How often do you do your laundry?

[Lndnmummy]

Need some help from the Mumsnet brigade. Dh and I were taking this evening about our family laundry. There is only 4 of us so not a huge household. All sports etc cancelled at the moment so in theory that should reduce the load. We wash.all.the.time. At least a load a day. We live in an apartment so not a huge amount of space. We do have a drier but use it mainly for things like sheets and towels. My question is how do you guys do your laundry? A designated day where most of it gets done then put drying racks etc away until the same day next week? One load a day? I feel that there is are permanent drying racks everywhere and it’s driving me insane. Where am I going wrong?

When there were 2 of us, 2-3 loads a week (one darks, one lights, and sometimes a third for bedding/towels if they added up to more than a full load of lights).

All dried outside when weather permits, otherwise dried indoors on airers/hanging from curtain rails/doors. No tumble drier.

Now there's only me, and because I've lost a lot of weight and lots of my clothes are too big, I've found I have to do smaller loads because I have fewer things to wear, so it's still at least 2, sometimes 3 loads.

Family of 4. I try and do it all at the weekend, usually both days, 3 loads each day.
Tumble dry all I can, rest goes on racks. All put away on Monday.
I can never be organised enough for one load a day, easier to save it all up and get it all over with here.

2 of us; me and DD aged 6.

I do a load Every other day, for each of us, so 1 day DDs the next day mine.

Pre-covid when not working from home it was a load everyday but I mixed ours. I only don't now as it kills 10 minutes in the middle of the day.

3 of us.
Two loads a day. PE and running kit can't be left to fester so that's washed straight away. That counts for a load most days. Then there's everything else.

Family of four. Five loads a week. Towels once a week, bedding every 10 days or so, clothes reworn at least twice, jeans or skirts last a week, as do jumpers. Only things changed every day is pants and socks, and when DH working his shirts. Washing a lot less this year as all casual clothes.

Ooo, I do line dry all year. In fact I'm getting three loads out today to catch up.

Can highly recommend wearing clothes for.longer than a most people on MN seem to. Change undies and socks daily, but everything else.can be worn more. Jeans, bedding, towels every few weeks. Hence we don't seem to do as much as most, family of three 1-2 loads a week. Airer followed by radiator.in winter to finish off or line dry in summer. I don't think we smell or look dirty and don't think clothes.need washing that much unless actually dirty or sweaty. Or other circumstances of course. I notice teens are bad for taking stuff off and putting in wash when no need...

I have been known to take lightly worn stuff out of the basket and re-hang in teen wardrobes. They don't know any different.

It averages out at a load every other day.

At least one load six days a week for the humans. Lots of muddy clothes in winter.

And two or three loads a week (in old washing machine) for dog blankets, horse saddle pads and bandages etc.

Meant to add that I am on my last year of school uniform washing after 16 years of it! And school sports kit. Can't wait to be liberated from that task.

3 people, condenser dryer which I use as substitute for heating a lot.

Mon: 1 bath mats & kitchen towels 2 SK bedding 3 PE kit
Tue: 4 bath towels
Wed: 5 darks, 6 alternate weeks jeans/delicates
Thu: 7 lights
Fri: 8 school 9 work uniforms
Sat: 10 dbl bedding
Sun: 11 weekend hobby clothes (overalls/rags etc from mechanical stuff) 12 second load of darks if necessary.
If I lived in a flat and didn't have room for a dryer I'd get an electric airer.
I know I'm an eco-crim to have a dryer but I'm disabled and can't hang stuff outdoors, live in a very rainy place so it doesn't dry anyway and am allergic to mould so stuff really needs to be dry. I never iron though so that saves electricity!
I re-use the water from the condenser as much as possible too (e.g. bucket flush the toilet for wee).

@dasey

I don't understand why people say if it's not dirty why wash it? The clothes might look clean but if they've been on your body all day and out and about accumulating bacteria, they're not clean. By that theory should we only wash our hands when they have visible dirt on them?

You’re not putting your clothes in your mouth. Plus bacteria can’t live for long on a dry surface like clothes.

We are a family of five, probably do five loads a week. Also no sport at the moment.

I agree that maybe you’re washing things more than you need.

Have you somewhere good to dry towels? If you can get them dry after using then I really can’t see why they need washing more than once a week.
I also have a deal with my children that when they are sorting their rooms out, if they put lean clothes on their chest of drawers, then I will put them away. Otherwise they find it easier to put them in the wash than away.

At the weekend I’ll vaguely bleat “can you wear yesterday’s clothes please”. Not underwear obv!

Family of 6 about 2 a day during the week 3-4 at weekends but everything goes in the tumble drier, we have a laundry room with 2 washers and 2 driers x

4 plus a dog and cat plus 2dsc at weekends. I do at least a wash a day. 5 beds worth of washing plus 6 towels plus dog towel plus all the sports and swimming kit add up.

2 to 3 loads a day, family of 6.

There are only two of us but we're also in a flat.

I do one load of washing every day, but I don't wash clothes every day.

We use towels more than once then I wash them on a Friday and a Tuesday. I wash bedding on a Sunday every week. Towels and bedding get put in the drier (we have a washer drier combi) so it means the clothes airer can be put away.

The other 4 days are used to wash clothes. I was them early morning and put them on the clothes airer in the spare room and open the window all day. In the evening I close the window and the heating comes on and it finishes drying them off and I can put them away the next morning.

I used to really struggle with it because it was a flat and tried doing a fu day off laundry but this way of doing it seems to work so much better for me and I can keep on top of it much more easily.

I wash every day with a 8kg machine. I dry outside then either do the delicate for 15 minutes then hang on the hall curtain pole to finish or completely dry off the rest in the dryer. No room for a airer inside anywhere. If I wash every day then using the small curtain pole works fine. Doesnt look neat but I could put frosting over that glass i guess

Family of 4 in 2 bed apartament. Around 5 waschings per week. We have great outside drying racks but between October and February is too dump outside. Recently I wasch on Saturday everything from all week and go and dumble dry in laundrette. Is £3 per full ikea bags -around 2 wasches 30 minutes and is dry. Will do that till February unless weather permit for outside. We have a huge problem with dump and no space while drying inside.

There are two of us. I seem to be washing almost every day. Sheets one day, towels twice a week, coloureds, whites, delicates and wool.

Here, there are 3 of us, DSS is at his mum's most weekends though so not 3 full time.

I do all of my washing and drying on a Saturday, and will have two loads of normal washing plus occasionally a load for DP's white work shirts (though he has loads and we leave them until we have a machine full, so that's only every few weeks as he's not full time).

I suspect my relatively few loads is due to DSS wearing his clothes for approximately 30 years before deciding that they probably need to go in the wash. Honestly, judging from what I see when I'm folding washing to put away, he changes his t shirt once a week, jeans less, and underpants once a fortnight. He's 17 and was definitely brought up better than that.

DP has probably two pairs of jeans plus trackies each week, me the same, plus underwear daily and maybe 4 tops a week (I don't wash hoodies every single day for example - or at least not at the moment when I don't do anything).

So yeah, washing isn't too bad for me. It was worse when DSS was at school as this was before he turned into a disgusting older teen and actually put a clean shirt and undies on every morning, plus clothes after school.

Every day but do have 5 DC and use reusable nappies with the two youngest so think it’s to be expected.

@CrownAddict

Can highly recommend wearing clothes for.longer than a most people on MN seem to. Change undies and socks daily, but everything else.can be worn more. Jeans, bedding, towels every few weeks. Hence we don't seem to do as much as most, family of three 1-2 loads a week. Airer followed by radiator.in winter to finish off or line dry in summer. I don't think we smell or look dirty and don't think clothes.need washing that much unless actually dirty or sweaty. Or other circumstances of course. I notice teens are bad for taking stuff off and putting in wash when no need...

Ourbedding gets revolting after about 20.days and I can categorically say that, 8f I didn't change hand towels daily, my hands would end up dirtier than before I washed them. I have guest towels to reduce the washing needed, though. Bath towels get 3 or 4 uses.

10 days. It would wash itself after 20.