To wonder why other people's homes don't have huge washing piles?

[Fairynufff]

Do you remember the pictures in Ruplestiltskin of the rooms filled with straw? Well my house looks like that - but with washing instead of straw. I feel like it's a full time job just managing it, and I don't even iron!

No one else I know seems to have the same problem. They all have lives, spend time with their kids and have full time jobs? What do they do with it all? What secret to they know that I don't?

just have one set of sheets
wash and dry in a day
ppiss easy

hmm

wash em when sunny

I agree completely with BadgersArse as an objective (I more often than not stick fitted sheets straight back on the bed) but I do have some extra fitted sheets in case of sick children etc.

yes really naff old ones
we have one set ourselves

It's not the sheet, it's the duvet cover. I thought I'd give it a whirl as I never normally bother but they're plain white egyptian cotton and I wanted to keep them looking lovely. Didn't work. I'm not cut out for this.

It's all in the folding melmog.
I fold in half and then in half again then with a hot, steamy iron press all visible sides, if a crease appears spray it then iron it out.
Or you could but egyptian cotton seersucker sheets like me because they look better unironed

Thanks notso, I like your style!

Wait til they come home from uni with binbags full of the stuff and then leave it for YOU to wash and iron whilst they go out partying. I am a really strict mum and said i wouldnt do it but i cant stand the washing lying around waiting to be ironed. God help their wives in years to come.

'Wait til they come home from uni with binbags full of the stuff and then leave it for YOU to wash and iron whilst they go out partying. God help their wives in years to come.'

Yes, especially when mums treat their sons like masters.

If they come home from 'uni' at all and have loads of stuff you can better believe a) there's no way in hell I'm going to wash it b) if they want to use my machine they're going to have to pay for it.

I'll take orders till the day I die for my living, but it won't be coming off any child I raised to think I - or their spouse - is their personal skivvy-for-free.

I agree expatinscotland, I'd never let any woman or man for that matter have to train my children like I've had to train dh.

Anyway once at uni my dc will be unable to come home because Dh and I are going to sell up and tour the world in a camper van.

As the mother of 3 DSs I think I have a duty to teach them that if the washing needs doing they do it themselves!

We don;t have piles, we have drifts

I do, I just hide my ironing in our bedroom

I have a massive pile of dirty washing.
I usually hide it away if i have vistiors but totally forgot the other day.

said vistitor was LewisFan. I was mortified when i turned round and noticed!

My brother came home from uni once with a massive holdall full of clothes. At the bottom were several football kits, which were put in the bag damp. Half the clothes were mouldy, you can imagine the smell.

He blithely thought that mum would wash the lot. She took one look at it, yelled at him for being a lazy so and so, and refused to let any of it in her washing machine. She sent him packing down the laundrette! He never did that again.

I am very lucky in my house with storage - I have a huge laundry/storage/utility room, a dressing room where all our clothes and the ironing board are kept, a massive outhouse and loads of cupboards and drawers everywhere. If I didn't have that the house would be a mess, I know.

I used to live in a lovely Victorian house with a larder - it was lovely, I really miss that larder. I don't miss the house though, as beautiful as it was it was always, always freezing cold. Even though the (60s) house I live in now is as ugly as sin, at least it is warm and has plenty of room.

I have god only knows how many sheet sets - probably more than 10, but I only regularly use a couple of sets (some are vile and need ironing - I aint ironing sheets, that's where I draw a line!)

Yes it's a full time job laundry. I wash almost non-stop. DH and two boys aged 14 and just 17 and as grubby as ever. Put clean jeans on and then roll around on lawn as I (yes me again) mow the lawn. Worn for 20 mins and massive grass stains. I find you need to be organised for it not to take over. One dirty washing basket and me constantly peering in. When washed into separate drier or line or on umbrella stand in kitchen. When dry, fold and into ironing basket in utility room. Iron almost every day and I don't iron everything. Spend half my life on laundry. I iron when the basket is full or my son needs clean school trousers-every day!!. Men don't know how lucky they are.Mine do. I keep telling them! I heard something the other day about women being men's carers and it made me quite angry for a while because it's true. I went from caring for my dad and 3 brothers to being the carer for DH and two sons.

Not long ago I reached 'Laundry Zen'. The only things not washed AND ironed, were those currently being worn. Seriously. It was bliss. It was only possible though because we had such good weather and I managed to get everything in the washer, out on the line and put away quickly.

Also, line drying is best because of the smell (I just love it!) and also it reduces the need for ironing.

It is non-stop though. And if it's raining, we're buggered. I dread to think how we'd cope without a spare bedroom to hang it all up in while it's drying.

My eldest is 3 - when is too young to expect them to do it themselves???

Christief - if it annoys you so much why don't you tell them to take a turn with the washing rather than just telling them how lucky they are? Telling them they are lucky tends to go in one ear and out the other most of the time (well in our house anyway
) Don't waste your energy being too resentful.

I get irritated sometimes about my doing the washing but then I'm a bit possessive of my washing machine I just know they would break it if they got their hands on it and then we'd be up the creek without a paddle.

I'm not resentful at all. I'm sure anyone can work a washer and an iron, but I know for sure they couldn't keep up with the volume of washing. I actually enjow washing and ironing and my family have been shown how to work all machines. Sometimes it just feels non-stop.

Someone explain the spin speed thing to me - stuff comes out of my washing machine so creased am I washing on too fast a spin? Or too slow?

I am at work, but know I will go home to my unmade bed and 4 piles of washing on my bedroom floor. The stuff in the machine didn't finish before I left so that will be nice and smelly when I do eventually get it out of the machine. Plus I still haven't done the beds this week (yet again!!) if I don't do 2 loads a day I then end up with a back log, and things like towels and bedding never seem to get done. It is also time consuming hanging it all up , on the line or on an airer, but it seems to stay fresh for longer if it is dried outdoors as opposed to the tumbler, although I do stick the under wear in there, the only plus is my husband does all the ironing!