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!! 😓

Low temp washes.
Easy wash fabrics.
Tolerate being a bit smelly/stained, most people don't notice unless they're really close. If I stick my nose in my shirt armpit I can smell it but from a couple of feet away??? Unless you are doing manual work...
TBH it's crap that you have to ask, since we have become used to being much "cleaner" than my parents were. I am in my 50's and remember a bath once a week. Same shirt all week at school... pew! I don't want to go back to that.

Ask a stupid question get a stupid answer time…

1. wear less clothes
2. wear clothes for longer
3. wash towels and bedding less frequently
4. put wipe down aprons on kids when doing messy activities
5. throw away clothes when dirty and replace them with new ones
6. sell your washing machine
7. wash clothes in the dishwasher
8. keep clothes on when in shower

i mean come on, you are a grown adult, what a stupid question

You are always doing to have quite a bit of laundry, but you need to change your mindset a bit

You might need a clean tee but you can’t need clean trousers everyday. Just sponge stains off. Two pairs of trousers a week, tops.

You mention white shirts, but you husband wears tees for work? Unless the white shirts are school uniform, keep them for occasional wear.

Once a week is fine for towels if they are aired. There are dead skins cells all over your house OP.

If your son is having regular accidents then can you look into waterproof pants under his normal pants? Kids shouldn’t need clean trousers everyday, and tops should go for 2 days sometimes. Have dedicated tops for meals and wash once or twice a week. Make them sit at the table if you don’t already.

30 degrees with non bio is fine for most things including urine. If it’s poo accidents then chuck in some napisan as you would for nappies. Don’t used bio if the family is prone to eczema. You might need to go to 40 for adult sweaty stuff, but you might well not - try it. One of the key things is to leave enough space in the machine for clothes to circulate and wash.

An air dryer with a cover is quick. Lakeland have some on a small offer. I would try and get a dehumidifier though.

Get non iron shirts for your son at school.

You can get cotton non iron ones so he won’t get sweaty (the cotton is treated with something and has a finer yarn), as long as you shake it when it comes out of the machine and stick it on a hanger it is fine.

Thank you. I actually believe one pack was but haven't washed to see yet.. not back til Wednesday! I will bear it in mind!

Duvet covers don't need washing as much as sheets and pillow cases. So I tend to wash the sheets and pillowcases once a week and just air the duvet with the cover on.

Towels get washed once a week and carefully airer in between.

Jeans rarely need washing, just air between wears.

I regularly wash on cold or 20c for clothes and I haven't noticed a difference in the cleanliness of our clothes. If something needs an extra clean before (something gross on it), then I'll run it on a 15 minute wash on its own as a prewash. Gym wear gets dettol laundry cleanser in the fabric softener section as otherwise that can pong whatever temperature it's washed at! Towels and bedsheets go on the 40-60 eco wash that uses 0.3kwh of energy on average according to the washing machine app.

And I agree with others that non-bio is a con- no other countries sell it. If you have sensitive skin just do an extra rinse cycle and be careful not to use too much powder.

Agree that a dehumidifier can be helpful if you have to dry clothes indoors. Put it in a small room with the window shut when the dehumidifier is running and it will work best.

We are lucky enough to now have a utility room with an extractor fan in and we have a Julu laundry ladder www.juluhome.co.uk. Not cheap to buy but things dry so well on it over a radiator. I can get loads on the when I also pop some tops and trousers on hangers on it. And I have extra hooks so it can go outside for a bit and then bring the whole lot in if rain comes rather than having to take everything down and hang it out again- very useful in the rainy south west!

And for school shirts, I just spin the washing at only 800rpm, get the shirts out, a good shake and hang up on hangers. Then re-spin the rest of the washing on a higher speed.

Hanging them up slightly damper seems to help the creases drop out better and shirts dry quickly. Does mean a bit more moisture in the air but make sure to air the house or run the dehumidifier.

Washing everything every day is a habit. Easier to flick stuff into the machine than pick it up, look and sniff, sponge where needed and hang it back I think.

@greenhousegal I'm guilty of this.

I've been getting into the habit of spot cleaning but it's hard to keep track. Last term I got into the habit of whipping off the youngest's jumper, spot cleaning it with a toothbrush kept for that purpose and hanging it on the hall radiator for the following day. I'll continue this in the winter and he can wear his oodie.

I also need to work on them not using their clothes to wipe their hands, concentrating on eating tidily, using a tissue to wipe their face, and play at the table rather than on the floor. ie stop rolling around everywhere, especially outside.

I personally don’t like big fluffy towels for getting dry so I buy the cheapest bath towels from ikea, (they are £1.45 and they deliver). They are very thin so they take up less space in the washing machine and dry much faster.

For the kids, football tops in summer and fleece/technical winter clothing in winter is much easier to wash and dry and never gets stained.