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Original poster

Is there any hack/ advice for tackling washing/ironing piles

127 replies

pippplop · 20/11/2023 07:48

Seriously though, I just don't have the hours in the day. I'm working 6 days a week, 2 days are 12 hr shifts. DH is also very busy. We have two small kids and the ironing is insane. I don't know how to keep it tidy and out of the way. Ideally I should iron every day to tackle the load but I'm just so tired and busy that its growing daily. I don't know if I could justify and ironing lady

If you have any tips or advice as to how to keep the ironing under some kind of control or to avoid binning the lot please keep me posted lol

OP posts:
FiveCows · 20/11/2023 07:49

Stop ironing.

DisplayPurposesOnly · 20/11/2023 07:51

Stop ironing. Or at least iron fewer things.

Your husband does some.

As the children get older, teach them to iron.

smilesup · 20/11/2023 07:51

Don't iron.
We iron nothing except DH irons his shirts.
Kids never iron their shirts for school just give them a good shake

Check things really need washing. Can it be spot washed?. Most trousers and jumpers can be worn a few times. T-shirts I give a sniff. If clean and doesn't smell back into the drawer it goes. I've halved the washing doing this. Also stops clothes from wearing and looking old.

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Home improvement
DeepEnd · 20/11/2023 07:51

Iron your own items as you need them.

Whinge · 20/11/2023 07:53

I'm probably going to be labelled scruffy and lazy, but if you have 2 small children then I don't think any of their clothes need ironing. Smile

I would even go as far as saying a lot of adult clothes don't need ironing if you give them a good shake before hanging them to dry.

LemonySippet · 20/11/2023 07:56

Only iron school uniform (and DHs shirts when he works out of the house which is rare these days). We do one load of laundry every day, dried with a tumble dryer or on an airer next to a dehumidifier. Ironing done on Sunday ready for the new week. (For those that say if you hang it up straight out of the tumble dryer it won't need ironing, I have found over 14 years of school parenting that the school badges twist the fabric so that nothing but ironing helps)

RampantIvy · 20/11/2023 07:57

I am an unusual mumsnetter because giving my clothes a good shake doesn't get rid of the creases so I do iron, because I wear natural fabrics that look awful if I don't. However, I iron a lot less. Toddler clothes don't need ironing and your husband could do his own.

AnnaMagnani · 20/11/2023 07:57

Stop ironing. Apart from cotton shirts does anything actually need it?

Soontobe60 · 20/11/2023 07:59

This evening, when your Dc are in bed, you and DH get all the piles of washing and sort it. Have a stack of hangers with you. Put the iron on. One of you hang or fold everything that you can get away with not ironing whilst the other one starts ironing what has to be ironed. It should take you both about an hour to clear the backlog.
So now you have an empty laundry basket, you need a system to stop it building back up. After a laundry load is dried, sort it straight away and put away everything that doesn’t need ironing. It’s easier if you sort the dirty washing into categories. School uniform in one wash. Everyone’s underwear and sock in another etc. My DH actually does all the ironing - he sets the ironing board up in front of the TV on a Sunday morning and watches Sunday Brunch / Grand Prix / cricket 😂

pastypirate · 20/11/2023 07:59

What are you ironing??? I e bought non iron uniform the entire time the dds have been at school.

muchalover · 20/11/2023 08:00

If you dry carefully and with a bit of fuss then nothing needs ironing, particularly in winter.

I used to iron everything and now I iron nothing. So liberating . Body heat takes the creases out.

pastypirate · 20/11/2023 08:00

My other advice is find a really good box set to watch while you do it x

Get through the current stack then quit.

erinaceus · 20/11/2023 08:00

Can your DH take it on as “his job”? Some people can get in a routine where they do it whilst watching sports or soaps on TV or something like that.

Can you outsource some of it? (Depends on finances but can be worth it - I see you mentioned this but it might be worth a trial run. e.g. stop ironing everything except shirts which you outsource.)

I agree with keeping ironing to the minimum.

LaundryWoes · 20/11/2023 08:00

Same advice as above posters from me, reduce your limit for what needs ironing. I iron shirts/blouses, and some trousers (as and when I have time, usually every couple of weeks I put something on telly and work through a pile).

Otherwise everything is shaken straight and hung to dry on an airer, then folded and put away.

Djimm · 20/11/2023 08:01

You're going to get pages of people telling you they never iron.

For us laundry is a weekend thing, because we are that cool and interesting. Wash everything from 4pm Friday onwards, iron in front of the TV (ironer's choice of programme) on Sunday nights. Put all away ready for Monday. This time of year we need an extra wash or two during the week to ease up pressure on the drying space but I could absolutely not be doing with daily washing.

We don't iron much stuff, mainly work shirts really, sometimes kids' school stuff depending on whether we've managed to tumble it and hang up straight away.

43ontherocksporfavor · 20/11/2023 08:01

Do less laundry. Only underwear and socks/tights need to be washed after one wear. Change when you get home and hang things up, spot clean. Dry and fold carefully.

PinkflowersWhiteBerries · 20/11/2023 08:01

pre sort your ironing pile into temperatures & similar shapes
start with the hot items,
Put some watchable nonsense on tv, nothing too engrossing, or your favourite music.
Knock it out steadily.

Have a look at handheld steamers, maybe they would help to cut the load.

I am older and I know I iron more than many, but I do pay a bit more attention these days to washing, hanging etc to minimise what needs ironing.

Man made fibres rarely do. I would question whether I would iron small kids clothing . Don’t spin too fast or wash/ dry too hot.

ButterflyBitch · 20/11/2023 08:04

I can’t help with the ironing because I don’t do it. I have just reached the bottom of my laundry pile and can now do a load every couple of days for the first time ever. It’s taken me years. Years. I just worked out a system and cracked on as best I could in the summer when things dried quicker and have finally done it. Am determined to keep on top of it now.

bellac11 · 20/11/2023 08:05

Same as others here, don't iron and make sure things are worn 2 to 3 times before washing them, put on bigger loads where you can so it's less washes. I iron a shirt now and then for work but not much else

Unicorn34 · 20/11/2023 08:05

When your clothes come out of the machine, shake them out and fold them, leave flat for 1/2 hr then hang up to dry. No need for ironing except shirts or anything that really needs it.

Notcookie · 20/11/2023 08:06

Do you wash things when they don't really need it? My sister washes everything after one wear and she does 2 loads a day! I wash underwear socks and t shirts/shirts after one wear but everything else gets the sniff test. Pyjamas washed once a week. Towels once a week and sheets every fortnight.

Only iron shirts.

This means with a family of four I do one wash a day and then iron all the shirts once a fortnight. Takes maybe 10 minutes a day to shove stuff in the washing machine, hang it out and put away yesterday's clothes immediately so there's never any pile up.

You could put washing in at night and time it so its ready to hand first thing in the morning. Put it away dry in the evening while the DC are getting ready for bed. Never have any piles of laundry hanging around.

ChimneyPot · 20/11/2023 08:08

You’ve said you don’t know if you could justify an ironing lady.
If you can afford to have someone do your ironing occasionally or regularly and it would make your life easier you don’t need to justify it to anyone.

RosesAndHellebores · 20/11/2023 08:08

Dry on hangers to minimise creases. I'm a fussy so and so and don't like creased clothes. A lot of my work dresses are Seasalt, White Stuff, etc. You can escape the iron with them although I tend not to and I like bed linens ironed.

@pippplop there are two options and you are working very hard and in the thick of the hard yards. Firstly get a cleaner who irons as well if you can run to it or secondly, you just have to keep on top of it. Load on every morning and when you get in, before bed, you hang it and then fold, sort and iron (if necessary) the previous days stuff.

HappyAsASandboy · 20/11/2023 08:10

Stop ironing unless absolutely necessary.

We iron ...

• school shirts (only proper collar/sleeve ones, not polo shirts)
• Adult work shirts (again, only proper collar/sleeve ones, not blouses or polos)
• Very occasionally a top or dress of mine, though most either shake out and dry flattish, or are worn so seldomly that they're only ironed seldomly too

Four our house of 6 people that adds up to about 45 mins of ironing a week, which DH does while I cook on a Sunday evening, or he does it while I do bedtime if the afternoon/evening is too busy.

There is no need to iron anything else on a regular basis.

bellac11 · 20/11/2023 08:11

Unicorn34 · 20/11/2023 08:05

When your clothes come out of the machine, shake them out and fold them, leave flat for 1/2 hr then hang up to dry. No need for ironing except shirts or anything that really needs it.

Where and how do you lay a whole wash flat? All over the floor? I have some trousers that tell me to dry flat and I don't even know what this means or how to do it, consequently I have not washed them yet and have taken them on holiday unwashed!!!