How do you ‘do’ your laundry? Practical help

[mofro]

I know this might seem like a silly question but still worth asking :-)

We have a washing machine and tumble dryer in our internal garage and do 4-5 washes a week. 23 are a family with 3 teenagers and everyone does washing. Generally kids do their own clothes once a week and I do mine, DH and any family stuff one or twice a week too.

Washing goes from washing machine to tumble dryer and then into laundry bags and taken upstairs or left in the garage.

In an ideal world, the laundry bag with the clean washing would then get put away…

In reality, because the washing machine is in the garage, sometimes we forget so the clothes stay in the washing machine for an extra day, or stay in the dryer for an extra day – even if they’re not fully dry!

What’s your washing and drying system? Do you put your clothes away straight away? Better to do full family washes instead of separate washing?

Thank you. 😊

Small family but I do 4-5 loads a week on a Friday and Saturday. Either line dry, rack dry or tumble depending on weather, time etc. Then on Sunday sort, iron and put away the whole lot in one go. More efficient.

I have the washing machine in the kitchen and the dryer in the living room so we can do the laundry all together while we chat as a family. It's particularly helpful with the folding as it is time consuming so best to be able to have it happen just as part of the family converstion round the telly, or whatever.

We mix all the clothes together and separate out the whites, woollens towel to separate washes.

If you need to motivate people this book is good:
www.amazon.co.uk/How-Get-Things-Really-Flat/dp/1906021465?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Just me, wash, dry on heated airer ( no utilty or garage hear), put away or iron

We did a family wash. A wash was put on first thing, by first person up. Not great at separating washing but most items don't like colour after a couple of washes. New things went in separately but I think owners of those clothes took charge of that.

If it was in the laundry basket it got washed.
Older kids did own bedding (always needed reminding)
Wash/tumble dry/ put away (usually)
Now it's only me and dh we usually hang it on line.

Family of 4, 2 adults and 2 DC (12 & 6)
Bedding
Towels
Tea towels and dish cloths
Sportswear, swimming, gear and towels
Dark colours X 4
Light colours X 2
Whites X 1 - do the whites on a Saturday morning after the school week.
School jumpers and hoodies X 1 - Friday evening and then dried on airer over weekend.

In winter most things go in the tumble dryer or over the airer with the dehumidifier going. In summer I line dry the clothes, but underwear, bedding and towels still go through the dryer.

We iron the school uniforms/smart clothes and everything else gets put into a big pile and then put away twice a week (usually Weds and a weekend day)

In my house is myself, dh and 2 teenagers. I do a wash every evening I come home from work, I hang it on the clothes horse and the next evening I tumble dry them for 20 mins to make sure they are dry and then fold and put each bundle into the correct bedrooms, it’s up to each person to put their clothes away.

It’s constant!

Four of us.
Everyone has a laundry basket in their own room.
Grown-up child does his own laundry. Hurrah!
Towels done weekly separate wash, sometimes fill up a smaller load.
Bedding done on a sunny day to dry outside.
The rest split into dark and light, usually a quick uniform wash at the weekend too.
One indoor airer in the spare room, wall-mounted outdoor airer (fantastic thing!) no dryer.
Maybe 3 or 4 washes each week?
No ironing in this house! That definitely stops the hanging around stuff.
All folded neatly when dry (or dried on a hanger anyway for some things) and left in appropriate person's room for them to put away themselves.
It's not the worst chore in my house.

When we are a 4 person household (2 kids at uni during term time) there is A LOT more laundry to do. I think my record would be 5/6 loads in a day!

No matter who is here I instigate and organise all loads. I most commonly use the 30 min quick wash at 30 degrees (other settings are available).

Summer or winter it all gets hung on hangers in our conservatory. (We lost our outdoor rotary washing line a few years back - strong winds, flying trampoline, crushed rotary 😢.) I find the hanging cuts down on ironing. Bedding/towels get draped over the roof bars or on the maiden.

Dry laundry is retrieved and sorted into baskets. Baskets go to bedrooms and get put away, each person responsible for their own stuff. This has been working well for us for 6/7 years.

Emergency tumble dryer in garage. I can't remember when it was last used.

OP what about one of these signs saying
Washing machine is on/washing machine is empty?
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075LPY6M2/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?th=1&encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_wg=6xR14&hsa_cr_id=2215036530702&ref=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0_img&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_w=fJ5sC&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&aaxitk=ff4da04a18aac5446de9764de888a127&pd_rd_r=884c48d1-b199-4f1d-950d-3133e18847bf

In your situation I would consider getting a ceiling airer (or 2) on a pulley mechanism (thank you Victorians) so that items come out of the washer and get hung up immediately in the garage (use alarm on phone to alert you to cycle ending so you don't forget). Then if the laundry is forgotten about it doesn't matter. It's not sitting in a wet/damp heap for 24+ hours.

I never ever leave washing in the machine for the primary reason of avoiding ironing. Everything comes out at end of cycle, shaken out & hung up immediately. Clothes on hangers & bedding/towels on washing line (flipped to prevent distinct crease).

I sort into three piles usually. Whites (or lights that can have the bleaching agents in the powder on them), light colours snd dark colours. Obv hand wash is extra.
All washed in colour powder but whites get vanish added in (my colours stay strong as a result!)
Wet loads separated into tumble dried snd air dried. Air dried go on the ceiling airer (dry in 24-48 hrs)
Dry washing folded into baskets that hang around until they are put away, usually on a Monday.

I wash the clothes, then do an extra spin cycle, then hang the clothes on an airer or on the line, then fold into basket when dry and eventually put away. Our basket for dirty laundry has a section for darks and a section for lights which saves time sorting it when putting a load on - those are my only two categories. Sounds like your main problem is just that it’s out of sight, out of mind though - I’d set an alarm on your phone for when it will finish. Or could you look at moving at least the washing machine into the house?

My dryer is in the garage so I use Alexa to set a timer to remind me when it's finishing.
Get everyone in the habit of setting a timer for the washing machine and dryer, on their phones would be good so they're not elsewhere when it goes off.

I can't believe how regularly people use their washing machine! There's 2 of us (for the moment) and we're having an extension built so our washing machine hasn't been plumbed in since August! As a result we drag washing out for 2 weeks.

All family washing together, kids then help unload tumble dryer and sort into family piles plus ironing pile - I only do that weekly. Usually put away same day to reduce clutter. And repeat. Endlessly.
All sheets and towels washed together on different days.

Laundry bin on the landing and it gets brought down and washed,into the drier then folded so doesn't need ironing then into a basket and put on the stairs for whoever is passing to take up.

When it's blazing hot I peg out but mainly tumble.

I do all the washing in whites/darks so that we aren’t wasting water and electricity.
As soon as it’s finished in the dryer I shake the stuff straight and fold it. I put it in individual piles and put it on the ends of the bed.
They all put their own away.

I use the washing machine overnight (economy 7), as soon as I get up washing is hung outside on washing line, when had the children at home did 4-5 washes a week. Never had a dryer. Fold everything that does not ironing straight from the line. I actually enjoy ironing, not seen as a chore. Clean washing was then put in relevant bedrooms and that person puts their own stuff away.

Mostly air dry, finishing off in dryer for 20 minutes to avoid ironing.

There's 3 adults at home here at the moment. We do about 6 to 7 washes a week. One of towels, one of bedding, the rest clothing.

I do most of the washing. I tell my son and dh what type of load I'm doing that day (so like I'll wash everyone' jeans/joggers in together) and they need to sort those from their laundry baskets and bring down to kitchen.

We line dry or dry on an airer and radiators. Everyone puts their own washing away. Occasionally I'll pair up a mountain of socks just cos I feel like it but mostly they are left unpaired in a basket and we organise ourselves with finding a clean pair each day.

Just teen dd and I but I do all my washings on a Saturday morning, usually 4 loads and I tumble what can be and hang up the rest. Sunday evening I iron what needs ironed and fold and put away the rest. I hate having washing lying around so try to be efficient with it.

Combined- 5 washes a week and all on a Sunday. I put the washing machine on at 7am when I get up and last tumble dryer run normally finishes about 6pm. We rarely do anything except milk about at home eating a massive roast on a Sunday so doesn't feel to much like a chore.

• whites
• darks
• mixed

-darks or mixed (depending on what we've worn!) -towels

Then every 10-14 days I do the beddings on a hot wash.

I am absolutely rubbish at putting it away though!

live in a v hot country so its easier . However anything that goes on a hanger in the wardrobe is put on a hanger as soon as its out of the machine . all hung outside on hangers and then straight back into wardrobe. Minimal handling and v little ironing. Yay!

No dryer in our house. Family of three and I mix everything together. Do about four loads a week. Washing goes straight on radiator/washing line or clothes horse depending on weather.

My one rule is that I make myself put away the dry clothes before the next load goes in the washing machine.

I pile the dry clothes on my bed and sort into piles based on what shelf /wardrobe they belong in. Then I put the clothes away, DD(5yo) sometimes helps.

I find I can bring myself to do any boring task as long as I have either an audiobook to listen to or a YouTube video playing on my phone as I work.