Can't cope with washing clothing

[MonsteraMother]

I'm relatively competent in most areas of life except this one. I cannot fucking get it together to be on top of the washing. I sometimes buy new socks just because I can't face the bloody sock mountain and pairing them all up. I own over 60 pairs of knickers as I only seem to have the time and space in my life to catch up with washing during school holidays.

For context, we have a 4 bed house with a washing machine, a tumble dryer and outside washing line but no utility room - just a small office/box room which is always stuffed to the max with the wash baskets and the sock basket. We also have a cleaner once a week but she doesn't do anything to do with washing.

My excuse is that I work incredibly long hours (7am to 7pm) and have 2 young DC. DH does lots to help too with cooking, dishwasher, all school runs but he is also crap at washing. We have 4 wash baskets and they are all full of washing in various states.

AIBU to ask for your help? Surely at my 'close to menopause age' I should be able to get a grip on this one area of life.

Please give me your tips...

Thank you!

Ravageur · Yesterday 23:23
60 pair of pants? Sixty? SIXTY??!

I once washed ninety pairs of pants and sixty tops for my stepchild.

A load on a timer to be ready when you get up, tumble while you get ready for work or hang out, then transfer to heated drier( on timer) or general drier rails. Then load machine again before work to go on timer to be ready when you come home. Repeat until you’ve caught up. It’s like meal times, it never stops so you must factor it in to daily life

Always one.

OP, laundry is the bane of my existence and your pain is keenly felt!

If you can afford it, hire a laundry service at least for a few weeks so it isn't piled up.

I think you own too many clothes- that's a lot to sort and store.

If you only have 10 or so pairs of socks each then it's not as overwhelming to pair them as if you have hundreds of lose socks flying around the basket.

I also buy only one type of sock for each family member, so pairing them is a mindless chore and I don't mind doing it while watching T .

I'm on maternity leave so am at home at home all day and still struggle with this OP. My issue is that we don't have a tumble dryer, just 2 clothes horses on the balcony of our small apartment.its hanging the clothes out that I really struggle with. My baby rarely naps for long and I spend the time she does sleep tidying/cleaning the living room, kitchen and bathroom. She is crawling so needs to be watched like a hawk. Sometimes I strap her in her buggy in front of the TV while I quickly get it done. I've stopped washing my clothes unless they are visibly dirty or smell.

My methods are:

Put 2 or 3 washes on during the day. Literally load and unload. When my husband comes home from work so he can watch the kids, I hang everybthing out.

I do everything in stages. Maybe one day I gather all the clean, dry laundry into one big pile. A few days later, I will separate the clothes into their piles and leave on our chests of drawers.

The next day put them away. My kids have a box of clothes each, which go into an IKEA Kallax set. I just bung them in and iron them as they wear them. There are two kalmar boxes for uniform which is also just bunged in and ironed before wearing. A kallax box for their pants, socks and vests, and another for pyjamas. DH and I just fold our stuff in our wardrobe or hang it up unironed and iron as we go.

Big bag of unmatched socks get sorted every so often on a 10 minute timer. Whatever gets matched in 10 minutes goes in the relevant persons box or drawer until we run out again.

I think a consistent habit is better than none, even if it's not very efficient. It's the best I can do.

Funny, I've been researching whether I may have inattentive adhd and also really struggle with household tasks, more than most people.

I actually enjoy laundry - it's one of the quick wins that make me feel efficient!

Fewer laundry baskets. The ones that have a dark side and a light side might work for you. As soon as one if sull stick a load on (I do mine on economy 7).
Don't iron - learn to fold well!
Dry shirts and dresses on hangers then they go straight in the wardrobe when dry (I don't have a dryer).
Use a peggy octopus thing (from Ikea) for pairing up socks when still wet.

I do everything in stages. Maybe one day I gather all the clean, dry laundry into one big pile. A few days later, I will separate the clothes into their piles and leave on our chests of drawers.

Whatever works for you - but don't you find piles of laundry around depressing??

Each person has their own washing basket so when their stuff is washed there is no sorting out whose clothes are whose.
Washing is only done when each basket is full.
Each person has just one type of sock so there is no pairing, just grab them all and put in the owner’s drawer once dry.
Never hang up baby and toddler clothes as it’s too time consuming hanging 100 tiny items up - their clothes are always tumble dried and folded while I watch TV.
i never iron. I buy clothes that don’t need ironing.

It’s much easier to keep on top of when everyone has less stuff. The more pants and socks you keep buying, the worse the problem will get. DP is an absolute clothes hound, he probably has as many pants as you do and I once lost count of his T-shirts, and he creates the laundry mountain in this house but cannot see that if he halved his shite, the laundry would halve.

Two weeks’ worth of stuff for everyone. After a week, do a wash, then dry, then put away. The second week’s worth of clothes is there to tide you over if there’s a problem with drying, or you have a busy one and can’t get everything away.

Stop pairing socks. That's that one solved. Shove them in the sock drawer. No need to pair socks

Life’s too short. I wait until the basket is full then drop it off at a local laundry. Pick it up, washed, dried & folded one day later

If you have a lot of washing to do at the moment you could take it all to a laundrette and use one of their big washers and tumble dryers to catch up. Then there are some good tips on this thread for keeping on top the washing.

(I am badly organised with washing so some of these tips are really useful!)

Buy some net laundry bags and name them. Each person puts their socks in their own bag. Wash & tumble dry then empty straight into each persons sock drawer. You might be able to do the same with knickers/pants depending on size, colours etc

Also don’t buy anything that needs hand washing or washing at 30 degrees. Everything gets washed at 40, bar the odd hot wash for towels

Then you fold it and put it away.

Its not hard

I absolutely fucking hate putting folded clothes away 😭😂
Sometimes it is hard, I just lack the mental capacity to put it away 😬
I can have a blitz on the washing, get it all done but then I'm left with a pile of clothes threatening to reach the ceiling for days/a week after 😭

That sounds expensive 😳

I could have found some sympathy if you hadn’t cited socks as the thing you bought lots of to avoid washing them. They’re so easy to wash and dry! No need hot hanging to avoid wrinkles. The timer is your friend. Shove a load on at night yo come in in the morning and be done when you get up. It’s hard. But not so hard you need 60 pairs of socks!

These are all good ideas.

I think you’ve got yourself all overwhelmed and are having a little internal panic about getting stuff washed and dried and not bumping up your bill.

Allocate a specific day to get it all done, shove a load of washing in on a shortish wash, then tumble dry it. Do that as many times as you can to just get it done. Last load (or first but if you’re anything like me you’ll fail at the first hurdle of sorting and then hanging it up!) can then be the stuff that needs hanging.

I must be weird I wash everything at 20 or 30 except towels and whites if stained which are 40.

Strangely no because its a sign they have progressed from the washing basket and have nearly finished the journey into the boxes. It's the only way I can do it.

This.

We are a family of 4, including 2 teenagers. I would do a maximum of 3 loads a week (because I am washing bedsheets that week), mosly two loads, sometimes one.

Buy the same socks in mulitples. If you have 10 pairs of identical socks for your husband say and another different set for children say blue or beige, you can cut down the pairing time a lot. I have to have flowers or something else feminine on mine unfortunately or my son goes off wearing my socks.

Maybe ask the kids to help you.
My 4 year old loves loading the wash and also loves emptying them into the tumble dryer. I don't know how old your kids are but i give mine a sticker for helping out. She loves it! Also great practice for when they're older to do their own laundry.
Unless your children hate washing too lol then i guess it's one of those mundane tasks you'lll just have to do bit by bit.

I keep on top of the washing but I loathe marrying up the socks. I take the basket into the living room and do it while I watch something on the telly. Then everyone has to go through it and pick out their own.