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?

YANBU. Family of 7 here including 1 nearly 9 year old whose night time pull up leaks most nights. I do about 4 wash loads a day too.

I'm concerned about DS 6 with no bladder control. Have you seen anyone in the medical profession about this @ihmlsnwidhks

Hi OP. No judgment here. I do at least 2 washes a day, what with sports kit, cloth nappies etc. One thing that jumped out at me is towels - if everyone has their own you only need to change them once a week. That would save a bit. Other thing, if DS pees on you consider a long waterproof apron (cath kidston oil cloth size) and just wipe it down?

One adult and one adult sized teen and we do one or two loads a week. We don't wear dirty clothes (aside from school trousers that DS just wears for the week regardless, even though he has two pairs) or wash clean clothes.

Is your DS able to be toilet timed or prompted? Or sit on the loo and change the pull up for pants just before putting shoes on for school?

Are you washing full loads op? Or are you just thinking you need to do it because it’s there? Since the energy thing I have been working on less washing per week. I am single with no kids in house. However. Whereas once I would think - end of the week - wash all my clothes ready for next week. But why? This may not be a full load. I have plenty of other clothes that I need a bit of a nudge to wear. I also have enough bedding to see me out as my mum would say 🤔 so no need to wash that straight away. I also have more towels than Monica Gellar! So it just waits. Until there is a suitably full load. Or I run out of work pants. (Different to my non-work pants!) I have also put in my shopping list more work pants. So I can eek out this wash (pants/socks/full colour pillow cases/coloured usually dog towels and flannels) further. Also. How often do you change your sheets? I believe the standard (according to my mother) is once a fortnight. I know many in here would faint at that thought. and probably never recover from my more laisee faire ‘once in a blue moon’ approach.

@svara your washing load sounds normal given there are only two adult (or near-adult) people to wash for.

We are the same and I have one less child! Two teens though...
The washing machine is permanently on.
We all wear fresh clean clothes every day, and I am not dropping my standards. I rope in other family members to help - and have Sundays off (with the backlog rolling into Monday)
You can either walk around in dirty clothes or carry on...there are no short cuts.
It won't always be the case - dc will grow up and help you and could help now if you asked them.

How do posters who wash 4 loads a day manage to work or do anything else? Or even dry stuff?

I work from home. I don't do 4 loads a day but setting off the machine and then rotating it into the dryer is hardly arduous. It can be done in the space of boiling the kettle.

You need to be able to put your hand in the top of the drum.

Underwear load is full - 14x pants per person, 28 pairs of socks (I wear two pairs at once), 6 bras (me and DD)

Uniform - food, paint etc. Plus it's been wrapped around buses, she's sat on muddy grass and tree stumps, been on the gym floor and the dogs got paw marks on them.

Hand towels - 3 bathrooms, 2 hand towels per bathroom per week

And no, I can't get king size duvet, bottom sheet and 6 pillow cases in one 9kg load. It's jammed if so with no space to move about in the water. Hence my comment - stuff needs space to splosh about. So I do the duvet plus all 12 pillowcases from both beds in one, and then two bottom sheets and double duvet in the other. About even that way.

A timer calfornia prep programmed in the early hours. Another wash first thing in the morning, one in the afternoon once back and one in the evening. Easy. Drying is a bigger issue, we have a larger tumble dryer and can take two washes at a time.

How big is you hand? Mine goes in fine, hand and all.

Your hand needs to go on top of the washing, up and down to not overfill. North south. If that makes sense!

It doesn't take a whole working day to hang/dry/fold washing.

@motherofawhirlwind is your underwear load fortnightly? Or are you going through two pairs of pants per day each?
I’d spot clean food and paw prints and don’t consider sitting on the bus or floor to be dirty, unless it was in a puddle of something! Actual mud yes needs washing, a normal grassy field or tree stump just brushes off.
Why are you washing so many pillowcases too - surely your head only goes on one of them?
Two hand towels a week also seems excessive imo when the usage for each bathroom must be quite low.

It sounds like you're doing several smaller washes a day? Could you put in the wet stuff first thing but save the toddler stuff for a larger wash in the evening? You could always stick em in a bucket with some vanish if you're worried about staining.

I wouldn't want to leave the wet stuff too long but the other stuff I wouldn't be too bothered with.

I am giving this more attention than it deserves but is that two pants per day per person?

There are 3 of us adults and I do maybe 4 loads a week.

Yes, it's what I'd consider normal too (in the absence of additional needs that create extra washing), one per adult per week. One clothes and towels, the other bedding, bathmats etc as needed. So several loads a day, even for a family of five seems a lot to me.

Yes, fresh pants morning and night!

Hand towels get mucky in 3 to 4 days.

Pillows - two on the top pillow, one on the bottom. Four pillows per bed, so 12 pillow cases per week. Protects your pillow better from drool, hair gel, wet dog paws, wet cat paws....

I can't believe people are querying this! I'm not a fastidious person... This is normal, basic hygiene levels, surely?

I think 2 pants a day is excessive and we only have 2 pillows per bed and no pets..... so I guess requirements differ.

Basic level hygiene varies wildly on MN and declaring a minimum bar for it is a rookie mistake. <Starts a new load, gets popcorn>

I am sorry by how is 2 pairs of knickers a day excessive 😂 I have heard it all now. What do you suggest people do put dirty ones back on after their nightly bath/shower or clean ones then but don’t change in the morning? You would love my dh he averages 3 pairs of boxers in 24 hours!

Do you shower morning and night too? Because if not, what's the point of changing your pants before bed? To keep your already dirty bum clean?

If you have 2 pillows per person, the bottom one doesn't actually touch your body. Swap them over once a week and then you can just wash them fortnightly 👍

I am NOT someone who is concerned about hygiene but I definitely wouldn't be letting wet (or dry) dogs and cats on my bed. Thats normal basic hygiene, surely?

I am not trying to be awkward, truly, but I am on the Tube so have time to kill. But is it only me who showers in the morning, puts on a clean pair, and then wears that one till next morning. Is that yucky? Obviously if they get soiled in any way, I would change.