To ask how I could possibly cut down on laundry?!

[Userno73627384738]

just had a smart meter installed and realised that a large chunk of our electricity goes on washing clothes - and drying in the dryer if not good enough weather to put outside. I have an airer which I use for a lot of it but I have too much washing to dry it all indoors. I tend to put socks, pants, t shirts pjs etc in the dryer. We go through a lot of pants and socks. But things like jeans, hoodies, school uniform on the airer.

both my machine and dryer are recent ish models. About a year old.

but how do I cut down on washing??

I have two kids, both have additional needs and can get very messy. Either accidents or food or mood from out playing. They need clean clothes every day, sometimes twice a day. I'm exhausted from all the laundry.

I tend to wash white shirts and other whites on a Friday afternoon..

Dp wears the same trousers for a few days for work but obviously needs clean work t shirts every day. Sometimes he'll wear a jumper for a few days 🤷‍♀️

I tend to wear fully clean clothes every day as I get messy and sweat a lot!

the rest is washed daily with all my other stuff. It's always a full load of darks every day, if I skip a day it'll be 2 the next day.

we use towels for about 3 days then washed. I have a separate wash basket for towels and tend to wash all together once or twice a week.

dd also suffers from severe allergies so bedding has to be washed once a week and her allergies are kept under control. I have a 10kg machine and thankfully all our bedding fits in one go but it's drying it if it's not dry outside. This summer has been great for line drying but that will soon change..

we have a dog but she's small. I tend to wash her bedding weekly but may change to Eve et 2 weeks, she doesn't get it overly dirty but like to keep it fresh!

so how do other people cut down on their laundry time?? Am I just destined to have continuous piles of washing every day? I see on here that some people only wash clothes once or twice a week! How?? I understand in adult only homes but what about with kids??

sorry if this is the most random boring post on a Saturday afternoon. I'm just sick of continuous washing and paying the price for it!! 😓

Plus our water bill is damn high

I do loads of laundry too. Does your machine have short cycles? Mine has a 14 minute cycle that I use for things which aren't very dirty like tops or school jumpers.

Messy play overalls

Why do they need clean clothes twice a day? Why, if their clothes are dirty, can they just not wear their clothes for the rest of the day? Especially if you know they will get dirty again. That will cut your washing in half…

If it’s not raining / really damp then your washing will dry outside all year around. Honestly. It might take longer but it will dry.

Can you wash towels less often and only wash dd's bedding weekly? And can you keep a set of mucky clothes for playing out in rather than clean clothes each day?

Are you washing things that aren't dirty? Towels every three days seems very frequent

Also, stop washing towels after 3 days! You’re using them to dry yourself after you’ve got clean. They don’t need washing that often.

We have a Meaco low energy 12l dehumidifier which we use as we dont have a dryer. Won't reduce the amount you wash but could reduce the dryer use.

To be honest, it doesn't sound excessive to me except I wear my clothes for a couoke.of days (longer depending on what it is) and we use towels for a.week

Can you check the cost of different cycles on your machine? I've been playing with ours an d got a cycle down to 3p - 20' and 1000 rpm spin. the reduced spin might not work when we 're drying indoors but I'll check that out at the time. Trying different settings for towels and bedding (60 degrees) I've gone from 21p to 16p I think

Towel wash weekly. No need to wash every three days. And try stretching your clothes to 2 days - even if you're sweaty you shouldn't need a whole change of clothes every day - jeans can go 2 or 3 days easily, surely. If kids get messy they get messy. 2 clothing changes a day is excessive.

You might need to wash DD's bedding more frequently but yours can go for 10 days without a change? I have 3 kids and me and they are all responsible for their own laundry (teens) and I do a load once a week and so do they. So that's 4 loads between us.

Wash towels once a month. They are only drying clean bodies.

Could you get some inexpensive tracksuits for the children to get messy in that need only a quick rinse every few days.

Same for you - something light and easy to wash and dry for jobs that'll get you hot & sweaty. Have a strip wash instead of a shower every other day.

Is there a better type of bedding for allergies?

Would it actually be cheaper to take to a launderette?

Shorter cycles -
Check your manual too on your washer/dryer

• our eco setting is not the most efficient.

Give up the tumble dryer

You can't need a complete set of clothes per day. I'm in khakis I've worn for a week and the vest is on about 4 days. Dog beds need doing at the most every month not weekly. Why are you putting kids in clean clothes twice a day. If they get dirty, unless they're wet they don't need changing. If you spill something on your clothes, sponge it off. Your partner should be able to last 5 days in trousers! Your clothes will last longer, your skin will feel better and you won't be a slave to laundry.

its not so much the dirt, it's if they have toileting accidents!

I change pants socks and tops next to skin after every wear. Anything else lasts for theee or four wears before washing and then only if visibly dirty or smelly. Towels every two weeks, if that. If they smell ok they stay. Dog bed every week?! I would do that monthly if that!

Have mucky clothes for kids to re wear

Bibs, aprons, overalls for children and even yourself. Anything wipeable that covers up if doing messy activities.

I've found that my daily all in one wash is costing 18p a cycle.

the 'eco' longer wash is meant to be more energy efficient but costs more! 🤷‍♀️

I have been monitoring what different cycles have cost. I tend to just use the allergy 60 wash for bedding & towels and the daily all in one hour long wash for everything else.

One load of towels a week - make sure they get hung up to air after use and they’ll stay fresh. One set of clothes for the day for kids, if they get so messy they need to change they get into pjs and clean play for the rest of the day. Do your DD bedding weekly and everyone else’s fortnightly, I hang mine over bedroom doors to dry.

i usually do 5 loads of laundry a week including bedding, there are 4 of us. I’d go mad doing multiple loads a day.

He works 3 12 hour days a week. So he wears work jeans for 3 days, joggers in the evening after work, then a fresh pair after for up to 4 days on his days off, then repeat!

It's the temperature of the water and agitation of the drum that costs. So by using eco washes they agitate less and soak more.

I'm on a boat at the mo and everything has to be handwashed and drip dried. And we have to lug water physically in containers to the boat. It really focuses your mind on how often washing needs doing 😱

Does everyone have allergies or just your daughter? If it’s just her, have enough bedding so you can change hers once a week and then do a 60 degrees wash of her bedding once a month. Everyone else’s bedding / towels will be absolutely fine being washed at 30.

If you have an eco setting on your washing machine , use that. Although the cycle takes longer it uses less energy as a lot of the time is soaking. Also make sure it's on 30 degrees. Put on night before then it's ready to hang out on the line in the morning.
Towels once a week , bedding 10-14 days, pjs three nights. Then only wash clothes that are visibly stained or smelly.

I was not talking about messy play being the major problem. Yes it's a factor but clothes are mainly needing washing through toileting accidents or food or drink spills - they both have dyspraxia. They are too big for bibs.

It's a mindset change needed!

washing at 30 is something I need to consider but I've always been under the impression it's not high enough for anything with urine on it heavily stained etc??