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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask how you manage to stay on top of the laundry pile

144 replies

Cigna · 06/04/2018 13:01

Our family has just expanded from 5 to 6 (whoohoo) and while it is mostly wonderful, I can already see that we have difficulties with the increased amount of laundry. We are not extreme in washing (towels last one week, as does bedding- clearly as long as no accidents happened), but we easily have 8-10 full loads every week. With both of us working full time (am now on leave though) we used to do all of the loads in the weekend with me sorting and folding in front of tv on Sunday. This seems no longer feasible as we cannot spent the whole weekend moving laundry from the washing machine to the dryer etc. How do other (big) families manage to stay on top? Kids are too small to help and especially the sorting per kid takes a lot of time. Any tips are gratefully received!

OP posts:

ComeOnGordon · 06/04/2018 15:37

3DC here and until recently 2 adults. I only do laundry on a Monday & a Friday but will do 2 or 3 loads on a Friday.

Agree with the PP’s - dont wash things that have only been worn once if they’re not visibly dirty or aren’t smelly (exception to this is my teenage son’s t shirts - he needs a fresh one every day).

And don’t iron unless absolutely required - no one notices if you iron or not.

bobisbored · 06/04/2018 15:40

5 of us here, including to teenagers who change a million times a day! I wash every day, I have an electric airer (up all the time in my room which I hate) and a tumble dryer. I do have an ironing lady though, she picks it up on Sunday morning and drops it back Sunday evening.

GirlsBlouse17 · 06/04/2018 15:43

We don't have a tumble dryer. DP checks the 7 day weather forecast on net weather website and gets washing done overnight and put on washing line the following morning when there is a dry day forecasted. Fingers crossed!

PrimalLass · 06/04/2018 15:43

I honestly think it would be easier to do loads per person so that it does not need sorted as much. I never manage that though.

sendthecoffee · 06/04/2018 15:48

We are a family of five. I've got a dryer but the fuse has gone (us it drains the electricity meter so quickly!) so not used at the moment. I do towels one week, bedding the next week (we've got loads of towels so enough to keep us ticking over for two weeks!) and I do at least one wash a day. All the clothes get bunged in on one 30 min wash - never had any issues with colours running. Set it for 6am so I can get it out on line when I get up. I put washing out in all but the worst rain - even when it's a bit drizzly, the wind or the temperature can get it mostly dry. I've always got a backlog to put away though! And I never iron!

Snowysky20009 · 06/04/2018 15:52

Family of four. Washing goes on every day at least once a day, but can be up to three times a day.
Each day everyone's pj's, uniform, clothes from the day before goes in one load. Towels every other day (we use them once and wash). 3 -4 loads per week of rugby and football
Kits after practice and matches as they are caked in mud. Bedding once a week on a Sunday (2 x loads). A load with whites (school shirts and t-shirts) on a Saturday.
As soon as they are done then straight into the tumble dryer, folded and put away. It's a continuous chore, that I hate, but I can not stand the laundry basket full.

newterritories · 06/04/2018 15:54

I’ve got 5 dc ones a newborn so tons of washing
The clean pile to be folded is huge and never gets finished but I’d rather have a big pile of clean than dirty

NameChangr678 · 06/04/2018 15:57

Wow, people genuinely wash pyjamas and towels after one wear? The only thing I wash after one wear is knickers and socks. Everything else is worn until it starts to smell or I spill coffee on it. Towels and bedding like once a month. Jeans or jumpers hardly ever.....

When I lived alone I did a wash once every 3 weeks. Now my partner lives with me, it's like twice a week, because his clothes actually stink after one wear. And he plays sport. Sigh!

gabsdot · 06/04/2018 15:59

We have 2 adults and 2 kids in our family.
The kids do their own laundry. One load each per week and they hang it out on a clothes horse to dry and fold and put away when it's dry. DD does hers on Friday, DS on Saturday.
I do the other laundry, usually 3 other loads per week and dry them on a clothes horse.
I've never used a tumble drier.
I put the clothes horse up in my DD's bedroom as it has the most spare room.
OP try and do a load every day to keep on top of it.

Snowysky20009 · 06/04/2018 16:01

But I will add that mine comes from my up bringing. When I did live with my mother for a while, she had no washing machine. So if i wanted clean clothes, towels and bed sheets I would have to take them to be washed at my grandmothers.

I used to be so jealous of friends who all had nice smelling things. So I think my washing everything constantly steems from that. Not wanting my boys to ever be in dirty clothes. However as teens, they will change their t-shifts, hoodies etc daily, but will sometimes say they will wear their jeans a second day, which I'm slowly learning to live with!

Poodles1980 · 06/04/2018 16:01

Our machines are on every day. Tend to put washes in at night when I go to bed and tumble in the evenings and sort and fold watching telly. If there is too much in the basket I bring a big load to the launderette and get it washed and dried and folded by the lovely man.

Fredella · 06/04/2018 16:05

Do a load each evening, if needed. Dry overnight on a heated airer. Extra stuff at the weekend or sunny days.... Limited ironing, done once or twice a week.

bigarse1 · 06/04/2018 16:07

we are a family of 5, 2 are disabled and can vomit up to 50 times a day each. we do between 8 and 10 loads every single day. no tumble drier so we have airers, rads and washing lines strung across the downstairs loo with a heater in it.

BlackeyedSusan · 06/04/2018 16:10

one load per evening and left on airers. one load on an airer dries quite quickly. some stuff overnight, two loads on an airer take longer as there is more liquid to evaporate and less air movement, and a damper patch of air as more stuff is sending water into the air.

if your garden is secure you could risk it getting darked on overnight. you would not have to mind about spider willies though.

Gingerninj · 06/04/2018 16:10

There's 5 of us. I usually do the important things like school uniform, football/cheer kit before anything else. Then kids favourite clothes that i know they'll want to wear to save the hassel. Once we're running out of towels I'll do a load of only towels. Apart from that I just try to do as many as possible in a day and I'm definitely not always on top of it

magickingdom82 · 06/04/2018 16:12

I never really understand this. Do all your washing on one day (say Saturday) and straggler loads Sunday morning. Tumble dry one lot after he next. Then iron Sunday night or when you have time.

SecretBum · 06/04/2018 16:17

Lakeland heated airer - it can dry a load of washing in 24 hours, especially with the cover on

I've seen a couple of mentions of these heated airers and I don't see the point really. I very rarely use our tumble dryer and hang all clothes inside. I couldn't say for definite how long they take but they dry in about 24 hours IME just from the house temperature (which is average, not bumping heating on all the time).

Snowysky20009 · 06/04/2018 16:17

magickingdom82 but that's your entire weekend taken up, washing load after load and drying load after load. You couldn't go anywhere for longer than an hour, without having to come back empty and refill?

moonfacebaby · 06/04/2018 16:23

I’m a single parent to two kids & have just about mastered the art of keeping on top of it all.

A wash goes on pretty much daily - at the moment, it either goes in the dryer or on the clothes horse after.

Out of the dryer & fold & put away. On the clothes horse, when dry, folded & put away. Any ironed stuff gets done as soon as I take it off the dryer (I keep ironing to a bare minimum tbh).

It’s the only way I can deal with it - I work 4 days a week & I have to be strict about the washing. There are only 3 of use though, so I appreciate we generate less....

MollyDaydream · 06/04/2018 16:23

I don't have a separate tumble dryer so can't do 5+ loads in a day. 2 loads, maybe 3 in good weather.

SecretBum · 06/04/2018 16:23

I couldn't bear doing all the washing on one day!

Mine is on every day. I wash by item as I find it so much easier. So today I've done a huge load of just tops. Tomorrow I'll do trousers. The day after I'll do socks and pants.

The only thing I hate about laundry is if you have a big tangled mixed-item load. Unloading just becomes a chore when you're untangling socks and leggings from t shirts and so on.

SecretBum · 06/04/2018 16:24

Also surprised at the amount of people using a tumble dryer daily...what a terrible waste of energy.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 06/04/2018 16:25

Spurred on by this thread, I've just put my fourth load on the washing line. Overcast here but it all appears to be drying! I can finally see the bottom of the wash basket (unfortunately the bedroom is now full of clean clothes to put away)

Anatidae · 06/04/2018 16:27

Also surprised at the amount of people using a tumble dryer daily...what a terrible waste of energy.

There’s still ankle deep snow chez moi and it snowed this morning.

You pry my tumble dryer from my cold dead hands.

PookieDo · 06/04/2018 16:27

I only invested in a heated airer because Aldi were selling them off for £35 last year. It’s honestly bloody brilliant. I agree thin stuff dries in 14 hours anyway but yesterday PM DD put her jeans in the wash, laid them on top of all the warm bars which I turned off until bedtime and then went out in them this morning

BUT I only have storage heating. So anyone with water filled radiators has similar, and I do not. I also don’t have a garden. So these heated airers have their place sometimes

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