How would you tackle this laundry backlog?!!

[periperisaucemama]

For 3 days per week I am at home looking after young DC being 100% mum (weekend and Friday).

For 4 days a week I'm working from home whilst DC are at nursery.

Like a lot of women I feel like I'm always spinning plates and juggling various responsibilities and tasks. I do majority of housework as I'm home more, and I always seem to have overflowing laundry baskets, and baskets of clean clothes to put away.

So with the above schedule, would you:

A) only do laundry on the 4 wfh days, and not do any on Fri-Sun (family time).

B) do all laundry on the 3 "mum" days (Friday, Sat & Sun) and rope in family to help out. Leave the 4 wfh days clear for work only.

C) spread it out across the week / everyday / most days

D) something else - a magic organised system I'm missing...

My advice to you is to do less washing. Our family of four do two loads a week. Pretty easy to fit that in.

I’d get a heated airer so there aren’t clothes drying everywhere all the time.

We’re a family of five. I do washing on Fridays and Saturdays (2-3 loads usually). By the end of Sunday there’s a pile of dry clothes to fold on my bed, spend 10 minutes folding them all and putting them outside people’s doors to put into cupboards, job done.

And, yes, perhaps get a few more clothes in? My younger two are nursery age and basically another 4-5 tops and 4-5 bottoms for nursery wear saves us a wash a week.

How would I handle this laundry backlog?

With a flame thrower!

Top tip. There are two of us and I do two loads of clothes and a load of towels a week. Sheets once every two weeks. I don’t even notice it.

I do beds and towels on set days, otherwise I would forget when they are due. Otherwise I look in the washing baskets on the mornings I am working from home and if there is enough lights/darks/undies or whatever to fill a load I put it on.

I have set days for linen and towels and just fit cl othes around that as needed.

I have also put the machine on timer so I can hang it out in the morning whilst the kids ate breakfast.

The key part is: if it doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get done or someone else is welcome to chip in!

I think the secret is to keep pushing through until the clothes are back in drawers/wardrobes. So my system when we lived in a flat worked because I didn't start the next wash until the previous one was dealt with, there was always a clear run the whole way through. If I'd tried to do two washes in one day (and occasionally I needed to) then there would be pinch points like not being able to fit all the clothes onto the airer.

Now because everyone does their own I find that I go to put a wash on but there is already a wash sitting in the machine that needs to either finish or be dealt with. If I walk away because the machine is in use then I forget about my wash (my short term memory is shit) and it doesn't get started until hours later or the next day. It's been raining non stop here so most things have to go into the dryer, which takes approximately three or four times as long to dry a load as the washing machine takes to wash a load, there there's another point of delay. And because everything is in the utility room I don't walk past it, I have to remember to go and check whether it's finished, and again short term memory isn't well suited to that.

@Greenshake I don't get it?? I've got three kids. I work close to 60 hours a week.

Stick a wash on. Hang it up or use the dryer. Put away or put in the ironing basket.

What am I missing?

I always fill the washing machine as soon I've showered in the morning, then bung it in the tumble dryer. You juts need the routine of doing it. I change each bed on a different day, bung it straight in,wash,tumble dry and put away. Don't iron. Towels a different day.

Actually if there’s a huge backlog and you can spare £20 or so, use something like Laundrapp as a one-off. They’ll return it all washed, dried and folded within 24h.

I also have dc at home and work. I put washing machine on as soon as I get up in the morning. And either hang out before I leave or dryer. Takes 2 minutes. Sometimes if extremely busy I would put on before I go to bed and hang out then. I don’t know why you would take up so much time to do laundry. I have 3 dcs and work and am a lone parent. Madness

How is it helpful to the OP to say that you find laundry effortless? She clearly doesn't, just like I don't. If someone is asking for tips and advice then isn't it sort of the opposite of advice to refuse to recognise there is an issue?

I do a load once a day (in the morning). Peg it out when not raining. Peg it on the airer otherwise. Occasionally have to use the dryer.

Once a week I have to put the washer on twice in a day (when washing bedding or a towel load)

I’ve tried other methods and find it easier to keep on top of everything to wash one load a day.

I just do one load a day really. Put it in dryer or on airer then when it's done fold sort and put it in the rooms of who it belongs to. I only put my own away. I think you are overthinking it as well. Sorry but if you do a load a day and bedding and towels at weekend it should be easier

I have a children's dirty basket and an an adults. This means I can fish out a lot of what kids stuff isn't really dirty.

I then wash wash one in a dark or lights when they are full.

Once dried, items go into a separate basket for each person plus a basket for towels or bedding.

Anything urgent gets done in a quick wash - pe kits.

I find little and often helps. And if you have a load wheee you know ir will all go in the dryer then sort it and do it that way.

I work full time and this is the method that saves it building up the most, but I still do a lot of laundry!

If I am waiting for the kettle to boil, I will stick a load of washing on (if there is any that needs done) or empty washer load dryer/hang on airer fold and sort put away its surprising what you can do in that time

How often are you washing stuff?
I only do towels once a week .
Bedding- once a week for the king-sized bed . Fortnightly for DSbed.
Clothing- 4 loads sorted into darks brights, pastels and lights. (Will combine the first two or the second two if one is a small load). DH has uniform. He wears the trousers for 4 days and has a shirt daily. Im working from home so make clothes last longer than I would if I was working in an office. DS wears jeans for a week and a clean top daily.

I do laundry every day. It's a constant presence in my life! Washing on in the morning.
Take dry clothes off airer and fold. Put newly washed out.
Clothes either go away or in ironing pile. I stagger bed changes to avoid a huge pile in one go.

Look up a Slob Comes Clean and the concept of laundry day. Life changing for me.

My husband and I work full time 50hrs a week, mine is slightly more flexible as I work from home most of the week. We don’t have a tumble drier, just a clothes horse and a dehumidifier which works brilliantly. We have a cleaner so it makes things easier.

On Monday the cleaner comes and strips the bed, I put it straight in the washing machine, then the towels and will either be hung out straight away if I’m wfh or hung out over night.

Pack a bag for nursery on Monday with a spare set of clothes for each day. All goes in the wash on the Friday after nursery and hung out, then straight back in the bag when dry (I don’t iron it - or anything come to that, husband will iron his shirts).

If I’m working from home, I do a wash in the morning, hang it out at lunch time. Husband puts it away in the evening.

If I’m in the office, one of us will put a load on at night and hang out in the morning, or set it to finish for when we get back and hang out then.

Weekends, do a load at night, hang out in the morning then go out for the day.

It takes no time to bung it in the machine. 10mins max to hang out. I actually love doing laundry, I think it’s the easiest house chore there is!!!

I have a similar work pattern. I use the delay timer and wash overnight ready for 6.30am.

Evening before a NWD - pool all laundry from various baskets, do the biggest wash (light or dark).

Evening before a working day - ask if anyone needs any emergency washing. Consider doing a delicates wash if that basket is looking full. Basically, end up with not much to hang up and put away on a working day.

Weekend day - towels / bedclothes wash (get rest of family to strip beds and re-make them, get out fresh towels etc).

You seem to be at home everyday - either wfh or family day.

Just stick a wash on every morning, then deal with it during the day as and when you get time. It's really not that challenging, especially if you aren't out of the house a lot of the time.

How?? Like genuinely how? For a start our family of 4 consists of 3 beds to change, each done fortnightly so DC's beds one week and our bed the other, each is 2 loads (1 for protectors and 1 for sheets) At least 1 loads of towels per week. That's 3 loads before we've even started on clothes? I already handwash DC's swimsuits which I guess you could count as another load

A load on every morning, extra spin to
help it dry, hang up straight away outside or heated airer.
Take upstairs in the evening when we go up and do bathtime and put away whilst the bath is running. Have to be disciplined otherwise it does build up! Might have a treat day every so often and not do a load :)