Please be kind, this is my first post and I would appreciate some guidance.
DH and I have been married six months (and nine days) and I'm really struggling with the laundry. Up until now, I've had to hand wash on the sink and do our sheets and pillowcases in the bath. It's a big effort to wring everything out, and some days I can't peg out on the line. I have an old wooden clothes horse and it's not up to much.
Well now we have bought a second hand twin tub, which is amazing, but I still don't have a clue what I am doing laundry wise.
Should I put the immersion on first and then connect the hose to the hot tap, and fill? Or should I connect the hose to the cold tap, and then use the twin tub heater? Which is more economical?
When I've washed the whites, do I need to add more powder when I put the coloureds in? Does anyone know? I'll be doing DH's work overalls last, of course.
Will it be okay to do the first spin back into the wash tub and then fill the spinner water tub with cold water from the tap, and move the output hose, so that the spinner water goes back into the sink? And how many times would I do the cold water thing? Until the water runs clear, I guess.
Sorry for all the questions, my mind is in a whirl. I could ask DM, but she lives three bus rides away and neither of us has a phone installed. Although we hope to have one once we've paid off the bank loan on the Cortina.
To add to the situation, I'm expecting, due on 1st July, I hope it's a boy. I don't know if it would be hygienic to wash the nappies first, given that they will need the hottest wash. But what about the other washing? I thought if the nappies were soaked in a bucket of Napisan and sluiced off beforehand, I could wash them first, and then do the baby's nightgowns, rompers, matinee coats, bonnets etc, towels, sheets and pillowcases, our clothes, then overalls last. I'd probably need to wash twice a week then.
But at the moment, is a weekly wash going to be enough, given that it might take several days to get things dry? We have a gas fire in the living room and a wall heater in the bedroom, so I probably need another clothes horse. I'm still working Monday to Friday, so have to do my housework at the weekend. At least DH spends Saturdays and Sundays fishing, which gets him out of my hair.
Reading this back, I may be overthinking things. But you'd think I'd be able to find a system that works. It's 1979, for goodness sake, not 1879. And I'm 19, with two 'A' levels, so I have a brain.