To ask what your laundry routine is?

[bluesign]

I've two medium sized wash baskets which I can just never get to the bottom of! It honestly feels endless and it's driving me nuts. There is 3 of us, me, DH and a 4 year old so it's not like we're a big family either.

I usually try and do one load washed and put away each day. At least one anyway, as I know if I leave it a few days the pile will be even bigger and the baskets will literally overflow.

I have a tumble dryer and a maiden. I try not to use the tumble dryer constantly but it takes hours to dry on the maiden so I'm thinking I might just have to start using it and possibly have a day of just doing washing.

Please share your tips! I dream of an empty wash basket 😭

You what?!!

Laundry basket is never empty for long and there are only 2 of us.

My teenager goes through more clothes than anything else - minimum 2 changes per day, so it’s only empty until the next shower 🤷🏽‍♀️.

If I do a short cycle, I increase the spin time to remove as much water as possible and use the dehumidifier. Special wash clothes are a bit more challenging.

Put mine on clothes dryers in cellar with dehumidifier on

Washing on a delay timer set to finish in the morning, washing hung up on heated airer in DHs office in winter and that keeps him warm during the day. Socktopuses hung up high through velux windows for pants and socks and cloths.

Second load set to finish in the evening if needed. Additional washes not to be put on unless there is a clear plan for what is drying to be put away. I don't mind the laundry baskets not being empty but I massively mind piles of clean clothes building up and getting mixed up and squished. Touch it once policy. No piles!

I can't quite understand how you're doing so much laundry with only 3 of you! 😂
We're a family of 5, including kids with SEN and toileting issues so do ALOT of laundry
Kid puts on a load every morning - reusable colour catcher so no need to sort colours. Tea towels, cloths etc all get chucked in (ideally would wash separately but, y'know) Hang it on airer and use a dehumidifier which works a treat to speed it up.
Friday whites get done (don't trust the colour catcher for smart shirts!)
Then weekends there's about 3 loads to do. Towels and bedsheets get washed on alternate weeks - 2 beds one week plus towels, 2 beds another week and towels optional.

Something I do that I don't think anyone else has mentioned (possibly because it doesn't help others but anyway...) is to collect washing per person then hang it all (maiden & heated airer ) then fold it as take it down & it all goes into one person's drawers/pile. I find it saves a lot of dashing about.

I have a friend who folds all the family's clothes onto their dinner chairs - they have to put them away to sit down for dinner 😁

5 in our family and I have never felt the need for a routine!! Just do it as and when. Everyone now does their own, all adults.

Once dry it goes into a basket belonging to each family member (or bedroom, if people share rooms). Trick is no folding - just dump it straight in the basket and then everyone puts their own stuff away. Only work shirts get ironed.

Everyone has their own basket in their rooms + one in garage for dirty cloths etc

I wash a load each day:

Monday: Bedding (all white)
Tue: son
Wed: DH and mine together
Thur: Towels (all white)
Friday: Cloths, bathmats
Sat: Wool and delicate
Sun: Random blankets, throws, cushion covers if needed

Each load is washed first thing and in the Sumner pegged out
In winter, I have a tall towel radiator and ceiling pulley, and the washing is hung on that. In the evening when the price of electricity goes down (I am on an agile tariff) the washing is finished off in the dryer.

Next morning it is all put away. Rinse and repeat

How on earth do you, DH and one child generate enough washing to "put a load on" every day?? 😲

I can easily do a load a day with 3 in the family, sports kits, gym gear, towels, bed sheets,clothes.

I use a low spin speed to prevent clothes getting battered. High speed for towels/ kitchen towels etc.

As there is only me and DH home, I tend to put a wash on overnight whenever I have a full load. I wash bedding/sofa throws weekly though. Throw everything in the tumble dryer at the moment, in the summer/nicer weather I dry clothing outside.

I have one basket and I generally do one light and one dark walk a week. I have an integrated washer dryer as I don’t have room for a separate tumble dryer and I also do not want my house cluttered up with drying clothes. The washer dryer gets things nearly dry but I put in airing cupboard or hanger for a bit to finish if not.

DH has his own separate laundry basket and does his own.

Wash on most mornings then straight onto radiators.

Go round every morning taking dry clothes off and put next load on.

House smells divine.

I open windows a crack each day.
Never use tumble dryer.

Rarely have overflowing wash baskets.
4 of us.
I wear clothes for as long as I can, 2-3 times, try to choose easy dry, non ironing items.

We do 3 loads a day at least. 4 of us plus animals. Most goes in the tumble dryer, some is pegged out or put on airer. We have a laundry room, everyone’s stuff gets put in baskets or is hung in laundry room when ironed and they collect it and put it away. It’s never ending but that’s life with family and animals. We have adult/teen kids so it doesn’t all fall on us to do.

I’m a sucker for cleaning/organising books and follow a lot of the cleaning guru’s on SM and the phrase that has stuck in my head ( though I can’t actually remember which one said it ) is this- “wash-dry and put it away godammit” 😊and this simple phrase works so well. Used to have loads
of clean laundry sitting around and I couldn’t cope with it. I have ADHD and OCD and I need to be super organised or I fall apart.

we are 3 adults and one teen and produce a lot of washing and I have ONE laundry basket for us all and separate whites/towels and delicates which includes my daughter’s 5 oodies and I wash daily and am always on top of it. All bedding changed weekly, hand towels/tea towels and cloths changed daily and we have a hairy husky so clothes don’t tend to last longer than a day before needing washing. I do use my TD a lot but will get it out as much as possible in the spring and summer.

its taken me years to figure out what works for me. I am a bit of a perfectionist and take great pride in my laundry and this is what works for us. If I leave my routine for one day I end up with an overflowing basket and become overwhelmed.

good luck op!

Put dirty washing in machine, wash it, hang it out to dry. 🤷‍♀️

I found that the people who didn’t do the washing were a lot keener to put things in the wash.

I tend to sniff and check for stains, sometimes just baby wipe them off 😂 Then either wash or fold back up and put in their room

Your dryer is set at cottons.

Use the synthetics setting if your polyester clothes are not doing well in the dryer at the cotton setting.

Does your dryer have a manual? If so, take a look at it and you may see what temps the various settings represent.

Get your DH to do his own laundry from start to finish.

He'll figure out how to do it the way he wants it if you let him learn from his mistakes and don't rush in to help.

Do you all have over 30 pairs of pants and socks each?

The thought of pairing up over 90 pairs of each would put me off saving them up for a month!

Family of 3 here too. i do about 4 - 5 loads per week. It does feel never ending because it is a repetitive cycle. That’s just what it is. I do it all as DH works very long hours (70 per week 😬) DC too young right now but I will ask her to do one load a week in next few years so she starts to learn and take responsibility a bit.
Tend to stick to rough schedule so I know where I am! A few tips that are game changers for me 🤣- double spin on washing machine so it’s a lot drier and takes less time to dry, 30 minute washing cycle at 30 is normally sufficient and saves time, add a spoonful of washing soda which keeps washing machine fresh, heated airer in winter as I try to minimise tumble drier use. We probably do wash clothes a bit too often but I struggle not to. We wash underwear, socks, t-shirts after every wear, trousers and skirts can go two wears if not visibly dirty, bedding and towels once per week.

Folding and put in DC’s room for then to put away and same for DH. DC have to ‘remind’ then to put it away. This is my worst bit.

Rough ‘Scheduie’:
Saturday - wash two double beds in morning, dry in tumble dryer for about 20 mins, then on airer/ landing to finish off. Put back on beds in evening.

Sunday - dark load.

Tuesday - lights or towels

Thursday- darks again

Another load on Friday if needed.

it is pretty relentless!!

How are you needing to do a wash every day with only 3 people!!! Most clothes unless actually dirty can be worn on more than 1 occasion.

We’re a family of 5, even when there were 4 of us there was lots of washing.
It’s one load out and hung up another in, that’s usually morning and night when we’re at work. As soon as that load is dry (heated airer) the next is hung to dry.
you can start off your drying in the tumble then hang out that dries quicker. You can finish off in the tumble too for 10 mins but regardless of the settings I do think they shrink clothes over time and generally ruin them.
That said, cotton setting for towels and bedding only really, that’s too hot for other things.
Each family member puts away their own pile of clothes, I get round to putting mine away when I have time.