What is folding laundry?

[Iwrote]

I've seen this on a few threads, AIBU to not know what it means as a task? People talking about great piles of laundry that need to be folded?
I just fold mine when it gets fetched from the line / airer/ tumble dryer.
If it's for drawers it gets put away, of it's for ironing it gets hung up to wait.
I've never once in my life had a huge pile of laundry that wants folded, and can't understand how people do. Do they scrunch it in a ball when it comes on dry or suchlike?

I shake and loosely fold mine immediately it comes from the line or dryer, so it isn't scrunched and doesn't develop new creases. Then I put it away or put it in a pile for ironing. It's just me so there's not that much, but I did the same when the kids were little.

I fold things off the line or the airer. I too do not get how everything doesn’t get creased to fuck if you just ball it up and bung it in the basket.

I also give everything a good shake when it comes out of the washing machine to get creases out.

We don’t have a dryer.

I do however dry most things that live on a hanger, on the hanger, which negates the need to iron it about 66% of the time.

It drives me absolutely bonkers when DP takes all of the clothes off the maiden and dumps it in a pile on the table, when he's putting a new load out. If it's folded immediately after coming off the maiden, it's pretty much okay to wear without needing to be ironed. When he plonks it in a scrunched up pile because he can't be bothered folding it, it then has to be ironed and creates more work!

It is possible to take laundry off the line, ready for sorting at a later convenient time, without ‘balling it all up and bunging it in the basket’

I don't fold laundry at all. Take off the airer or out of the dryer. Put in the plastic laundry basket. Either divide into piles straight away or whenever I can be bothered. Take each pile Into the relevant bedroom, shove knickers/boxers and socks into drawers. Shove joggers/jeans into drawers. Hang up t shirts/blouses.

Not sure where the folding comes into it 🤷‍♀️

I assume that people putting stuff into baskets like I do aren't balling it, that would be a pretty stupid way to do it, the clothes simply naturally lie on top of each other, it doesn't introduce any additional creases

We don't tumble dry so it's already creased from the line or airer. I then fold it when I put it away or hang for steaming (I rarely iron)

But I don't tend to let it build up. However I don't have kids so this system probably works because if this!

Mine comes out the dryer/off the line/off the airer and chucked into big plastic baskets. Usually about four or five loads a week. The full baskets live stacked in the utility room until the weeks washing is complete. Then every Saturday afternoon I tip the whole lot onto a clean floor/bed/sofa, fold everything back into the baskets (1 per person), cart it all upstairs and put away. Then midweek I gather the dirty laundry from bedroom hampers into the baskets, cart it all downstairs, sort by type, wash, dry, chuck in the baskets again.

I have a separate basket for stuff that needs ironing, it rarely has anything in it.

Works for me. I’d much rather do one big fold than fold it in small batches as it dries. No one looks particularly crumpled, but then no one in my family is wearing formal type clothes either.

I have a massive bucket ready to be folded. All stuff that goes in the tumble dryer. So undies, pjs etc. I don’t always have the energy to do it at the same time so I chuck it in the bucket and do it later. As it’s only stuff like that it doesn’t matter if it gets creased.

I also don’t dry everything in the dryer so other clothes just get folded straight from the line, or dried on hangers and go straight in wardrobes.

If possible all my dresses and long sleeve tops are hung on the line on a hanger, ready to whisk off to the wardrobe when dry, I iron them if they need it as I wear them as I have knackered elbows that hate lots of ironing.

This doesn't make sense. How does folding outside instead of inside triple the work?

I fold the item as I take it off the line and put it on the pile. The pile is then taken upstairs and distributed out into four piles for each room. It wouldn't make any difference to workload by doing it outside or inside. How does that triple it?

I usually pull all the clothes out of the tumble dryer and into a bag, take it upstairs where i dump it on the bed. Split the clothes into piles and then put them away in drawers/on hangers in the wardrobe.

I don't...fold or iron anything 🤷

You genuinely can't think of a situation where you don't have time to fold immediately? Like you've noticed on your way out the door for an appointment/bus/train that it's threatening rain so you've got time to take the washing in very quickly but no time to fold? I try to fold straight way but sometimes RL gets in the way and it has to wait for a while.

I fold from line or dryer.

Haven't ironed anything for over 10 years.

As for Time - takes perhaps 3 seconds to fold each item on average? So a line or load would take 1 minute in total?

I have three methods of dying; tumble, line and airer.

Regardless of which method is used, items have to be removed or taken off and put in their normal storage space such as drawers or wardrobes. Unless I sit on the floor in front of the tumble drier or bend over and cripple my back, the load is taken out and put on a surface and then folded before being put away. When things are taken off the line, I unpeg with one hand and use my other arm or hand to hold the items, they are then brought indoors and either folded, hung up and occasionally items go into the ironing basket. Stuff which has been dried on an airer is normally folded as each item comes off the airer and then put away.

If you are not folding items, what are you doing with them? Do you leave everyone’s washing tangled up together in the bottom of the tumble drier? Do you have a dumping basket for dried items and everyone wears creased clothes? Do family members not have their own clothes storage where it is normal for clothes to be hung or folded?

Laundry into washer

Laundry out of washer into dryer

Laundry out of dryer, folded immediately so no creases

Laundry put in drawers

Split the clothes into piles and then put them away in drawers/on hangers in the wardrobe.
^^

Do you fold them before putting in a drawer?? Or put in all scrunched up??

I take it off the line or airer and fold it straight away. I fold it straight off the airer but if it's off the line I sling it over my shoulder and then fold it on the kitchen table. Although I once had a bee go down my top from slinging laundry over my shoulder so that's not a great idea.

Same! I’d rather deal with it straight away than putting in a pile

Well right now I have a load of laundry in the tumble dryer that needs folding. It's all the kids uniform and underwear from the week, and I can't be bothered to do it 😆 I expect I will pull it all out in the morning, find everyone a set of uniform!

I'm with you OP. Fold as I go. In fact one of my weird little pleasures is to stand in the garden at the end of a warm day folding the clothes off the line with the last of the sun on me. If its raining I shove them in the basket but fold straight after. Always fold out of dryer. I never need to iron.

Maybe this explains the people whose clothes always desperately need ironing so they don’t look like (in their words in another thread) a ‘rag bag’.
I fold mine as they come off the line/airer. If you put them in an unfolded pile for any length of time they will all be creased.

I start the washing on a Saturday and it usually gets finished Sunday morning . All dirty laundry into big ikea bags and washed and dried according to type of clothing and temperature required. Dresses get hung on hangers and jumpers get put in the airing cupboard. I then sort and put away all clothing and change the beds on Sunday evening whilst watching something crap on the telly.

Do you work from home? Or what time of day do you fold as you go?
Laundry here is often waiting in a basket to be folded.