How many days on average, do you leave wet washing in the machine?

[HisWife]

I leave it between 24-48 hours, If longer than that I usually run it again.

bleurgh at leaving it in.

sometimes we forget to take it out in the morning (usually sunday when we're in a rush!), so we rinse and spin it again before we hang it out in the evening.

TobyLerone finally someone who agrees that washing doesn't smell as nice when it's been dried outside!

I do between 5 and 7 loads a week but I am also a lazy bugger so don't sort through stuff and the only time I use anything over 40 degrees is when I have a full towel/bedding load.

I seperate whites from darks that is about it though

There are 3 of us - underwear changed daily, DS clothes can be worn twice at a push and DP & I will wear same clothes for 2 days if possible.

Towels get changed twice a week and bedding once a week.

mine sometimes gets left to about 48 hours, but i think it's less likely to get that damp smell if you leave the door open on it? Also leaving the door wide open sometimes reminds me to unload it!!

up to 24 hrs. Don't find that it smells (and I have a freakily hyper sense of smell). Given DH and I both work FT, leaving the house at 8am and getting home at 7.30pm, washing gets done when it gets done and hung when we remember. I try not to leave it deliberately so long but a quick sniff test normally does the trick.

i'm impressed at changing your towels and bedding so frequently upyourdiva!
mine are both changed about every two weeks - is that terrible?!

onehellofaride

Although I have today bought a rotary dryer for things like towels and bedding that I can put in the machine so that they're ready to hang out before I leave for work. But I will put them in the tumble dryer for a few mins with a Bounce sheet when I get in!

This sunshine is going to my head.

Days! I feel bad if I leave mine in for ten minutes after it's finished. (had mildew problem with previous washing machine in student houseshare).

My washine machine has a timer so i can set it to come on at 6am and it's done by the time i am ready to hang it out before i go out. Or i set it to come on about an hour before i will be home so i can hang it out when i get in. I don't like it sitting there - especially sheets because everything creases really badly.

I do 2-3 loads a day too.
4 children, one whose bed is often wet (even in nightpants) one in washable nappies half the time

Depends if I'm there when it finishes. Usually pretty pronto though. Has been a day or so when I've been poorly and just couldn't be arsed. Funny how nobody else noticed it though

HATE hanging it on the airer inside, one of my most hated household tasks. LOVE hanging it on the line outside though, and much prefer the smell of the stuff that's been dried outside. And a line of nappies flapping in the breeze makes me feel like a Proper Mum

Always hang mine out within the day, mostly within a few hours. The smell of left wet washing makes me feel sick, especially after living with people who regularly used to forget about theirs and leave it in the machine for days at a time. Not only would their washing smell, the machine stank afterwards.

a couple of hours max. Don't re-wash if it rains, it's only water!

cant believe people re wash if laundry left in just for a couple of hours. . I routinely leave mine in for 8-10 hours and no awful smells. What a waste.

I am a bit of a slack arse and generally don't enjoy domestic chores but I bloody love washing !

Love hanging it out or over the airer (don't own a tumble dryer, never have)
I have a timer so set it to finish in a morning and hang out immediately, would never leave it longer than 10 minutes.

Sometimes when I'm out and about for the day I think fondly of my washing drying on the line.

we don't have a timer on our washing machine, so i use the rinse hold if i'm not going to be about when it finishes, or want to put it on over night. then when i'm good and ready to hang it out it does the final drain and spin in about 10 mins.

and i'm another one who couldn't fit more than one load on the washing line at once (and now i wash so many small items i need two airers if it's raining, can't imagine how i ever managed with one before the dcs). i really, really, really can't imagine how anyone could ever fit 5 loads on a washing line....

No day, either. It comes out as soon as because otherwise you get mould in the machine and the clothes smell fusty.

Depends how much room on the airer or line I have to dry it ..so can be up to a day

Never. It gets taken out immediately and either hung out on the line or popped into the tumble dryer.
I was shocked on another thread when a poster said her DH left the damp laundry in a pile to dry on the kitchen table

I usually put a load in at night and set the timer to go an about 4am. I usually manage to put it out about 7am so it's just over 2 hours for a normal wash, less if it's a longer wash.

It smells if you leave it too long.

And how I like my washing to be hung on the line and then folded afterwards is another matter entirely. If I'm very careful I can get away with only ironing dh's shirts which saves me ages for an added time implication of maybe 5-10mins in careful hanging / folding. Friends thinnk I'm bonkers until I point out how much of the load is ironed when following my perfectly sensible rules

IslaLund I had to contain myself but managed not to post repeatedly at that particular gem.

I have smellovisions of that family

If I don't take it out and drive to the hills to let it dry on a line in the fresh spring air within 27 seconds I have to wash it 6 times. Then burn it.

Sometimes I get distracted and leave it in for HOURS AND HOURS. Isn't that awful? I've left washing in for a day before. Oddly enough it didn't stink of cat shit, rot and death....it smelt of freshly washed clothes.

I get easily distracted and then remember my work uniform is in the washing machin ,usually about 11 at night when I need it for the next morning

at buttonmoon78 - I'm not houseproud, but that did make me shudder