How do I cut down kids clothes.

[Wintersun2026]

I'm just woundering. How many clothes do your children have ie 10 /20 tops 6 joggers etc. My children have always had to many clothes. And the washing gets out of hand. So i want to cut down. But I'm not sure what amount is reasonable to have?

I think the issue is more that you’re not doing the washing until you’ve run out of clean clothes, rather than the amount of clothes.

I aim for one load of washing every single day. Might be clothes, might be towels, sheets etc. But one load every day. And then put it away as soon as it’s dry otherwise you’ll end up with a mountain of clean washing.

DS16 should be doing his own washing

I agree with this actually. Get them
all their own washing basket and teach the16 year old how to use the machine.

12 year old could prob start to learn too but you may still need to prompt them every week to remember to do it.

Yes I do let it pile up. Thats my whole point. I find everything difficult to manage. For me it's not a case of put a load on when you have one. I know that doesn't sound logic and it's easy just to put a load on. But i find it hard due to other stuff. I was really just asking what amount of clothes seen reasonable.

There are only seven days in the week. How can one child go through 10 pairs of jeans in one week?

I think if they had fewer clothes it would be more of a motivation to do the washing because they'd run out.
School uniform: Mine have 4 shirts and 2 PE shirts, same with school trousers/pe joggers/shorts. So basically just enough to get through a week.
Casual: 4 joggers or casual trousers, 2 shorts, 5x long sleeve t-shirts, 5x short sleeve, 3x jumpers, a few checked shirts.

Basically you need enough to get you through a week in term time and a week in the holidays.

If they have fewer clothes will you feel compelled to wash more frequently so they don’t run out?

It can also mean that they were the just cleaned clothes skipping the put away stage.

What other stuff puts you off doing the laundry? Are you a bit disorganised?

You need to be doing a lot more washing, I think. How many times do you run the machine a week? It also sounds as if your children are old enough to help you.

I only asked what amount of clothing is reasonable and its slipped into more than what i was asking..i cant keep explaining why I find it hard . Then explain why xyz the.explain abc . The original question just gets lost.

What is it about the washing that you are struggling with? Is it gathering up the dirty washing? Putting it? Hanging it out? Or getting it back to its correct place once it is washed and dried? Find out where the system breaks down.
I have to have allocated days for certain laundry. It’s the only way I manage. We’ve been doing it so long even the kids know and even the youngest at 12 will put the wash on.
Once it is dry it is put on the kitchen table in individual piles and taken straight up to their rooms and put away.
Typically my dc only need 3/4 prs trousers and 3/4 tops outside of school clothes and they aren’t with each week so definitely look at reducing how many clothes they have. That way the laundry pile is smaller and more manageable

The original point isn't relevant though, when the context of your question was how hard you are finding it to just get laundry done.

I find everything difficult to manage is the problem here, and it may well be that you could benefit from medical help to make things easier.

Reducing the amount of clothes won't eliminate the need to wash clothes a few times per week.

Yes exactly that.
Thank you so much. I will use that's as a guide.

Ok. My dc (16 and 12) each have 4 prs school trousers, 4 school tops, plus 2 prs jeans and 3/4 joggers/shorts plus 4/5 t-shirt and 1 smart top for the weekend. 8 days worth of underwear. Their bedding and towels are washed once a week. They may have the odd extra garment but they tend to wear the same things (sports wear dries very quickly) and I work on a strict one in and one out basis - we don’t have the room for many more clothes!

eta oh and if an odd sock comes out of the wash then it goes back in 1/2 more times and if it hasn’t discovered it’s loved one by then we consider it divorced and we bin it 🤣

Seven outfits each in terms of casual clothes. I’ve just finished buying their winter bits off Vinted. Seven trousers, seven jumpers for my son along with a pack of plain white t shirts for underneath. My daughter has four dresses, tights, two white wool cardigans, three jumpers and three pairs of leggings.

Ok thank you. I may do slightly more than that. Only a couple more just for a just incase moment.

Im lucky to get a pair after a new packet has been used 😭

That reminds i need to get rid of some bedding and Duvets as well.

I have been doing vinted. To replace clothes then I got ot all mixed uk with their older clolthes and got myself in a mess. I think the only thing I need are some jumpers/hoodies then I'm done.

Oh I got ridiculous with keeping duvets etc due to a habit from when the dc were younger in case they were ill etc. Now we have one spare duvet, a couple pillows and throws from the lounge if needed. We all have 2 sets of bed covers and that’s it.

This may or may not help you but this is our washing routine and we do not deviate from it
Mon - 2 single beds sheets etc washed
Tues- all towels
Weds - darks
Thurs - lounge throws and whites
fri - 2 double bed sheets etc, darks
sat - all towels
sun - darks
This is what works for my dc (22,16,12) I don’t deviate from it because I get easily overwhelmed so this is what works for me

Yes i still have character duvet i only really need 2 duvets and 2 duvet covers for each bed.

I'm hoping to get all clothes washing done on a Friday and Saturday towels /bedding on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

I still had character duvet covers that my dc says they would never use - 1 of which was Bob the Builder from when my dc26 was a toddler 🙈🙈🤣 Get rid op! 🤣

I personally find it easier to keep to washing things the same day each week. It can be hard at first when you struggle to get it in your head without getting overwhelmed but honestly within a few weeks you will get there. And once you are in that routine then it is easier to get rid of clothes you no longer need because washing is always up to date.

Handy tip for you

You have a 16 year-old. About time they learned how to use a washing machine.

Yes definitely evict Bob 😅

And yes thats definitely my aim

Im thinking to do clothes washing on a Friday as it gives it time to dry over the weekend towels and bedding mid week hopefully if i can do that I won't go in circles.

Bob is evicted 🤣

I think that’s the thing - pick a day to do certain laundry. Then it soon becomes habit. And honestly, if you can just go through your dc clothes and keep enough for school and a couple things for weekend then just put the rest of their clothes in ikea/aldi bags until you get round to looking at it and sorting it.

Im almost there with the sorting for ds. I need dd to through what fits what doesn't thats like asking for blood from a stone 🙄. I need to sort out my clothes as well. Lost alot of weight so I need to get rid of alot.

I have 3 kids.
I have to do at least one wash per day.
Mine are teenagers now so they buy a lot of clothes for themselves, but when they were younger they didn't have much.
If I don't do a wash every day, it gets out of hand very quickly as they will start looking for a particular item