liner for laundry basket

[div22c]

I bought a corner bin which doesnt have a cotton liner. I am using the plastic bag that came inside it as a liner since it's a bit tedious to carry the whole bin up and down the stairs. Of late I find that moist clothes at the bottom of the bin have mould growing (I usually do laundry at weekends )...and the mould leaves stains that dont budge. Aside from the 'yuck' factor of mouldy clothes, perfectly good clothes are getting ruined. Prefer to avoid doing laundry mid week as I work full time. Is it possible to buy a liner separately...have looked around in a few places but no luck. It's a roughly 3ft high bin. Any suggestions ladies?

just realised the title should have been 'liner for laundry BIN'...d'oh

so I live with mould-stained clothes? please help

I'm not sure if I can help as I'm just browsing this section but am really not a good housekeeping kind of gal! But I hate unanswered threads.

I use a wicker laundry basket which damp (not wet) and dry clothes get thrown into during week. Then each sat morning I sit down next to basket, empty it out and sort washing into the 3, 4 or 5 piles, wrapping each pile up in the biggest item, then I only carry downstairs 1 pile at a time when I'm about to wash it. The rest stay on landing upstairs which is useful as a reminder to do them that day!

I don't think you need a liner as such, but I wouldn't put wet clothes in any laundry basket before I've dried them over bannisters. See? Clothes hanging around drying on bannisters - def not a good housekeeper!

lol walkingonsunshine (like your name by the way)...see i've always tossed damp clothes into my laundry bin but earlier it was a wicker basket with a cotton liner. This one is steel (with small holes all over) with a plastic liner ...well i am using a plastic liner, dont think it was meant to be used this way. so am guessing the mould factor is directly attributable to the change in the bin/ bin liner. cant do laundry daily as am working full time, guess will either have to replace my bin or keep hunting for a cotton liner (or like you dry out the clothes before tossing them in). of course earlier damp clothes were just knickers (i like to rinse out the gusset before throwing them in with all the other clothes...i know, i am crazy), now there are loads of my toddler's clothes which i have rinsed various food stains out of.

thanks, I like my name too! 'tis my fav song to have on my ipod during a run

How funny - I have never thought about rinsing mucky toddler clothes, or gussets that is so funny! But you probably have beautifully unstained clothes whereas my boys used to run around looking like little urchins in their stained t-shirts.

The reason I told you about the sorting-on-the-floor bit was that because of that I don't need any sort of liner in my bin as I don't carry dirty clothes downstairs in 1 go. Why do you need a liner at all? Even if you like to sort downstairs you could just wrap in a big towel. A liner seems to complicate it all.

I just sewed a really simple one out of a cheap bit of canvas and attached with velcro.

Works fine and you can wash it.

yeah think i'll do a combination of both your suggestions...use the bin without a liner, sort on bathroom floor and carry down the ones i intend to wash. try my hand at making one on my own....can manage simple repair jobs on the sewing machine, never tried anything more complex, but will give it a shot. thanks both!

btw i wish it was true but my daughter's clothes are no less stained...tried all manner of things but thats a topic for a different thread i guess. started pre-rinsing the muck off clothes as anything that was stuck on used to stay put...wouldnt come off in the washing machine. i even got some of those lakeland washing balls that you put in the drum alongwith the clothes...no difference!

If you are using a plastic bag to line a laundry bin, then things that are damp will go mouldy if left for more than a day.

The wicker on it's own will allow air.

You need air to circulate and thus stop the mould.

Neat vodka gets rid of mould. I am sad to say.

Thanks Mrs Crafty - thats what I suspected (though my bin is steel and not wicker)...have removed the plastic liner. And will try and sew a liner myself someday. Hopefully the metal is good quality and wont rust.

neat vodka...hmmm

We put wet or damp clothes straight into the washing machine, where they stay until I am next doing a wash (which is fairly frequently!).

Thats a good no-fuss method Lotkin, but then you would have to take them out again to sort before you wash them? Also, the bathroom is upstairs whereas the washing machine is downstairs...so may not be too workable in my house.

We do a lot of undressing in the kitchen .And yes, I do need to take most of them out before washing them.

But I've also got a 3 year old that has been known to play hide in the laundry basket whilst waiting to be found during hide and seek.