Laundry is not hard

[Viohh]

Why do people make such a meal out of laundry? The machine literally does it for you. All you need to do is put the clothes in the machine - a 15 second job? I do 2/3 loads a day no problem with a large dog and twins.

We have separate machines but even when we don’t use the dryer it’s not difficult. Just maintain momentum. And folding is what a 2 min job? I put everyone’s clothes on the stairs for them to take up.

I'm not in the UK, but I hang my washing out in winter anytime it's not raining. As long as there is sunshine or a breeze it doesn't matter what the temperature, it will either dry or partially dry, and then can be finished off inside. However it does need to come in early or it will start to get damp - much easier to deal with now I'm not working!

I just had a email from a friend in the UK, and she hasn't had her washing outside for weeks - I would go mad!!

I live alone and still hate it
Got one load on the airer but my basket is full, and I can't do another load as nowhere to dry it
Even with a dehumidifier and heated airer stuff still seems to take ages to dry, even in summer when I try and put the airer in the sun inside so I'm constantly moving it about

Single mother of 3 , with 1 and a half hour commute (at best), a demanding job.I am sure you are still in bed when I leave my house. Kids club drop offs pick ups, all other aspects of general childcare and associated household chores. I am constantly shattered .
Every “5 min laughable job” feels like a never ending mountain climb for me.

But happy to hear that you are on top of it!

I'm beginning to think the problem is more that SOME people wash too much. I live alone now, but when I had a husband I washed at the weekends, three or four loads. How are people with small families creating enough to was every day??? I can understand little kids, but people really should be wearing their clothes, using towels, etc. more than once. Here there are actually messages on TV advising people to wear clothes more before washing them.

It does sound smug & pretty critical of people who find it tricky! Great to hear that laundry is easy for you though!

Op I get you. When I had four young DC I washed at least twice a day. If the weather was good it was put on the line, if it was horrid, it went in the dryer.

I always sorted it every evening, usually when the DC were in the bath, I'd put it into piles just outside the bathroom door and then distribute it when they were getting into their pyjamas.

I had to be organised, I was on my own most week nights as DH worked away during the week, and I rarely sat down before half nine at night, but everything was in it's place and I knew once I did sit down, I didn't have a nagging feeling I'd not done something.

Many people who work from home or are part time can easily sling on washed during the day. I'm out of the house for 10 hours a day.

@Viohh Be careful you don’t hurt yourself when you fall off your high horse. Especially as you won’t have a massive laundry mountain to break your fall. 🙄
Just be smug in silence you massive bellend, we don’t all live the same life, have the same time available or the same equipment to use.

We do however all have exactly the same capacity for compassion for others.

I wish! Work in my living room/kitchen (open plan) and can't because of the noise

OP I totally agree with you. I read on here all the time about people complaining about doing laundry and I’m like wtf why is everyone finding it so hard? I have a 3 yo and a 3 months old and I do 1-2 washes a day. Bung it in, hang it out, put it on drawers it all only takes a few minutes?!

No, laundry is not hard. It's just a long winded ball ache.
First nip upstairs, sort out a wash load, take it down to pop it in the washer...easy.

Then in winter it's hung on the airer or takes over my combined washer drier so I can only do 2 washloads in a full day.
Then it mostly needs ironing.
Then folding or hanging, before heading back upstairs to be put away.
Easy.

Well done op.

Do you work out of the house?

Yes but when you're out the house from 8 til 6 minimum it's much harder just having the time to do it. It's no problem when you're home with a baby.

The hard part for us is noticing when it’s finished - our machine doesn’t beep and when you’re busy doing something else you don’t notice the sound disappearing from the background noise. Then suddenly it’s hours later and I still haven’t hung it out.

Do you have Alexa? I set a timer to go off when its due to finish.

No, we’re an Amazon-free household. I’ve tried setting a timer on my phone but it always seems to take a slightly different amount of time to throw you off!

Unlike many posters, I don't think OP is smug. She's just incapable of understanding/tone deaf.

I don't think she can compute (because she literally states "difficulty" in her posts) that laundry is not difficult. I'm not entirely sure why she thinks something that is a "two minute job" in her house is far from that in others. And that hanging round the house all day in order to move three loads from basket, to machine, to dryer, to drawer...being there at the right time to actually fit 3 washes a day in, is the nuisance.

As I said, I also have DTwins. And a teen. And myself and DH.

DTwins are pre school. Teen is in school all day. DH at work. I go round three laundry baskets and sort whites/darks/coloured/delicate. Then I'll take the whites, and set the wash off. I then need to be in the house to remove that from the machine 1.5hrs later, pop in the dryer, and get the load of darks in the machine. An hour later, the whites are dry, so they need folding and putting into 5 piles (me, DH, teen, twins, things which need proper ironing) which takes around ten minutes. I'll then go up and put those away, in three different rooms and on my way back down bring the coloured items and plonk in front of the machine which has about ten minutes left on the dark wash. Then the darks go into the dryer, the coloureds go in to the machine etc etc. Every other day is someone's towels wash, or a bedding wash too. So there's remaking however many beds to make time for too. Plus ad hoc items, blankets, dressing gowns, pe kit, table linen. Today was two sofa cushions, thanks to boy twin spilling a drink. Also, with DTwins being little, often there are grass stains/paint/random orange sauce stains that need a good pre wash treatment. Their coats get washed weekly too.

None, I repeat, none of this is difficult. Anyone can do it with their eyes shut. But to suggest it takes no time at all is frankly ridiculous. And I've done this day in, day out for years. I'm not slow at it. If folding a whole load from the dryer apparently takes two minutes, then it's to a very different standard than I would be happy with. It's just a bit stupid to suggest that a "mind shift change" is the issue.

Fewer children, older/less messy children, being in the house all day, other people being around/old enough to put their own things away or sort their own laundry, that's what would actually help. Funnily enough, these apply to OP...

I think if you’re washing 2 trousers, 2 tops, 2 pants & 4 socks each day then the fact that it’s eco-wash isn’t really true. Does your husband only have one set of clothes?

YABU it is not hard for you

I have issues with executive function. I literally only do my washing when I have no undies left. Then I have to wear PJs all day when the washing is on. Making room to hang it all up.. that only happens if there is room. If there is not, then that means there is an additional task of tidying up before the washing goes out. And I usually have not tidied up due to some other thing getting in the way... so it basically means I do not wash my clothing because my recycling needs to go out, or something else with some tenuous link.
Recently, I could not batch cook food for the week because I needed to clean my bath. It was all linked, I promise! I ate out, at great cost, for days because my bath was dirty.

My washing doesn’t sort itself & jump into the machine according to sportswear, wool, towels etc so you’ve missed steps 1 & 3.
nor would the second round of washing magic itself out of the machine & onto the airer. If it tried to it would find load one still lurking. Are you trying to say that two loads of washing takes little more than 5 minutes (and you haven’t factored in drying)?

I absolutely hate it and struggle to keep on top of it, always laundry to be washed, dried and put away and I do at least 2 loads a day, sometimes 4! I wash everything on a 40 and bedding towels tea towels on a 60. Have started using the quick wash for clothes that aren’t to dirty to try to get through it a bit quicker!

Such an ignorant post. As someone who is disabled (chronic pain conditions) and has suspected ADHD (under assessment) something as simple as the washing takes massive effort for me. Maybe think why you felt it necessary to make a post like this. Why did everyone need to know YOU find washing easy? Why did everyone need to know you don't understand people who don't? This is ignorant at best.

You are amazing !! Make sure you stay that way………

This thread is interesting. I have literally never in my life heard anyone say doing laundry is hard work, people just get on and do it. Must be a MN thing......

I get what you mean about never being finished. Someone said to me to reframe it, laundry isn’t a job for the to do list, it’s continuous like needing to prepare meals