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?

or even beds

put a wash on after everyone is dressed in morning. after school run put washing on line or tumble dry if raining and then to toddlers. clothes dry by evening so ironed and put away that night. if not that night first thing in morning!! ( ps also lucky to live in oz with sep laundry room and good weather!!)

I work full-time, as does DH. We are scrupulous with washing. Piles are verboten here.

Every day, we do one load of washing. We stick it in as soon as we get home. Then we hang it up before we go to bed. Then we put it away in the morning. There are three loads of washing on Fridays because that's when the kitbags (of which there are between 5 and 10) come home.

We do cheat a little bit, in that we have a cleaning lady. The cleaning lady strips and changes the beds every week, and this involves her doing an extra three loads. She also does all the ironing, so things that need ironing (of which there are not many due to careful buying) that have been washed in the week are hung up waiting for her arrival.

Twelve loads of washing a week for a family of four. Easy.

OMG I only do 2-3 loads a week! I wear something for 1-2 days and then put it in the basket, and then wash it, and I do my sheets once a week.

I am jealous of the laundry-fairy MIL. Last year while mine was on holiday DH and I did all her laundry. There were piles and piles everywhere, about 8 overflowing laundry baskets and more stuff heaped in the scullery so you couldn't even see the floor.

About 15 loads of washing later and several hours of ironing and pairing socks, it was all done. Needless to say the house was back to its usual state a week after MIL's return.

I don't know how it gets like that. There's just her and FIL in the house!

There are two things I forgot to mention, which are quite essential IMO.

Firstly - the only things that get worn more than once are suits and school uniform blazers/skirts/shorts. These get dry cleaned or washed weekly.

Secondly - one of the best ways of getting husbands/partners/anyone-but-you managing these things is to subcontract the task completely. Make your other halves responsible for all washing. They'll relish the new responsibility. You can look on lovingly and supportively and wield the odd can of stain remover as required.

lol at " easy" when someone else does the worst bit!

Oh I've just discovered the other benefit of sub-contracting all responsibility for laundry.

You get to post smugly about the very efficient state of your laundry while your dp/dh is doing the laundry.

I've got one decent cupboard in my house (in the bathroom) and that's where all my laundry is hidden. The dirty washing basket is under the shelf and the stuff for ironing is on the shelf. Usually it is piled so high it all falls out when I open the door, but visitors wouldn't know that .
I'm ok this time of year because I can hang things out to dry in the garden, but for some reason nothing will dry at all out there in the winter so I have to have a rack at the top of the stairs as there's nowhere else to put it (nowhere to put a tumble drier either). Then I have to be super-organised to avoid being swamped! It is doable though, as long as I do a wash every day. Occasionally I will put something on a radiator but try to avoid it as it makes the house damp.

Hang things in the garden?
We are on about our 20th day of monsoon here...

I used to have huge piles of washing, now we have 2 kittens who love to sit on anything comfy so I have to put them away lol.

I have an American size washing machine and dryer - they can take a duvet if necessary (and oh boy is it necessary on occasion...). I also have a huge Lakeland airer. So the washing pile goes down fairly quickly.

I must confess though that i also have a lady to come in and do the washing and ironing one day a week. She srips the beds and washes and re-makes them, and does towels and then anything in the hamper. I will have done a few loads in between though

You should not run washing machines and especially tumble dryers at night as they can catch fire. Fire brigade told me that.
But then the electricity is cheaper.

I tend to wear things until they are visibly dirty, but have a 2 year old and a DH who likes clean t shirts. Our pile is pretty big. We can't put the machine on over night as we live in an old flat and have no outside so just 2 airers which make our living room feel like a laundrette.

What is worse than the overflowing laundry basket is the piles of clean washing waiting to be put away. It makes me want to shoot myself.

I just wouldn't think to put the washing machine on at night, because I'm not around to check when the cycle is finished. I like the clothing to come straight out the machine and hung up ASAP. So for me it has to be done during the day.

Do a wash once a week (whites, colours and darks). Air dries inside if it's raining (like recently!) and takes an age to dry! Also use the radiators in the house in the wintertime to dry clothes.

I have never heard of anyones washing machine catching fire. I often put mine on and then go out. I also put stuff in the oven and go out and the house has never caught fire.

I have a half drum I inherited when we moved, bastard thing won't break.

Ideal Home featured a review of a washing machine with a special quiet mode for overnight washing [dreams]

I wonder that too Fairnuff. Other people don't seem to drown it in like I do.

My washing machine is on most days, but I'm always always doing some washing realted job or another. Always And if I take my eye off the ball for a day it immediately seems to turn into a bigger nightmare.

I don't leave the machine on overnight if possible. I am the exception to the rule here in that my mum's washing machine caught fire once, so I worry it can happen. Same with tumble dryers.

Putting clean laundry away is my most hated job. We're v short of space and it's horrible shoe-horning it into cupboards, especially when I've spent ages ironing it.

I think we just must have minimal clothing, it gets washed, dried and put straight away?

I dry clothes on hangers either outside on the line or inside on the dining room curtain rail so just socks, pants & misc to sort out.

Bedding gets washed, dried & put back on the same day.

6 of us here, I wash most days.

I'm lucky I work from home so it is easy to take advantage of a blustery day or a couple of hours of sunshine to get some washing dry. If it starts to rain I can drop everything and dash out to get it! Also, I don't like having the machine on if I'm not around because I've heard about the fire thing too. Even if that wasn't the case I couldn't have it on at night as it would be far too noisy.

I sub-conracted ironing a fe years back and DH now does it all. He enjoys the whole in/out pile, a bit like being at work :D Plus he gets to spend an hour or two on his own on a Sunday morning, downstairs listening to the radio or iPod.

PMSL at those saying how easy it is but then getting someone else to do it.
Also at people wearing/using clean stuff everyday, the only thing here thats changed everyday are socks, pants and flannels because we have baths and showers and the grownups use deodorant.

I know the causes of my washing mountains
they are;
too many clothes,
having an inbuilt urge to iron,
DH and I having no wardrobes afetr three years here,
and having a laundry room because its too easy to shove everything in it meaning it needs more ironing even though I try and do clever folding.

My problem is also having an inbuilt urge to iron, but not the will to get on and do it

Too many clothes is def a factor too. We've got that problem as well I think.

God there is no hope..

I'm the same, I usually have a mammoth session, a whole Archers or Come Dine With Me omnibus worth, but then I don't put it away or worse theres so much it won't fit in the drawers etc so it ends up in a pile on the floor

fold straight from drier. Only my (pink) working shirts are ironed round here