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Original poster

Empty washing basket

80 replies

Reality · 19/05/2023 15:33

Is this a myth?

Does anyone ever finish the laundry? I’ve just bought two more baskets so we have lights/darks/colours separated and when one is full we wash it. I’m sick of the one we have being constantly overflowing.

I feel like this is a genius plan but also feel like I’m chasing something that doesn’t exist.

Is it just our house that is drowning in dirty clothes, towels, bed sheets, or am I missing something?

We do at least a load, mostly two, every single day and it never gets any less piled up. Are we just shit?

OP posts:
Ffsmakeitstop · 19/05/2023 15:37

How often are you changing sheets, towels etc? Are clothes and PJ's wurn more than once.

Changeforachange · 19/05/2023 15:38

The last time I saw it, I took a photo to evidence that the bottom of the washing basket does, in fact, exist.

I can't find the photo though, so it might have been a dream. Or a washing induced mirage.

Ffsmakeitstop · 19/05/2023 15:38

Worn. Forgot how many in your family?

Firstmonthfree · 19/05/2023 15:41

Just me and “D”P. I’ve stopped doing his washing entirely and find laundry now easily manageable. He was one of these types who would see an employee laundry basket and then just immediately fill it with an overnight bag that he’d forgotten to unpack…

bluebeck · 19/05/2023 15:42

So you’re doing about ten to twelve loads a week? That’s a lot. How many of you are there?

I wash sheets once a fortnight, towels once a week. Wear most outer clothing at least twice before washing.

AnneLovesGilbert · 19/05/2023 15:45

I’ve got a puking newborn so doing more than I have for a while, usually a load a day. But it’s empty by the end the day and everything clean is put away. I change linen once a week, towels the same, my clothes at least once a day as I’m milky and sicky, DH wears outer stuff for a few days as wfh, DD stuff gets washed after a day.

Original poster
Reality · 19/05/2023 15:46

Three adults. One 12yo. Two dogs so blankets and cushions. Three x beds changed one a week, ours is washed dried and back on but the kids tend to strip theirs and remake with spares. Lots and lots of towels.

Sometimes I’ll make my way through loads and then one or other of the offspring will dump a weeks worth in it. Adult DD does her own washing but then that snarls up the queue so doesn’t really help. It’s relentless. Oh and she uses most of the towels.

OP posts:
ChristmasKraken · 19/05/2023 15:46

We don't really have a "washing basket" - we have some of those big plastic trugs, one for darks, one for colours, and when needed, one for delecates. When there's enough for a load, it gets washed (and the trug used as a laundry basket to take out to the line and bring back inside for sorting).

ChristmasKraken · 19/05/2023 15:47

Oh, and towels and bedding are done once a week, and washed straight away, so no hanging around with them either.

Hugasauras · 19/05/2023 15:48

I think once you view laundry as just an ongoing process it's easier. I don't think it's ever really 'done'. Even if your laundry basket is empty it's very temporary. Laundry is just an ongoing part of life and you just manage it. We have success with a two-basket system. We have one basket upstairs for dirty clothes and one basket downstairs in utility for clean clothes, when one is nearing full it is either taken upstairs/downstairs and swapped with the other one. Plus laundry baskets are meant to have stuff in them. It's when it's spilling over there are problems!

CombatBarbie · 19/05/2023 15:48

I get them empty..... 2 days later all half full and then 2 days after that overspilling if I'm not around to put washes on.

But then it's I've an empty washing pile but an ironing pile..... I need to have words with the laundry fairy.

pizzaHeart · 19/05/2023 15:49

I’ve got it a few times a year. For me the main problem is drying. I can’t put a big load on when it’s a rainy day. I do extra spin cycle but the problem is still here. Recently there were 2 nice windy days - my washing basket was empty by the ends of the second one.

Hugasauras · 19/05/2023 15:50

Also binge laundrying is bad and kills the soul. I do a wash pretty much every day and make myself (or DH) put it away. My washing machine adjusts to the weight of the load so even if it's not entirely full, I just stick it on (because then if I don't the next day there is too much and you get out of kilter). Big drum size too. We have an 11kg drum in a standard washing machine size (Samsung).

steppemum · 19/05/2023 15:50

I empty mine every week.
Family of 5 with 3 teens.

But then I chaneg beds once a fortnight and we don't have loads of towels. Towels get used for a week then I change them.

We have a (muddy) dog, and I do a load of dog towels about once a month. They get used a few times and slung on the radiator in between.

HadEnough2023 · 19/05/2023 15:50

I do... but then it's back the next day. Grin I do a load everyday to stay on top of it!

cocksstrideintheevening · 19/05/2023 15:52

Empty at the moment. Will last about two hours.

2 adults 2 (horsey, muddy kids in winter just hair in summer). I've got a 9kg machine which helps.

We've never had a drier so I take towels and bedding to the launderette for a service wash.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 19/05/2023 15:57

Think of it this way…unless you’re naked while doing laundry it will never be ‘done’.

Might as well accept that there will always be some.

Zazzlez · 19/05/2023 16:00

In our house each person has their own basket so I wash:

DS - Mon
DD - Tues
Mine - Weds
DH - Thurs
Uniform - Fri
Bedding - Sat

Each person's towel gets washed on their day, I'm a SAHM at the minute so it's easy to keep on top of it for now.

fizzyfood · 19/05/2023 16:00

In 20 years of marriage and two kids I've only seen an empty washing basket once!

SeaToSki · 19/05/2023 16:04

I would start doing sheets once a fortnight unless its hot at night and you are all getting sweaty and bring the hammer down on the towel usage. We have one towel per person (each person has their own colour) and you get one per week unless there is an ‘incident’. That should cut it down massively

Daisythecat15 · 19/05/2023 16:05

saltinesandcoffeecups · 19/05/2023 15:57

Think of it this way…unless you’re naked while doing laundry it will never be ‘done’.

Might as well accept that there will always be some.

Sometimes I put the washing on just before going in the shower so I can put in the clothes I'm wearing and for a (very) brief time the washing is completely 'done' 😁

DappledThings · 19/05/2023 16:07

I do one load every 2-3 days. One load is one washing basket so it's empty as often as it's full.

Houseupdate · 19/05/2023 16:09

It’s incredible rare we ever get to the bottom of both sides of the basket at the same (dark/light 2 sectioned basket) but that’s fine. We are 2 adults, 2 child household, youngest occasionally has toilet accidents, bedding and towels washed weekly and we swim a few times a weeks. We do about 9 loads a week.

Sissynova · 19/05/2023 16:09

10-14 loads of laundry a week is just insane imo. I understand people with more kids will do more washing than my smaller family but for 3 of us we do 3-5 a week max. And thats including a grubby toddler who often comes home with multiple bags of dirty clothes from nursery.

Houseupdate · 19/05/2023 16:09

Houseupdate · 19/05/2023 16:09

It’s incredible rare we ever get to the bottom of both sides of the basket at the same (dark/light 2 sectioned basket) but that’s fine. We are 2 adults, 2 child household, youngest occasionally has toilet accidents, bedding and towels washed weekly and we swim a few times a weeks. We do about 9 loads a week.

Sorry I mean 8! Sometimes it’s only 6 but some times it’s 8.