To take all our washing to the launderette once a week to escape the daily washing nightmare?

[head2toeinuniqlo]

A new launderette has opened in our suburb.

We are a family of four. I WFH, around 70 hours per week. I am also responsible for all the cleaning, cooking and washing for the family. The problem with the washing is its sheer relentlessness. Not only that, but none of these lazy fuckers put their clean washing away. It invariably ends up back in the dirty washing hampers and, if a pile of clean clothes is left unattended, our cat will shit on it so it will need re-washing. I am so exhausted and trying to take some of the daily grind off me.

The launderette has captured my imagination. I see it as a possible sanctuary. It is brand new and shiny with loads of machines and places to sit. I am thinking I could drive down on a Saturday morning, chuck all the clothes in the machines, get myself a coffee and a croissant and sit there for a couple of hours in peace, reading a book.

It won't be cheap, but can I justify it?

Why do you have a cat that shits on your clothes?

That's absolutely gross.

I'd get rid of the cat and then tackle the other problems.

This!

This has made me really angry. Why isn’t your partner doing half of all the household chores? You work 70 hours a week and on top of that all of the house work? The laundrette idea actually sounds great, but at the moment I don’t think that the laundry is the problem here.

How many of you in the house ? Can you also maybe look at trying to reduce laundry - are the kids chucking clean jeans in the basket after just one wash for example?

Do you have an electric dehumidifier ? Speeds up drying time loads.

Definitely, do shop and launderette as suggested. Then leave it all for the lazy fuckers you live with to put away. Put your stuff away yourself, obv. They can't find clean clothes? You did all the washing on Saturday so if they put their clothes away they must have some.

Honestly, why are you doing 70 hrs a week and all the domestics? Are your DC under 5, does your DP work 24/7?

Sounds like it. Are you over filling it? I tumble all winter and it costs about £20 a month extra on top of normal energy costs, which is worth it to me. I use it at least 4x a week.

If they are under 5 then I think the lazy fucker label is a little mean. 😁

so you work nearly 12hrs a day 6 days a week??? Oh well,

How old are the “lazy” people and why are you tolerating this?

I’m assuming they aren’t small children if you’re calling them lazy, they presumably have eyes and can see how much you and your DH are working. What haven’t you imposed some rules and consequences for basically sitting back and watching their mother do absolutely everything for them? I’m a SAHM, I have loads of spare time and I’d definitely get angry at the sheer disrespect of putting clean clothes back into the wash because putting them in a drawer was too much effort, or if cleaning up their own mess was apparently beneath them. And mine are primary age with SEN.

You don’t need a laundrette, you need to launch a rocket under your children.

Yeah, make sure you aren't overloading it. It it a heat pump drier? That can take longer but they operate at a cooler temperature so it isn't necessarily chewing through the electricity at rate you might fear.

How old are your children? If they are over 13 then they need to do their own washing. Also husband needs to do his own washing too.

Tell DDs that if that's their attitude they can do without clean clothes. Ditto DH, I think - if you wfh then home is your office. You are not the office cleaner and they should pull their weight.
Quick solution, don't do all the stuff they say is your job, just do your job and do your what provides you with clean clothes, food etc.

But why only his own washing, if she is doing absolutely everything else around the house, surely at least that - everyone’s washing could surely be his responsibility, at the very least?

The laundry is the least of your problems. I would sort the actual issues out rather than go to a laundrette.

Go for it. Make your life easier. I have one DS and the washing is relentless

I would take it all on q Saturday morning and pay for a service wash. Tell no one in your family, let them assume you are physically doing the loading and drying stuff. Then take yourself off to a nice cafe and have a lovely breakfast, lovely coffee . Have a mooch somewhere nice and then pick it all up at a time that suits you.

So you work 10 hours days 7 days a week, your DH works even longer hours. And yet you are both enabling your children to be so lazy that they won't even put away clean washing. Why??

You seriously cannot get your children, who live in your house where you pay for everything to put things away?

You don't have a laundry problem, you have a 'you and DH parenting' problem

There is one by me that you drop off and collect. It was so busy I couldn't use them last week. I guess I'm not the only one then!

A few years ago I went on holiday to America and I ran out of clean clothes so my husband and I took all of her clothes to a launderette where they washed and ironed them all for us - it was bloody lovely!

You’re not unreasonable to go hide in the launderette, but it won’t solve the two problems that you have - that you live with lazy fuckers and that they don’t put their clean laundry away.

How old are the people in your family? Do other adults live in your household? Can you reduce your daily grind by doing less for them?

I’m also struggling to comprehend the 70 hours are you saying you work 7 days per week in paid employment? No day off? Do you have more than one job? How would you even have the time to go to the launderette? Or do you work night shifts?

I often used to take our washing to the launderette- a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon sitting quietly with my book.

But getting it washed and dried/folded in peace isn't going to get it back in your family's cupboards or stop them putting clean stuff back in the laundry hamper .

And if you are working 70 hours a week out of necessity- then time spent in the laundrette is going to be in addition to this so in your position I would continue doing it at home in between calls/meetings/whatever you do.

You and your DH need to get together to lay down some rules with your DC though - how old are they? And is your cat unwell ? Visit to the vet?

Sounds like what you could do with is not two hours in the laundrette but a regular break from your home for a walk, meet a friend for coffee, or even sit by yourself in a coffee shop with a book.

I used to work in a launderette, it's not cheap but a lot of people used us for washing, drying and folding. If you can afford it and it makes your life easier, why not?

Getting them to put clean clothes way-

Stand over them till they put them away - or have some kind of clean clothes hamper/storage - you can just dump them in that the cat can't get into and send them there to look for clean clothes.

Something like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094RCG79W?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

If you think the laundrette will help - try it and see.

I'd be focused on getting them to do their washing - DD1 came home from uni and without and prodding from me took care of her washing. DS 17 and DD2 15 have been shown how to use washing machine and drier and do very occasionally put a suddenly needed item in.

My own mother used to fiercely guard the washing machine - even Dad touching it got her wrath us kids she went nuclear - then moan no-one but her did any washing.

You definitely might be overfilling it. Mine doesn’t take the same size of load as my washing machine. Maybe put less in it, and check what the settings options are? Also are you clearing fluff and filters regularly? And emptying water if it’s that type. I put my washing on for an extra spin to reduce the drying time which also helps.

There was a lady on another thread a while ago who had a landing big enough that everyone in the family had a large clear storage box and they were lined up neatly. Her children were young so no uniform shirts to iron. She washed and dried everything and then it was just put/ chucked in the person's storage box. She had socks in different colours for each child so if it's red it's child 2. All thst child's socks were red so no need to ball into pairs ,as long as the child had 2 socks they were a pair.I wish I'd thought of it when my children were young.