Can we talk honestly about Laundry?

[Giggleslikespickles]

I have a husband and two young boys and I CANNOT keep on top of my washing unless I become obsessed and it’s all I do and all I think about (yes I’m over exaggerating but genuinely feels like this sometimes)

I need some helpful tips or like minded people to make me feel better about my failures 😝

I’m literally always routing through clean clothes that are still on top of the washing machine because I hate how soul destroying it is putting clothes into piles and then walking upstairs over and over again to put them away just to se them either thrown on the floor or back in the laundry - it’s monotonous, tedious and quite frankly boring

What can I do to make my life easier and embrace the task? I’m done being surrounded by clothes that aren’t in the places they should be

I tend to put a load on each day.
separate loads for:
towels and underwear
Bedding
darks
whites
everything else

sports clothes tend to go in with towels and underwear.

I wash and fold when dry. 2 DC take their clothes to their rooms and put away. I take mine and DH to our room but he puts his own away.

On dry days, when the clothes dry on the line outside, I have no issue with laundry. I put on a load and can have it out away by the end of the day. Hooray.

But wet days? Take FOREVER to dry inside, especially when I don't have to put the heating on. I only have enough space for 2 clothes horses, so can only put on a wash every other day max. That's when it annoys me.

No amount of system will give me extra space to dry unless I magic up an extension.

Me and dh are a team and I do the laundry
he’d help if I asked but he has a very physical unlike me so I happy to take on that task.
mowing the lawn is his ( I struggle with the mower )
and among many other things dh washes the cars ( I always get soaked) so feel I’ve got the better deal.

How much “back log” are we talking here?!

Mostly I try to keep to one person's washing in a load, so then it doesn't have to be sorted out. All washing has to go through me. If someone wants a wash put on, they have to put it in a laundry bag in front of the machine, and I decide the order it gets done, and the cycle it goes on - this might vary depending on how much needs doing/weather. I tried everyone doing their own, but it works better with me deciding what to prioritise. For example, sometimes I might have space in a white wash so I will shout out to see if anyone has any more t-shirts to go in.

I've stopped pairing socks except my own - if anyone cares, they can do it themselves. Ditto ironing - well, despite me offering ironing lessons to my now adult DC, they haven't taken me up on it. So their clothes are unironed, except as a special favour which will need repaying. DH does his own ironing.

It's different with children, and depends on the household and things like the amount of uniform you are prepared to buy. I had 5 shirts for each child, plus 2 pairs of trousers, so there was enough uniform to last the week.

I must be weird but I like laundry and I’m on top of it. I can’t relate to some peoples comments.

I put 1-2 washes on a day. Sometimes 0 on a good day. We have 2 pre school children. Husband tends to wash his own gym kit etc. I do bedsheets. Drying either goes on the line or tumble drier. Husband puts his own clean clothes away. I do the kids

More than I’d like to admit
A shameful amount 🫣🤭

I put the washing on, DH puts it out mostly and then away. I have adhd and it would be in massive piles everywhere left to me but he's great at putting it all away. I put a load on most mornings and it never builds up too much. Works for us, no kids but loads of washing due to me being a bit whiffy and doing sports, etc.

You could solve your issue so easily by everyone doing their own washing. You would probably have to help the 9yo at first, but wouldn’t take long for him to get the hang of it

Laundry is something that is never done.

I have a laundry basket I share with my child and my partner has his own. We are each responsible for washing and drying our own clothes and I wash my child’s.

Clothes get washed after one wear. It’s hot here so we sweat or get sandy from the beach. In winter we often get rained on so clothes need to be washed. It’s not about clothes having visual stains on them. We sweat and shed skin cells even when the weather is cool.

We have a separate laundry room downstairs and that has a laundry basket in it as well - so that things don’t pile up on the floor.

I wash between 1 and 4 loads a day. I wash clothes, bath towels and kitchen towels and cloths in separate loads. Bed linens also get washed separately as well as any downstairs blankets.

Shirts get hung on hangers and I dry a lot of things flat so they retain their shape.

We have two large clothes horses upstairs for drying + we have an electric clothes dryer downstairs and we hang extra items over the stair banister as they dry very quickly.

I tend to do ironing several times a week.

I currently have a large extra thick garbage bag that I intend taking to the laundromat to get all of the doonas and bedsheets to be washed in an industrial washer and also dried. Otherwise I would be washing constantly and there isn’t enough room for hanging everything.

I’m in Australia and damp isn’t a thing in my home. We just crack open a window or use refrigerated air conditioning which dries things out. Like most houses in our city we have solar panels so the electric usage isn’t a big deal.

There are a lot bushfires in summer so you can’t leave clothes outside all of the time and the moment the weather turns cooler people put on their wood fired heaters - so everything stinks.

I don’t know how many people cope with their washing machines in their kitchens and always drying their clothes indoors as well as dealing with dampness in the UK. It must be so difficult.

But how many loads are we actually talking op?

how many clothes do you all have??! Or are you all down to a couple of tens of clean clothes?

You see here’s the difference, my now 11 year loved it at 8. Being old enough to peg it out it was dressed up as fun and a treat. As was choosing his laundry basket etc It was a lovely thing and he was excited to be doing ‘big boy stuff’ and loved working out how best to dry his clothes and looking at the weather forecast to see what was the best time of day. It was also basic maths how many pegs might you need - can you do it with less etc

At 8, you make it a game. Good for you if you never had to lift a finger and had enough time - I didn’t. I was a single mum, working 7 am to 6 pm 5 days a week. At 9 they got to learn the hoovering properly.

Same with stacking the dishwasher or anything.

I see far too many entitled children not knowing how to do anything and then expecting girlfriend is or even worse feeling their time is more important than their partner’s time.

don’t know how many people cope with their washing machines in their kitchens and always drying their clothes indoors as well as dealing with dampness in the UK. It must be so difficul

My house isn't damp because it's south facing at the back and I put the heating on.
We live in the South

Laundry is either
Hung on the line usually about March/ Oct and then dried Oct/March either on an airer or in the TDryer.
As the heating is on it dries overnight.
Tumble dryers now are the heat pump ones so cheap to run and kinder to clothes.
I wash once a week and so we don't have laundry hanging all week-literally would hate that .

This one is space dependent, but I have DH, DS (9) and DD (2) I have 4 plastic boxes in the utility, one for each. I put a wash and dry cycle on most days, clothes folded into relevant boxes. DH and DS put their clothes away, I put away mine and DD.

Every other week or so I go through DS wardrobe and drawers to have a quick tidy round.

I also barely iron, I have muslin or jaquard bed sheets that don't need ironing, kids have coverless duvets. I mostly only iron smart clothing/things that can'tbe tumble dried, everything else generally comes out of the dryer crease free.

my now 11 year loved it at 8. Being old enough to peg it out it was dressed up as fun and a treat. As was choosing his laundry basket etc It was a lovely thing and he was excited to be doing ‘big boy stuff’ and loved working out how best to dry his clothes and looking at the weather forecast to see what was the best time of day. It was also basic maths how many pegs might you need - can you do it with less etc

he “loved” it for the first week and you know it! 😂

my two have so much more than me
and rightfully so
school uniform
and
a ton of sports kit. Rugby, football, hockey, swimming - that gets filthy.
alongside the usual underwear etc
plus teens can rarely re wear clothes after day 1

and your kids do ALL of their own laundry.

You presumably have much less than them

I never did my own laundry either until I went to uni and I agree with not expecting children to do a load of washing. However, there's a big difference between that and children who leave a trail of dirty clothes in their wake or just dump clean clothes on the floor. There's nothing wrong with expecting them to at least put their clothes in a laundry basket or carry cleaned and folded clothes to their own room.

Oh my two are expected to put all dirty laundry in laundry bin

and then I leave their clean clothes on their bed for them to put away.

they are 13 and 15

Definitely not ground down just started a conversation that has been insightful, engaging and helpful. I love to hear how others do things as we’re all so different in our approaches as humans. It’s good to be open minded and accept that not everyone does things the same way as you and that’s ok 😊

Ive had some great tips, thank you all for taking the time out of your day 😀

Sadly though the way you’re doing things in your household isn’t working for you and isn’t making you happy, the result of which….

you have spent Easter Sunday getting on top of what sounds like a truly gargantuan sized mountain of laundry (and mumsnetting about said laundry of course!)

It’s not really rocket science is it. I never did my laundry at home but have managed perfectly well without needing to be shown how as an adult.

check the label if you’re not sure, match the symbol with the washing machine program, job done.

kids have never done their own washing either and are managing fine at uni.

Exactly!

my new uni friends “taught” me in ten minutes!

I find it quite disrespectful when mine throw their clothes on the floor expecting me to pick them up (they still do it occasionally but I refuse to pick it up - they must put them in their laundry bins).

I haven’t started to teach them to do their own washing yet but I will when they’re a bit older

You make your choices on how you present it.

But seriously, he genuinely he still enjoys it and especially working out what time is best for him to do it and dry the fastest etc eg better to wash at 8 am Saturday as it is due to rain at 12 etc
it also taught him not to wash clothes that didn’t need to be washed. He is colour blind and once he discovered that he prefers all grey socks as he doesn’t have to pair any and then discovered 7 pairs for £5 in Asda and I was very happy to buy him 35 pairs - £25 well spent and job done. And once or twice it taught him that you don’t wash you laundry straight after the dog bedding etc - and he and my other children actually do like it. But then they are fickle and strange creatures who follow the motto many hands make light work, as long as someone else isn’t buggering stuff up for you 🤣

Does your husband at least put his dirty washing in the laundry bin??

I won’t answer this 😂