to do 4 loads of washing a day

[ihmlsnwidhks]

I've just put my third load on with another load to go.
Family of 5 dc ages 9.6 .2
Dc6 needs multiple changes due to accidents and he pees on his bed most mornings ( asd) Toddler enjoys wet and muddy play so needs a few changes a day
Dd school clothes and home clothes both dirty
dh work clothing and home clothing
Me a couple aday
wtaf Im a doing wrong here?

We do about 10 loads a week plus bedding. Only one child but is incontinent so frequent pee leaks and often gets through several sets of clothes at school.

I hear ya OP. My machine is on 2-3 loads a day. Plus tumble dryer to get it all dry.

On top of that, I've tried washing at lower temperatures but it just doesn't get strong odours/stains out of clothing so I have to do most washes at 40/60 degrees. I'd say it's fairly normal for a family with 2 or 3 children/teens.

@ihmlsnwidhks Just wait until they are 19, 16 and 12!

We are also a family of 5 (and a dog) 3 boys 26, 24 and 15. I do 2 - 3 loads a day and 4 on Saturday and Sunday. I also don’t change the bedding as often as Mumsnet would like. Their jeans and big hoodies take up so much space in the machine and ds3 (ASD) hates to wear anything for a second day. He’s also at that smelly teenager stage where he needs to shower a lot and he and ds2 go to the gym at least every other night so more clothes and towels! You have to do what you have to do. I’m off to hang my next lot out. Hopefully the first load will be dry.

The wee must be a full set of bedsheets, plus perhaps one outfit for you and him. An extra load of other people's bedding or towels at one per day. One load of clothes for all 5 of you per day I can just about see, if you're all messy. That's 3 loads per day though, so what's the fourth? Is it a tiny machine or are you doing partial loads?

Double outfits for everyone in the wash comes across as a bit much for every single day. Some days for some of you and every day for the toddler, sure, but there must be times when someone can put the same pyjamas or inside top/leggings on twice.

Sounds like you are using too many clothes.

Dh - if he has to change when he gets in from work, then the stuff he changes into will be good for a few days surely if just worn a couple of hours each day?

Ds6 - if he regularly wets the bed, then use pullups

Toddler who likes wet play - puddle suit or do messy play once in the morning in his Jim jams then less messy play later.

My washing builds up in the winter months as I can’t get it dry quick enough,I’m on my 5th load today as it’s sunny an windy,you are doing nothing wrong.

School age doesn’t need to change into home clothes.

pjs are worn 2 nights here before washing

I only wash knickers, socks and t shirts after one wear. Everything else at least once more, jeans and cardigans will last more like 5-7 wears, sometimes more.

beds are changed once a fortnight (we all bath / shower before bed)

towels are once a week, sometimes a fortnight.

i do however change hand towels once a week without fail and kitchen tea towels are daily.

put the toddler in waterproof cover up.

Honestly unless you are actively toilet training the 6 year old, then he would be better off in some sort of absorbant pants during the day and night for his sake and yours.

Obviously if you are mid toilet training and it's happening every day all day, then the best thing to do is assume he isn't ready and revert to absorbant pants.

Assuming OP might also want tips to reduce costs as running washer/drier shown to use higher amount of electricity than say lights, it is perfectly valid to give tips on wearing clothes twice, wearing apron, sponging off marks etc so not sure why some posters think suggestions are "disgusting".

Op it must be costing you a fortune in electricity bill. I agree with previous tips. Overall for toddler, aprons and wipe/sponge off what can be done, uniforms worn twice in a row etc.

When my kids were young I used to do a load a couple of times a day sometimes more. In hindsight it was too much but was scared of letting things pile up as had so much work to do.

When my washing machine broke and it took a week for the new one to arrive i realised that if i really wanted to, I could make everybody's clothes last longer.

I make things last a lot longer nowadays - kids uniform get washed once a week only, with just their shirts more often (they're all at secondary school though). They get changed into home clothes and they last a lot longer. I don't wash bed sheets and towels as often as before.

I have become much more aware of what's happening to our environment and I'm making as many changes as I can. Using environmentally friendly products, leaving my lawn longer, composting, laundry etc. Easy to do and hasn't negatively impacted any of us.

And yes some of the suggestions on here are disgusting. Not going to pick fights over specific ones but some people seem to be living with same level of cleanliness as at the turn of the century before indoor plumbing

😂😂😆

Wow!! I have literally no idea which posts you mean, which must mean I am truly slovenly. Go me! At least I am helping to save the planet (and my electricity bill)

Kids. There's your problem.

Just kidding. Have you tried night time pull ups? Or any plastic sheeting over the bedding it's a pain and makes an annoying sound but it might be worth it for now.

As they get older the washing will get less trust me. I went from 4 loads a day to half a load for clothes.

Wow that’s a lot of washing ! I have 4 kids and never did that much

Bonkers. Don’t blame the toddler if you and DH go through2 full outfits a day. Towels can be used for a week, that’s only one load a week even if you don’t share towels.

If you are doing 4 loads a day then that's what it takes. You are the best judge about how to cut down, whether you want to or need to. It'll all get easier as they get older.

You could get a washing machine with a bigger drum? I got a 10kg machine when my third came along.

4 loads of washing EVERY day? That's a huge amount

I can only assume you don't put much in each load of washing? When I wash my drum is practically full (when dry not once wet). So I can wash 9kg and an average load of clothes is 4kg when dry. I wouldn't be washing all the clothes you mention but if you don't want to cut down what you wear then I would say you could wash DS bedding, clothes and toddler cloths in one wash. The other wash would be DD, DH and your clothes plus the towels if you insist on washing them every day! Personally I wouldn't wash towels more than once a week. You also don't need to separate out whites and colours. I have only ever had brand new jeans run but most colours never run and can be washed with whites.

There are much more effective ways to save the planet than focussing on reducing a paltry 117kg of CO2 per year on laundry. Yes the average household in the U.K. uses less CO2 in an entire year washing laundry than a single coach bus going 65miles.

I don't understand how you're doing so much. I had 6 kids at home at one point and did one wash a day (apart from mine which could be 2 if I am washing lights separately), plus bedding on another day. (I can see why wet bedding might increase that, but not clothing).

I do have a big drum washing machine. Put a load on every morning and transfer it to the drier/clothes rail when its done. Each child has their own day when their washing gets brought down.

If your dd gets both her school clothes and home clothes dirty, why are you changing her out of her school clothes? She can stay in them until bedtime.

I think the children yes understandable ,However do you and DH need 2 changes of clothes each per day.Unless you both work on a building site or similar, surely this is unnecessary.Its a huge strain on you and your Electric bill ! A waterproof suit for the toddler maybe.Your DD doesnt need clean on every day ,unless soiled badly .maybe just a sponge down with a clean cloth .

How big is the drum of your washing machine?

I'm thinking that even with all those changes, considering 2 of the children are pretty small still, it would still only make one full load.
If the school uniform is anything like ours, a quick 30C wash will wash the football mud off.

What would bother me more is all the peeing causing the number of changes you and your middle DC need. I don't think I'd have the clothes to keep up with that.

None of your kids are sweaty age (I mean adult daily sweat, not sport sweat) so unless the clothes are dirty then (if you're struggling to keep up) it's fine to put them in something with a bit of a grass stain from the day before, or a food stain, especially if they're just going out to get messy again.

Don't compare yourself to others. You have a big family with a high need for clothing/washing. Just crack on doing the washing and don't worry what anyone else does. FWIW I've done four today. Messy dog stuff, white towels and shirts, black/dark stuff and a load with washing machine cleaner in. When my dd gets in from sports, I'll probably put another load on with that stuff.

Do you use bedmats on the bed? If the child won't wear pull ups then surely you should use those.