and pants in the drier with the door closed and the residual heat dries them over night.

Everything folded and put away with the socks and pants from the previous days wash.

Sounds a bit of a faff but it's really working well.

We have 4 baskets (mine, DH, DS and home items), everything gets folded into its basket & we are responsible for putting two of them away.

I tend to do a wash every other day so DH knows the baskets need to be back by a time limit.

Honestly this system isn’t going to work, your clothes will start to smell. Dust mites and bacteria only die at 60 degrees. A 15 minute wash isn’t going to get up to temperature.

I only ever use our short wash for things like swimwear that have already been rinsed and washed.

Gubanc what amount of waste? I'm not going to re wear pants or socks and whilst a top that I've sat in for 8 hours might not be filthy it does need a freshen up. Why do people on mumsnet feel the need to pick an argument over the least offensive things? Its utterly bizarre!!

The 15minute cycle on my machine is perfect for lightly worn clothes.

Curious though OP - how many people are in your household? I would hate to do washing every single day. We are only a household of 3 but our washing can be done over 2 days - 2 x darks, 1 x lights and 1 x towels is enough. Oh and DH does the bedclothes separately once a week.

Whichever cycle I choose, if it's warm and dry outside I tumble dry out the creases, put the clothes onto hangers and hang them in the sun to dry. No ironing required, which I feel cancels out the initial cost of the brief tumble drying, then once dry they only need carrying straight to the wardrobe. I don't iron sheets etc.
I don't iron much.

Chewbecca 3 of us here too. I used to do 2-3 loads a week but I was never organised with it, stuff would sit in the machine and I'd have to rewash it after forgetting about it or I'd then struggle to get it all dry. Little and often is working well.

DahliaMacNamara thanks, I'll try that in the spring. This system means I don't need to iron much either, DS's school trousers get a once over but the rest are fine if they're folded straight out of the drier.

@Giftwithpurchase

Good for you op! Sounds like it's working well. So much better for the environment too 👍

No, it would be better for the environment to wear tops that are still perfectly clean more than once, and put a load of washing on every 2-3 days.

I do my washing by hand, as don't have a washer now.

Most peoples washing doesn't need all these long cycles, or with such frequency, unless everyone works down a coal mine.. I have seen plenty of women,who just chuck a few small items of baby clothes into the machine, and have the machine going for ages, instead of waiting for some more stuff, to fill up the machine.

Why has this thread become so contentious 😂

Glad you’ve found a system that works for you OP. My washing machine cycle is 2.5 hours! My only way of managing is to put a delayed load on first thing in the morning, hang it up on the airer in the evening and then repeat daily. And then do as many washes as I can over the weekend when I’ve got a bit more time.

It’s like a full time job just keeping on top of it all!

Well done for finding a system that works for you! Hopefully by the time my little ones are older and less messy I'll have a routine too

If you left everything on the airer overnight, it would all be dry by morning anyway.

Sorting the different items out for the tumble dryer at 7pm is just an added element of faff imho.

Leave everything on the airer, put away in the morning.

Then put your newly washed stuff on the airer and leave it all there till the next morning. And repeat.

This way at 7pm, you can go to the pub instead.

I don't have a tumble dryer, (no room) so i use a ceiling rack. Fits one load. So every day I do a load, pop it on the rack for overnight. It's dry by morning.

I'm trying to follow the organised mum approach of putting a load on every day.
It would help a lot if our loads were separate, but the thought of four laundry baskets upstairs (I am not sorting smelly teen clothes out from a mixed pile!)

After a weeks holiday, a vomiting bug in our household and someone wetting the bed a couple of times... I can only dream of such a regime.

Well done OP. I'm hoping when we get to the bottom of this epic laundry pile we can get a new regime on the go for winter too.

That's sounds like a good system. I do lots of ours on a quick wash, because its not really mucky, I hang stuff up in the bathroom if I can, especially multiples of uniform because it can dry in 2 days. I have a maid too for things that aren't urgent and a Whirley thing for pants and socks

Quick wash’s are fine long as machines not packed. If I had wash a top by hand I wouldn’t take 15min maybe 3min of swooshing around, what’s the difference? You can add some anti bac liquid to make sure bacteria is all dead.

But why wash clothes that aren’t dirty?

Pack of 2 Indoor Outdoor Hanging Clothes 18 Peg Line Dryer Airer www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07116G4X7/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_EHZF0R87660AJTHQT35S?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
Realised I may be the only person to call this a whirley gig! It works for me tho

@Akire

Quick wash’s are fine long as machines not packed. If I had wash a top by hand I wouldn’t take 15min maybe 3min of swooshing around, what’s the difference? You can add some anti bac liquid to make sure bacteria is all dead.

This is a good point.

If your clothes are doing fine with a 15 minute wash, your laundry problems would be better solved by not washing them.

Don’t clothes on short washes come out really wet? Unless it’s winter and I have the heating on high I find really wet cloths just don’t dry in the airer.

That sounds like the perfect system and very good for the environment. I think most of the time things just need freshening up unless you’ve got muddy football kits etc. Thanks for sharing

"Bacteria and dust mites only die at 60 degrees"? But doesn't the washing powder/liquid kill them when washing at low temps? Isn't it essentially soap powder that breaks down the cell walls of the bacteria and poisons the dust mites? Or am I missing something? We use the 30 degree 20 min wash in our household regularly for lightly soiled clothing and as far as I'm aware my clothes don't smell. I do check!

Honestly this system isn’t going to work, your clothes will start to smell. Dust mites and bacteria only die at 60 degrees

Well that’s clearly a load of bollocks. I have never ever put clothing on a 60 degree wash and they don’t smell

I think this sounds fine. Most of our clothing used to go on our quick wash which was 20 minutes, just got a new Samsung and haven’t quite figured out how to do the super quick wash but a spin on the highest speed gets them almost dry and then we do similar to you, hang to dry with a quick tumble if needed.

I know those of you saying ‘why bother washing’ are lying - every time someone dares ask about laundry it’s always touted that tops need daily washing, as do of course underwear.