To stop doing the washing every day and do it at the end of the week?

[ChronicallyOnLime]

We seem to find ourselves constantly at the washing machine or dryer 😂 every day! We have two kids, two adults in the house. Would I be mad to say you know what? Throw all the washing into the wash basket and we’ll just have a laundry day once a week?!

How often is everyone else putting on a load of washing for a family for 4?

Mixed loads wreck clothes. I know loads of people who do it and think their clothes look fine, they aren't fine everything is dingy grey and faded.
Anything yellow or pink is spoiled by washing in with jeans and navy items.
We do all our washing on a saturday morning. Sometimes a bit on Sunday.

I do a load overnight every night and hang it on the heated airer in the winter or outside when it’s warm. I sort it straight from the airer or washing line into a basket for each person and they are responsible for it from then on. Dh irons anything that needs to be ironed on a Sunday evening but it’s up to the wearer to give it to him.

YANBU to consider it, at all.
But I’ve tried it, and it doesn’t work - just makes it worse.
Good luck!

How can 4 bed sheets generate 2 washloads! Towels changed after every use, another thread, everyone has their own towels, different colours..I have arthritic hands and tendon problem, it's too painful to hold a bath towel,so I use a hand towel, when I get out of the shower, I wrap it round my head/hair, then go all over with a damp flannel, then the towel. It's hung up to dry .

The risk of leaving it till the weekend is that then it becomes an all day chore? 3 or 4 loads perhaps and modern washing machines take ages to run a cycle. I prefer to put a full load through as/when I've got enough to fill it

If you do eg dark, mixed load and other (eg whites. towels sheets floor clothes) on a Saturday can you find space to dry them all? If you use a tumble dryer I think you might be able to but better to hang dry for your electric bill

Have never done washing g every day even when we had two kids in the house. I wouldn’t put a wash in unless I had enough for a full load. I wash underwear after one wear obviously but other clothing only after a few wears or if dirty. Have never had a dryer but do have a utility room with clothes horse and overhead drying lines. I dry outside from now until October.

No, modern tumble dryers are very cost effective. They have moisture sensors and you can run various programmes. I calculated that it was cheaper to use mine than run a heated airer+ dehumidifier for hours.
It's personal preference, though.

I try to do ours at the end of the week, washing is no problem but getting it dried can be an issue - we have a tumble drier but not everything can go in there. Thankfully the weather is getting better so I can dry outside

OP, I think you have to find what suits you, but we go out at the weekends, so it's done after work on weekdays, and doesn't seem too much. I have a 15 min wash for some delicates, so that's done when I'm eating breakfast. Just think about what works for your family needs.

My DH does it everyday to keep on top of it. I don’t go near it. We use the tumble dryer though so it’s easier. Hate hanging washing outside. Looks messy. Doesn’t cost us anything either as we have solar panels and batteries

That's interesting but if you don't have a damp problem or have outside drying space then can dry for the cost of pegs and a washing line

We're a family of 7, 2 adults, 3 teens (who are adult sized) and 2 kids. If I don't wash every day it piles up massively and I struggle to get back on top of it. Three of the kids have sports which happen 6 days a week and me and DH go to the gym a fair bit so we end up with a lot of washing.

Yes, I realise that.
However. I live in a very rainy part of the UK. I don't like damp washing hanging about the place. My point is that the use of a tumble dryer need not be extortionate, and is quick, efficient and convenient.

I genuinely don't undersstand why towels are washed after every use. Or even most clothes.

I think it's just one of those personal preference things. Or perhaps if people have very physical jobs? Probably not necessary if you wfh.

There’s only two of us. We do maybe four washes a week, depending on what’s happening. Gym kit, darks, whites, coloured. Maybe not all of them every week - sometimes there aren’t enough whites for example.

This diesnt include towels and sheets Before I get accused of bringing grim.

Pretty much daily here too! But in a flat so it’s on a heated airer sl
limited space and takes ages to dry! So if I’m not doing a load each day it gets out of control and il never get it dry .

id never get through it all once aweek

(we’ve a baby and a toddler and then there’s the gym and cycle gear that both of ua have daily as well.)

I have reusable nappies and wipes too so that load os always got on in between.

i don’t really mid though - I throw the wash on early it’s a timer as it comes on around 5.30/6am and I get it hung up before we leave for the day.

then we have a basket for me, husband and 1 for the kids and we fold it in front of the tv.

and repeat 🤪

It's whatever works best for your own situation.

washing every day doesn't work for me. I put a wash on when I know I have time to hang it out etc. also, if I know weather will be favourable to get it out to dry. It doesn't need to be warm out for it to dry - often have loads out on the line in the winter, if it's dry and windy.

but mostly I do it Friday- Sunday as that's what generally works for me. I prefer full loads. And only ever have enough whites for one load a week at thr most. Sometimes once every 2 weeks.

Depends if you happy to spend a whole day trying to wash and dry a weeks worth of dirty clothes, we wash most days , if there’s a full load ,and it keeps on top of things DD doesn’t and never seems able to catch up on the mountain of washing two small children produce, it’s usually more around the issue of drying than the actual washing though

I do the majority of the washing at the weekend but unless it's sunny it's hard to get it all dry. So during the winter I spread it out morem

We wash most days, family of 5, sports, work gear, school gear, hobby gear plus normal clothes etc. If we left it until the weekend we would be tied to staying at home all weekend just to get through it all plus would probably have to buy more clothes to tide us over.

Why would you do the washing for other adults? Just do your own and leave them to do theirs whenever they want to.

Family of 7 here. I have to do a load every single day or it's chaos. Plus an extra two once a fortnight for bedding. I really hate laundry. It feels like it rules my life. I spend an hour every single day gathering it all up, sorting it out for drying and then folding it. It is overwhelming. I hate it.

And then when I visit the teenagers' room, I notice the ungrateful toerags haven't put anything away for weeks and half of it is now on the floor!

I spread mine out and do a load most days, sometimes 2. I known people say they can’t do anything on eg a Saturday morning or even all day because they’re doing the washing - I wouldn’t personally want to spend my weekend fun time housebound because of washing. So I keep on top of it by doing a load every day. It’s not too time wasting, put it on when I wake up, by the time I’m making ds breakfast it’s ready to stick in the dryer (some things need to go on the airer but mostly it gets chucked in the dryer). Then a few hours later it’s ready to be put away, 5 minute job.