15 shirts a week

[theonlygirl]

DS2 starts big school in September, meaning there will be 15 shirts in the laundry each week. DH 5, DS1 5, DS2 5.
no issue washing and drying them but it will be a cold day in hell before I stand ironing their shirts. I don't use a tumbledryer so they all definitely need ironing.

Option 1 - make them iron their own.
Option 2 - drycleaners

Curious to know what others do

I find the non-iron ones really good. Tumble dry and hang up, rather than crushing into a laundry basket.
5 mins after he's got it on it looks like a rag anyway, but that's not the fault of the shirt!

Is your reason for no tumble dryer a space issue, cost or environment ?

I used to put all school uniform in tumble dryer, synthetic programme until very nearly dry then took out as soon as finished tumbling and popped on hangers . Never ironed anything .

I think if you are looking at cost or environmental factors in not using a tumble you need to consider the electricity used in ironing of 15 shirts .

@theonlygirl why can’t your DH iron all his shirts and all the DC’s shirts at the weekend? Then they’re all ready for the following week.

Just iron them or get your husband to iron them. No one likes their household chores but stuff needs doing.

Everyone takes a turn in doing the laundry.

Take the shirts out if the washing machine. Snap them out with a flick of the wrist. Put on a hangar. Smooth and hang up. No ironing, even with shirts you are supposed to iron.

We have 15 polo shirts and at least 6 lots of scrubs , I just watch Netflix and iron

Get DH to do his own and a couple of the kids'.

Y9ou do need to iron some yourself.

Then stop with the ‘they liked it’ rubbish ( I can pretty much guarantee no teenager likes it, even if they do it) and stop using your situation to argue with my views on a completely different scenario!

They did like doing it.
Particularly my youngest who still really enjoys doing laundry.

in fact I was a child carer for my depressed mother so I understand exactly what it was like to come home to zero food, no clean clothes etc.
I absolutely did not want that for my own DC.

Teaching a child skills ( a must) and expecting them to be responsible for it from the age of 11 because you don’t want to do it, are two completely different things!

That is not hard to grasp

No its not
There is a mid ground though.

Which is what I did, perhaps you being so rigid in your thinking is a bit of an issue for you?

Bye!

Non-iron shirts. I hate ironing, am terrible at it, and will never do it.

A mix of all the above;

i quite like ironing so hung some music on and get it done when I feel like it.

if I haven’t got round to it sometimes DH does some.

if neither of us have done it sometimes DD will do it.

if no one’s bothered they just where unironed shirts.

occassionally the kids will wear two days running if not smelly or dirty (doesn’t happen very often).

definetely wouldn’t pay someone but to be fair we can’t afford it.

Get short sleeve shirts if they wear blazers all the time. Sleeves are the worst

You know you have reached peak mumsnet when someone claims getting a secondary school child to help out with the laundry is neglectful.

What sheltered lives you must lead!!

bung some music on (not hung!)

And wear not where!!! Grrrr bloody phone

It takes about 4 minutes to iron 5 school shirts. They're thin, cheap cotton, it's not like ironing a blokes work shirt.

Make DH do his own. While he's doing it, he can quickly iron 5 of the school shirts. You quickly do the other 5.

Haha! You keep telling yourself that! Your kid likes doing laundry! Ok then.

Teaching them skills is a must, and caring for them and doing things a mother should do, is a basic part of parenting. Some of us clearly understand that and do that better than others! And my kids are totally competent and are out working in my garden today, so no worries here.

But keep on posting at me why don’t you. I will respond every, single time.

If they're poly-cotton, get them out of the machine the minute it's stopped spinning, give them a really good shake, to make the worst of the creases drop out, and dry them on hangers. If the heating's on, hanging them above a radiator will help the creases drop out even more. This works on some cotton shirts, too, especially if they're "easy iron".

I haven't ironed any shirts other than linen ones for years. Occasionally, I might iron just the sleeves, to put in a sharp crease that makes them look freshly ironed. By the time shirts are tucked into trousers, you really can't tell if they've been ironed or not, apart from the sleeves.

Failing that, teach them to do their own. I did my school blouses once I was at secondary, and that was in the 1960s, when fabric technology was far less advanced!

?? Never once ironed a school shirt. If DH wants shirts ironed he does it himself, takes them somewhere, sorts it, no idea - it’s his problem.

We have 15 polo shirts and at least 6 lots of scrubs , I just watch Netflix and iron

So glad I’m not in the UK - no uniforms at primary school here!

However i am an awful mum - my two (8 and 10) make their own lunches - at their request - and do their laundry - my request. They’re happy and well adjusted kids. We also foster and when we have a foster child staying they help teach them these skills too.

BTW you asked what others do.

In our house: DP bo longer wears shirts, he does the 3 x DC school shirts and trousers (15 shirts, 6 trousers) on a Sunday evening quite badly I have to say but no one cares. Takes him around 15 minutes.

I iron my clothes, because I'm the only one who cares about things being properly ironed, and any specific clothes the DC bring to me that they want ironed, the odd hoodie etc. I also clean their trainers which they want cleaned every other bloody week. DH does the football/rugby boots in season.

You obviously don't have teenagers!

Get them out of the machine as soon as the wash finishes, shake them and put them straight onto hangers, put the hangers on the washing line to dry.

My kids wear one shirt all week, so I only have 2 shirts to wash and iron at the weekend. Why do people need to change their clothes so often?

non iron shirts.
vigorous shake hand put on hanger to dry.
anyone who wants it ironed can do it himself.