To never be on top of Washing

[Aquarius1234]

I can't remember when I didn't have a pile of washing in the basket/ floor.

I have a plan in my mind that I will do a couple of loads and Try and get it down.
But then I avoid for ages..
I don't know why I find it so hard to physically pick up dirty washing and put it in the washing machine.
Definitely the worst is shaking it out and putting on clothes horses. Esp knickers and socks.
I don't own a tumble dryer. So all I do is occasionally go to my parents and use theirs for bedding and towels.
Anyone else feel life is horrible when washing and well general cleaning is thrown into the mix??

Throwing clothes out would not solve OP's procrastination problem at all. Wearing clothes until they are dirtier before washing, and changing linens-towels less often, would somewhat help.

Quick question about tumble dryers: I have one and use it for underwear, bedding towels and clothes you can specifically tumble dry. Pp's implying. that you can tumble dry everything but surely jeans would be wrecked in the dryer? I've nearly accidentally ruined a few shirts that have crept in as they're come out so creased and wrined. Do some people tumble dry everything?

I am a rare creature which likes doing the laundry. There are certain chores i hate but the washing isn't one of them.

I do 1/2 loads every day. Sometimes a 3rd load if there's lots of bedding to do or chair throws need doing or whatever ect.

I love the idea of the machine going while i'm busy with something else. I like the sound of it. I like the smell of the clean laundry. I don't mind the airers, but I really love hanging it out when it's nice out and getting it in all dry. I realise i sound like a saddo.

I have 4 DCs (had 3 under 5 at one point) and now have a tumble dryer (didn't for years) but only use it for bedding and towels. Before that i used to hang them over door and banisters.

You have to do a load every day. Think of it like washing yourself or doing your teeth. You wouldn't skip it. It's your clothes. Just wash 'em!

We all do our own washing here , dc have done theirs since becoming teenagers (now in their 20s) kept in their rooms till they do a wash.
DH does his own (he is crap at putting anything away but after years I just have just learned to ignore it).
We have a spare room with a dehumidifier , 2 airers and a rack for drying on coat hangers, washing dries quickly, a tumble drier and a washing line. Works well for us.

Towels (changed twice a week but all washed together)

Do towels have to be changed twice a week? If they're used on clean bodies, and hung up after use, they can't be dirty.

I've nearly accidentally ruined a few shirts that have crept in as they're come out so creased and wrined.

You need to:
Separate out things like towels and jeans that need a lot of tumbling and light things like shirts that don't need so much
Not leave them in there too long and
Stop the dryer just before it finishes and get them out and hang them up immediately.

It’s not that they are dirty as such but dead skin cells? From research it shows towels should be washed after 3 uses.

@CeliaNorth please don't turn this into yet another thread about how often towels should be washed!
FYI (and I have no idea why I am justifying my laundry regime here) mine and dh's towels are changed one a week. Sons are changed twice because he is not as diligent as, we are about hanging up after every use etc

They have it right in the USA. No outdoor drying. Huge capacity Washing machines and dryers upstairs in utility rooms next to the bedrooms so no carting up and down the stairs. Why don’t we do this in the UK?

Laundry used to stress me out because I tried to finish it.

Laundry is never finished. While you're washing/drying/folding laundry you are wearing clothes, and so are all the other people in your house! There's 6 of us, so literally another half load created while I am washing what was in the basket!

What helped me was to decide which days I would do laundry. I wash on three days per week, and will do multiple loads on those days to get through what's in the baskets. On the other days I don't wash (but might still be drying/putting away).

I am therefore "on top of the laundry" even though there's stuff in the baskets, as long as I do washing 3 days per week.

If the laundry basket is ever empty at our house we feel we've really accomplished something.

I used to live in the US as a child (only for a few months). We had a nice house but to do laundry, my Mum had to carry it downstairs to the basement and go through two doors to get to the laundry room. She said it was a pain in the arse, whoever designed that house had never looked after tiny children or hated women.

The next house my Dad lived in had a small yard that would have been good for drying laundry but the residents’ association absolutely forbade any form of clothes drying outside (or, in fact, in view of any neighbours). Americans have quite a weird attitude to laundry.

I don’t hate doing laundry but it sounds as though the OP doesn’t have anywhere to dry it (she mentions hanging it in the lounge). That would do my head in.

I have a Lakeland heated clothes horse - it’s super useful but not a thing that can be folded away.

If I washed towels after every three uses, I would never stop washing.

Bit drastic.

Stop buying clothes. Only buy what you really NEED. Fewer clothes = fewer to wash. You can't get to the stage of piles everywhere as there aren't enough clothes to make the piles in the first place. And reassess when things get washed - so many people think it's "grim" to wear an item more than 5 minutes.

So buy less, wash less.

I spend more time thinking about doing the washing than actually doing it.
Its not just being a bit lazy, I just don't have that urge for being organised.

Oh and if I ever become the sort of person who lives their life to a schedule of "dark wash on Monday, whites on Tuesday, towels on Wednesday", shoot me.

Oh and I wear jeans several times before washing. Cardigans also lots.
I probably have too many clothes so that's why I'm able to last too long before putting loads in.

I quite like buying new socks underwear few times a year, but it's getting rid of the older ones..
Why have clothes hanging around that haven't been worn in months or years..

Sounds like time for a charity shop sort-out then.

There are three of us and my first job of the day is to put a load of washing on. Every day. Rarely miss a day. Put it on airer and if decent weather put airer in the garden. I love us all to have clean clothes. Washing is my favourite household job

I don't iron. Haven't for years. Shaking tops and trousers works for me.
Don't have formal work wear.

Maybe I don't do washing regularly because I dislike sitting/ looking at wet washing all the time?

Oh no. Hate ironing. Only iron work shirts. If you arrange the washing neatly enough there’s no need to iron. I’ve known people who iron bedding, socks and tea towels. Do me a favour

Not the washing Jo but j feel like this about other household chores

🤷🏼‍♀️ DH does his own, I do probably 2 or 3 loads/week. Tumble dryer if wet weather otherwise is hung outside or on clothes rack.
I iron about once a week’s, don’t mind it because I listen to podcasts or radio.

Wow that sounds like a full time job.
Housework is so depressing.