Washing machine loads - the new MN chicken?

[Singlebutmarried]

Is it just me or are there a lot of

‘5 loads of washing a week, what are you doing, we’re a family of 5 and only make 1 load of washing a week’

Full disclosure

Family of three

At least 8 loads a week. Do these one load a weekers have mahoosive machines?

I'm down to about 8 loads a week in an attempt to be less wasteful and I don't see there's much room to get that lower. Family of 5 (4 adult sized or as good as) with a 9kg drum.

Why are people washing towels after using them only twice? That's insane.

I'm on around 8-10 loads a week. I've also recently seen a thread berating people for washing too much.
I'm pretty slovenly, beds get changed when I have time (once or twice a month at most) but I have 2 smelly teens and I work in nursery and come home covered in paint/flour from making play dough/ mud from playing outside. 8-10 loads seems reasonable to me.

2 adults in my house, we do at least 4 a week.

1 Darks, 1 white, sheets/towels, and a coloureds is easy to build up.
I don't strict strictly to colour separation either.

@Bootothegoose well DH and my son don't use 2 towels every time, they have v short hair so will quickly brush it with their main towel. DD and I don't always wash our hair, and we have small wrap things anyway, way smaller than a towel. Besides, 8 towels can fit in my machine, definitely not three loads. Their uniforms easily fit in one load. So there's two loads already, not four.

Dh sleeps naked most of the time, I wear a nightie 2 or 3 times (after me shower, so I am clean...) kids get through probably 3 sets a week but they are small. I do not wear two bras a week I'm sorry to tell you! One lasts at least a week.

We have different lives and standards.. So we are not going to have the same amount of washing

When my DP first started showering at my place he asked for two bath sheet towels.

Not on my watch mate.

I think the opposite is the case on mumsnet isn't it? Loads of people seem to wash everything after one wear.

Yeah right, I think this. There’s 3 of us and we average out a load a day I reckon. Plus we average 2 x dishwasher a day. No way could we do less.I think people on here love to boast about really silly things.

I don't get how people do so little. Family of 4. I do 4-5 loads of clothes and at least another 1 per week for sheets and towels. I don't consider myself obsessively clean.

We’re a family of 4 and have sufficient amounts of clothes to be able to wait until we can do full loads which is 2x a week for colours and 2x a week for whites including bedding. I won’t wash on a half load unless it’s an occasional quick wash programme to freshen up a few items needed quickly. I don’t like wasting water.

I find in discussions in real life that another area where this type of thing happens is in driving times.

Oh it never takes me more than 4 hours to go from John OGroats to Lands End, perhaps a bit longer if we stop for lunch.

We drive quite long distances for work and Im constantly amazed at how someone 'only' took 3 hours or 4 hours for drives that would take me 6 or 7.

[quote AllOfUsAreDead]@Chikapu

By removing their horn, and you use that to stir the tears and clothes to clean them.[/quote]
Eeeek!

Also people don’t seem to take drying into account. There is limited indoor drying space in winter and often cramming full loads in results in nowhere to dry it all and can end up smelling musty if it takes too long to dry on an overly full airer. In the winter it’s a huge juggling act between getting washing dry and not putting on extra loads.

Also we often have to wash things the night before to be used the next day so a wash load has to go on regardless of if it’s full or not.

More than 1 load a day and I’m a bit

We are a family of 5, 3 kids under 6. Towels get washed once a week (longer for the kids since they get 2 baths a week!) beds fortnightly, school uniform every other day, but they also change out of it as soon as they are home. DH and I wash our clothes a lot more infrequently now we wfh-visible dirt or an obvious pong means they get washed but honestly after just one wear clothes tend to still smell like washing liquid! Kids tshirts get multiple wears as they’re inevitably under jumpers and not getting dirty.

It’s not just the washing though it’s the drying-through the winter I’m reliant on inside air drying and the tumble drier so the less stuff getting washed means less to dry too! Energy consumption and water usage of washing everything after one wear/use is a bit terrifying

Absolutely no idea I wash when I need to I have never bothered to count how many in a week.

@MintyFreshBreath who’s boasting?! It’s a duscussion

Where are all the Mumsnetters that change their bed sheets as soon as they sit on them? Surely that's a load a day!

Family of 4. Don't really count the number of loads, but between 3-5 per week would my guess.

Whites get their own load on a Friday. And the rest as and when. I do more on days where I can get stuff outside - so if it's a good drying day I will strip the beds etc. don't have the time to do a load every day and get them dry.

I do wonder with the cost of electricity set to rise considerably whether it will mean people will actively try and do less laundry?

You use a (throws up in mouth) washing machine. I recycle my urine and collect rainwater and wash each item by hand. No detergent only my own concoction of crushed up roses and aloe Vera.
We hardly need to clean clothes though as none of us sweat (like the prince) and we can will away dirt by saying a short prayer and asking it not to stick.

Family of four. I don't change the towels every day and sometimes (shock horror!) don't shower every day.
I usually do 2 wash days a week with about 3 loads at a time.

2 adults and we seem to do so much washing! Easily 4 loads a week, sometimes more depending on what’s happening. I work outside the home which doesn’t help. However I think we’re doing more at the moment because we’re wearing a lot of thick bulky winter stuff so it’s just taking up more room.

Family of 7. 5 children, myself and my bedbound father. Teenagers use towels then drop them on the floor (I’ve taken measures to restrict towel usage), clean shirts every day for school. About one load a day on a 10mg machine.

My eldest works in a kitchen, is only permitted one set of uniform, and thus boils the fuck out of it every time she comes home from work. The rest of the us manage to provide enough for a load at least every other day, if not daily. I have made my peace with that part of my carbon footprint.

@Singlebutmarried

Is it just me or are there a lot of

‘5 loads of washing a week, what are you doing, we’re a family of 5 and only make 1 load of washing a week’

Full disclosure

Family of three

At least 8 loads a week. Do these one load a weekers have mahoosive machines?

No, I find it more along the lines of the cleanliness martyrdom that is seen on here a la 'scrubbing the toilet bowl with your hands'

My jaw was on the floor at a recent post asking how many loads families did per week, and none of them were modest. On said they did 16 for a family of 4!

The loads were ridiculous as well, ranging from whites and coloureds to holy wear and fancy dress (not really, but there were definitely loads that could have fit into another category)

@AmazingBouncingFerret

Family of four and pretty much 2 wash loads per day. Husbands work clothes for when he’s out on sites. Husband work clothes when he’s in the office. Gym wear Rugby kit on match days Rugby training kit. School uniforms Underwear and sleepwear My work uniforms 4 days a week Bedding Towels Pet beds

It’s a normal amount, anything less and we would stink!

Prime example