Laundry Dilemma

[JustALittleBitClueless]

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.

Ooh! I remember mum being over the moon when she got her mangle topped tub. I remember the smell and sight if the grey water sloshing round as the agitator thingy twizzled. And how hot the clothes were as they were fed through the mangle.

And the screams of delight when Nana's next door neighbours banged on the wall after their hall phone rang... a call for us. That and the occasional delight if talking to strangers, or the lady at the end of the row, on a party line.

And the weekly trip to get our Greenshield Stamps

The lemonade man!

And preparing meals. All from scratch, meat from the butcher in paper wrappings, dirty veg and all seasonal. Tins of fruit salad and evap 😊

Thank you 💕

That was me in 1986 so not much changed during those 7 years! Amazing to think how much has changed since!

Look up "launderettes" in your yellow pages. Then contact local launderettes and ask if they do service washes.

@CuriousaboutSamphire, I pride myself on always having a hot meal, cooked from scratch, on the table for DH, as soon as he walks through the door.

Although I must confess that the first meal I cooked as a married woman was a Vesta chilli and rice, which we ate at the coffee table, seated on the floor. Our second hand three piece was
delivered a week later.

@2bazookas, I never thought of that. It will be invaluable for the blankets and counterpane, they would be too heavy to manhandle once wet.

The Mothercare catalogue was like porn to me, I read it until it was threadbare! I didn't use the rubber knickers as my mother said they caused nappy rash, until the health visitor told me not to be a ridiculous martyr, so I compromised and got some nylon waterproofs. Woollen Chilproof vests were bought at the local haberdashery , and had to be handwashed, but the baby would not be healthy without them!

I absolutely love the Mothercare catalogue, those tiny newborn wrap vests with little ribbon ties, so cute.

I think a carrycot is more practical than a Moses basket. Mothercare have one with the set of wheels, so it doubles as a pram. And the carrycot will fit so well on the back seat of the Cortina

Well thisgly has taken me back. and also being up to date too.I am 79 now, and have been washing my clothes in the kitchen sink for some while, and in the bath,for larger things.I live in an small old cottage type place, and I have to have a washing machine in my shed, But after having two different washing machines in the shed over the years,they both blew up, seeming the electrics in there are rubbish. So have gone back in time now.washing things in the washing up bowl or sink. My saving grace was to take my big items of washing,round to my Sons house,he lives in the same village as me, and always has super duper washing machines, but because of covid not been able to visit,as he also has two lodgers. So just putting up with my 1940's style of washing for the moment, as I well remember those days.

Also I had a twin tub washing machine in the 1960 era,when I got married, it was a bit of a hassle to use, it had to be pulled out into the kitchen, with draping hoses into the sink area, and yes, washed all the terry towelling nappies in there, and hung them all on the line outside,all the super white nappies,all in a nice row blowing in the wind haha

LTB. Immediately.

I hope your current dilemma is sorted very soon @1forAll74 .

There is nothing more joyful than a line of freshly laundered nappies.

When I got my first flat in 2009 when I left a DV situation I couldn't afford a washing machine for about 6 months.

I did it all old school stomping on it in the bath. Fucking nightmare! Big respect to the olden days people with no washing machines.

I remember my mum's automatic washing machine died at some point in the 90's.
She chose to replace it with a twin tub and I was quickly trained up in using it.
There is something to be said for the smell of it, and getting all the washing for the week done and out on the line in one go on a good blowy day. And I wonder if nowadays, we would find it quite 'mindful', standing by the machine, thinking through our thoughts as that grey water swooshed round filling the air with a fragranced humidity.

I'm sticking with my automatic though.

@WineWank, respect to you.

My lovely grandma had a single tub with mangle attachment. I used to love turning the handle for her.

I am currently washing clothes in the sink as my washing machine broke last week! I used Terry Towling nappies with all 4 kids.. my eldest was 8 months old when I got my first washing machine, I used to boil the nappies individually in a pan if they were stained but they were always really white ( never grey!) The best rubber pants for little ones were tie on ones!

P.s I'm 42 and my children are 23, 17, 15 and 4

Twin tubs were great for hand wash items which just needed a quick wash.I always remember the nasty murky water pumped out at the end so that was the low point.

I got married in 1975, working full time, weekends were shopping, cleaning and a trip to the launderette, anything mid week was washed in sink or bath. All meals cooked from scratch. I was so excited when I got a second hand twin tub! Also got a coffee table from the Greenshield Stamp shop which I brought home on the bus.

@JessieOh, fragranced humidity, exactly!

A heady mix of hot stainless steel, rubber hose and Persil .

Money saving tip- if you can talk really quickly, you can talk when the pips are going and save on those 2ps!!!

Did we get an update from.the OP?

The only difference between your post and my childhood was that my mum did not work.

She had a secretarial job after university and it was expected in the 60s that you would marry well and leave your secretarial job to stay at home to look after your husband and await the patter of tiny feet. She had no option. She was simply not allowed to continue working.

We got our first car when I was 11 years old. That was probably with a bank loan to my father.

My gran was on the phone to my mum multiple times a day to offer advice. Our tv was a radio rentals.

We had no money for holidays or anything. We just stayed in friends or relatives homes, or one year a caravan with outside toilet.

Compared to the levels of luxury many of us expect nowadays we loved in poverty.

Thanks for the tip @Frickssake.

Our TV is a rental, DER, £9.99 a month. Who can afford a new telly?

Our mortgage is £50 a month, for 25 years, it's an endowment one.

I earn £1600 a year in an office, and DH is on £50 a week, including some overtime.
We live like kings for the first week after payday, then like paupers for the rest of the month.

WTF is this bullshit?

I’m so glad I was born late enough to avoid this shit

Do you not have a launderette nearby. You can put the whole wash i one enormous machine and get it all try in the tumble dryer. And you can sit and read woman’s own while it’s doing!

I remember my mum's automatic washing machine died at some point in the 90's.
She chose to replace it with a twin tub and I was quickly trained up in using it.

Why would she do that? It was unusual in those days for houses to be plumbed for an automatic, but if they were, why would you not use one?

Our semi cost £3k.

(Similar now selling for £220k)