To think laundry isn’t the easiest chore

[outofofficeagain]

I do all the washing. DH says ‘it’s not that big a deal’

I do.

It’s a lot to do multiple loads a week, and dry it, and sort it into piles.

There are times when I find it overwhelming.

AIBU to say that if he thinks it’s so easy, then he should do it.

That’s even weirder than once a fortnight!

How big is your washing machine that can fit two weeks worth of clothes and bedclothes or TWO PEOPLE?

Seriously. That's like 28 pairs of pants, 28 pairs of socks/tights, 28 tops... 20+ bottoms... A few jumpers/cardigans...

One load, minimum, needs to be washed, dried and put away per day in my house or it gets very overwhelming.

Id far rather be in charge of the washing than the cooking.

I just do don't see how garlic can fit in that many clothes! Even for one person, but they're saying there's two adults in the house 😱

You need to change your attitude to it. The very worst of the laundry jobs is now done by the washing machine. Keep remembering that, keep being grateful that you don’t have to slave over a tub of water or a mangle. My grandmother had no washing machine when she started her married life. That’s not even a hundred years ago. More like eighty. Not really a long time. I tell myself that every time I shove the washing in the machine and think ‘god, this is boring’. It’s a far easier job now, just keep on top of it and don’t wash stuff that’s hardly been worn!

She's managing to put in 20+ tops, 20+ bottoms, 28 underwear, 56 socks, half a dozen or so bras, half a dozen jumpers etc. (plus some bedding!!)

She must have a TARDIS or something.

I do washes per person. It makes it a lot easier to tackle (mentally) and also requires less space to sort as you're not sorting it into so many piles.

I have a small child (5) and her weekly uniform, underwear and rainbows wash is one load alone. And I have a 7kg machine!

Garlic cannot possibly be washing 2 people's clothes and some bedding in one load every two weeks.

I’m not saying it’s physically hard work, but it is more than just putting it in an pressing start.

There are 3 of us, including teenage DS. In theory DS could
do his own washing but I feel like it would get in the way of the other loads so easier if I manage it all.

I don’t iron anything but DH irons his own shirts.

Bedding is once a fortnight. Towels once a week.
one white wash, probably two dark washes a week and a wool wash about once a fortnight too.

I don't personally agree although it's not an assigned chore or any one person's job in our house. Usually DH will put a wash in the machine before coming up to bed. I work from home so will empty the machine in the morning and either put it on the line outside or hang it on the aired drier. Takes no more than 10 mins. At the end of the day it's taken upstairs and dumped in the ironing basket.

DH does all the ironing whilst watching youtube videos/football highlights, he usually does a few pieces per night so it doesn't build up. We don't find it to be all that much of a chore.

Oh bore off!!! 🤣 Thinking about how much technology has come on will not make me feel better about my laundry load until an affordable robot is built that will fold and put away my clothes for me 🙈

But that's one small part of it. First you have to sort it; then make sure you are in when the load finishes so it doesn't get smelly; then either peg it out to dry or sort out what can and can't go in the tumble dryer; then watch the weather and collect it all in if it starts to rain; then fold it carefully so you don't need to iron it ( unless you do iron - which is another pain!) Then sort it into piles and pair up all the socks; and deliver to bedrooms. If you have small kids then you also have yo put it all away in the right drawers. The whole process is time consuming. And it's relentless. Maybe if there's just 2 of you but if you have family then you have to do a load a day. It's nonsense to say that you put it in the machine and switch it on: that's what my ds says because he never does any fucking washing!

It's not particularly hard, just tedious and relentless.

It's the putting away stage. Especially with mixed loads so I have to manually recall who owns what. Is it still DS1's or has it passed on to DS2. Who owns which sock pattern? How did those pants sneak in there?

Add in DCs with impaired executive function and general lack of enthusiasm to put away their clean things as well as a tendancy to simplify it by dumping clean stuff in the dirty box for quick illusion of having done it.
DS2 just doesn't cope with the tens of micro-decisions of putting stuff in different drawers and his brain just stalls in overwhelm mode.

Short cuts:
Keeping drawers at a capacity so stuff can be shoved in without folding
Not pairing socks- using drawer dividers to shove in casual/ sports/ school socks
Buying one theme of socks in multiples e.g. DS1 has grey comfort socks for school, DS2 has colour toed socks.
Only ironing for weddings, funerals and job interviews

Still tedious though!

This could be much better. Then at least DS would just be one load at the end of the week that I wouldn’t need to sort.

I didn’t have a washing machine when I first moved in with my husband in 1976. We saved for a couple of years to buy a little single tub washer, and then bought our first modern style washing machine when we moved house in 1982.

A little bit off topic, but can I suggest that if you’re drowning in laundry (and can afford it) bundle it up and take it to a launderette for a service wash. They’ll wash, dry, fold and usually pair socks so you collect it all done. (This is also a game-changer after a holiday).

After a service wash, you’ll have an empty laundry basket for once and can ‘start afresh’ with a routine that works. I found little and often was easiest and less items dry better on an airer than trying to fit loads on.

Yeah, it’s relentless, and I empathise but it can be made easier with a routine; when it piles up it can be so overwhelming. Unless stuff is filthy or smelly a quick wash will also be fine.

I look after the laundry in our house.

DH would wash a pair of jeans & one sock.

I do all the laundry. DH does all the driving. I do 4 loads a week. Heater airer and tumble drier make it OK to manage. Not my favourite job.

Why can’t your DH do it? If he thinks it’s easy, why isn’t it his chore?

This is what I have started doing and it has literally changed my life!!

Instead of having bags of clean laundry sitting around, waiting to be sorted, everyone now does their own laundry whenever they have a wash load and it's washed, dried and returned.

Nobody minds doing their own because it just goes from washer to dryer back into the laundry bag so the kids are learning independence and I no longer find myself dashing downstairs half naked and rummaging through bags of clean washing to find a bra in the mornings! Truly a revolutionary change for us!!

On "it was much harder in the past" yes it was, but as ever, society always fills the void, so as it's become easier to go through the process, standards and expectations of wearing clothes that look and smell fresh have gone up.
Increased heating means people are warmer and sweatier while inactive
We expect people to wear clean clothes every day
People don't tend to wear protective garments like overalls, house coats or aprons
People have more niche clothing so someone might wear a set of clothes for work, then exercise clothes then loungewear in a day. Even reusing some of them, it's still extra garments that build up through the week

Back in the days of swooshing the laundry around with the dolly and using the mangle, people also did things like sewing children's undergarments on for the winter, so they weren't being washed frequently to stack up in the laundry!

DH does all clothes washing/drying/folding/any needed ironing. I do all food shopping/meal planning/cooking.
They are our two most time consuming chores.

Dear lord please stop enabling ungrateful men and just make them do their own laundry. Please don’t raise a teenage boy into a man who can’t do the basics like washing their own clothes - we don’t need any more men in the world like that.

I think it's pretty easy, but there are no kids in our house, I have a system that I follow religiously, and we tend not to buy clothes that are fussy with special washing requirements. There are a few things that need a gentle cycle, but I don't bother separating colours, for instance, except for the first wash of dark or red items, just in case the dye bleeds.

I prefer laundry to most other chores, really, but any time someone says any chore is "easiest", the correct response is to let them take over for a week or a month, if it's so easy! (But yes, there are things you can do to make it more manageable. You have to find a system that works for you.)

I suspect some of those who find laundry so laborious are those who wash everything after one wear - in which case they have no-one to blame but themselves!

I actually love doing the laundry - and did even in the days when I had a twin tub, and before with a tub and mangle. I even quite enjoy ironing. However I have to say if I lived somewhere where I couldn't hang clothes out all year round I might not enjoy it quite so much.