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Housekeeping

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Original poster

The clothes are taking over the house! Help!!!

29 replies

singalongamumum · 13/10/2010 10:01

Ok, I need tips- the washing is endless, there are always piles of clothes everywhere, sheets and towels nestle in every corner. I recently bought a tumble dryer which has made a big difference but it still feels like I'm battling against the tide.

I have 2 DCs- 9mo and 3yo- so there are 4 of us in the house. Am I missing something? Is there ANYTHING I can do? I feel like I need a system but have no idea where to start!

TIA

OP posts:
dreamingofsun · 13/10/2010 10:07

you need to pile them all in one place - spare room or study? i then sort them when i get a spare 5 mins - maybe once a week. in the meatime i store the clean clothes in washing baskets next to a clothes airer.

SleepingLion · 13/10/2010 10:13

I survive by a strict routine. There are only three of us in the house but we seem to generate lots of washing!

My routine is:
-big laundry basket in the bathroom. Everything that needs washing during the week goes in there.

  • washing is done Friday night and Saturday: clothes, beds changed, towels changed.
  • we tumble (line dry during the summer) as much as we can. Things that don't need ironing are folded and put straight into the airing cupboard. Everything else goes in the ironing basket behind the door in the living room.
  • Sunday night is Ironing Night. It all gets done in one go and then is put in the airing cupboard.
-Airing cupboard emptied Monday morning before school and clothes returned to everyone's drawers/linen and towels to linen box.

Job done!

LittleCheesyPineappleOne · 13/10/2010 10:18

Do you have too many clothes? If they were all clean and put away would you have enough storage for them?

Original poster
singalongamumum · 13/10/2010 12:36

Thanks.

I think we have a lot of clothes, but they would all fit in the cupboards. I think I need to start coordinating the children's wardrobes more, than I wouldn't need so many different combinations of things (easier with DS than DD). Trouble is we've been given a lot of clothes and they don't all match so then I have to buy more so they do!

Don't really have a spare room or much spare space, which I think is half the problem. If it's piled up waiting to be sorted, then it's on a bed/ kitchen surface/ dining table and that's what I find annoying. Oh, for a utility room! I used to wonder why they were such a feature in houses, NOW I SEE!!!!

No way I can leave the washing til the weekend, but I do need to find a better routine for the week. I think I find it hardest to put the children's clothes away, because they are asleep in their beds when I have the time to do it.

Sorry, it's a bit boring going on about this! Thanks for listening :)

OP posts:
sheeplikessleep · 13/10/2010 12:41

I'm the same too, loads of washing generated here.
I tend to wash as/when need to, at least once a day Blush. When it's dried, I sort it downstairs by person, into 4 different piles (and similar clothes together in that pile, i.e. all bodysuits together, all t-shirts together etc, so that when it gets tranferred to the room, all similar clothes are together).

Moreoften, each pile then gets left outside kids bedroom and it's a 2 second job to sort into the drawers when they wake in the morning.

Love hate relationship with washing - I love when it's all done, but hate doing it! Relentless.

DooinMeCleanin · 13/10/2010 12:45

My routineif I was you would be...

Put Cbeebies on/ Plonk 3yo in front of telly. Put 9 month old in cot.

Take washing out of the dryer and put into basket.

Take washing out of washer and put into dryer.

Take basket upstairs. Empty onto bed.

Fill basket with dirty washing.

Take dirty washing to washer...

Go back upstairs and fold clothes into piles according to which drawer/wardrobe they go in.

Put washing away.

Do this once a day. It takes 15 mins tops.

Seona1973 · 13/10/2010 12:48

I wash most days and the wet washing goes onto clothes horses upstairs. (I have a big laundry basket in my bedroom and a smaller washing basket for the kids that lives in the kitchen). When the washing is dry I hang tops on hangers and they get put away (without ironing) and the rest are sorted into 2 washing baskets - 1 for the kids and 1 for me and dh (the baskets live in the room with the clothes horses). The clothes then get put away and as when I get round to it. I iron on a Sunday but I only do 5 shirts for dh, the kids polo shirts for school/nursery and dd's pleated school skirts. I take what needs ironed out of the wardrobes as they have been put away when dried.

peachybums · 13/10/2010 13:20

I have 3 DCS, 8, 3 and 5 mths. We have a lot of washing too as the kids wear clean stuff everyday, DP is pretty good and dosnt seem to change that often Hmm

What we do is have set days for washing so monday is lights, tuesday is darks, wednesday is bedding and thursday is colours. I also have DD2 in cloth nappies and these get done every 2 nights before i go to bed, we dont have a tumble dryer.

I find it best to have a dirty washing basket and a clean basket. Dirty one is in our room and clean in DD1 and DD2 bedroom. When basket is full i will empty it onto DD1 bed and sort it out and put away. Takes a few mins tops, i try to do it just before they go to bed so im not waking them or somtimes saturday mornings before we go out.

jazzandh · 13/10/2010 13:35

My DS is so fast asleep for the first 3 hours at night, that I can easily put his clothes away then. I often put stuff away then....try it with yours - may find it easy.

I wash most days, get as much as possible on washing line (just gets it out of the way).

Comes in - gets sorted into ironing pile, and airing cupboard pile - from where it is put away. Ironing pile - can go in large laundry bag and stored in a cupboard.

Ironing gets done once a week in front of some decent TV, and again gets hung up and put into airing cupboard (steam generator iron - so damp).

It's amazing how much stuff I can hang/ pile in airing cupboard (boiler cupboard) - but it keeps it out of the way.

LittleCheesyPineappleOne · 13/10/2010 14:55

good blog post from today on how to minimise your children's wardrobe.

Original poster
singalongamumum · 13/10/2010 22:47

Thanks for all your tips- I will read them through over the weekend and formulate a plan. I think it is going to involve the purchase of baskets! Grin

OP posts:
Cathycat · 13/10/2010 23:08

We have 6 washing baskets lol! One for each family member. This is what I do (boring but you asked). I go up to the bathroom and fetch and put on a wash before each meal and move the washes on to the dryer then to the dining room. Purposely in the way so it gets done. At 2pm / 8pm I use the dining table and share out the clothes into each family members basket, folded. Each basket gets sent up to their bedroom where the owner (if old enough) puts it away. Baskets then get piled in bathroom and it starts all over again.

bluecardi · 13/10/2010 23:14

Set aside a day to clear the backlog. You'll feel better.

Pippy1900 · 18/10/2021 11:46

I know how you feel. I was once overwhelmed by washing & ironing! I wash every other day - low temp with Persil and vanish pink gets the stains out. Then I tumble dry everything that doesn’t need ironing if T/D like t shirts, vests, babygrows etc. Take them out the TD, flatten them with your hand and fold. It will cut your or ironing down hugely. I do have a utility room - but I was so fed up of family members dragging everything out of their pile, I went through all the ironing and gave away lots of stuff we don’t wear! This cut the ironing down even more. Any reluctance to give away - I put in the attic for a year and if it’s not thought about give away at end of year - if it is needed get it back down and add back into wearable clothing!

Pippy1900 · 18/10/2021 11:49

Can you justify an ironing lady as a one off or regularly? I have a one-off after holidays or if I’m poorly! It isn’t as expensive as you think. We use a fab service, they pick up, iron and return on hangers or all folded in bags where appropriate!

Cynderella · 18/10/2021 20:29
  1. Pack up the clothes, sheets and towels not being used or worn into empty suitcases or vacuum bags. Go minimalist until you have cracked this.
  2. Have homes for all clean clothes and linen.
  3. Wash a load, dry, fold and put away same day. Have one basket/bag for ironing. Iron when full. Towels etc can be washed, dried and put away same day, so they shouldn't be anywhere but bathroom rail, laundry bin or put away.
  4. Iron as little as possible until you have cleared backlog.
MrsMoastyToasty · 18/10/2021 22:19

Get rid of outgrown clothes and threadbare household linens first.
You don't need coordinating clothes for small people, especially when you are home.
Only have enough clothes for the amount of storage you actually have.
The little ones clothes Only need changing when they get stained, nor because they have been in them all day.
Do you have a cupboard for towels and bedding? (We bought an extra wardrobe and put shelves in it as we don't have an airing cupboard or built in storage. ).

MrsGatsby99 · 20/10/2021 04:07
  1. Clear backlog first before doing any more washing so get everything in one room, sort and fold into piles. Swear never to let it happen again. Grin (it always does!)
  2. I do one load every other day. More Washing isn't done until first load is dry (tumble dry/line dry or hang on airer in front of radiator), folded/hung up and put away - that was my mindset shift and i don't do another load until put away the one currently drying. i steam clothes with a small hand steamer that really need it, DH's work shirts are done at dry cleaners!
  3. Maybe set aside a regular time each day for putting washing away. It takes 30 (tedious!) days to build a habit, then it should be on auto.
  4. I do all the folding and smoothing to avoid ironing in one room upstairs, then divide clothes into piles of who they are owned by and place it on each person's bed. Rule is they put them away that day or lose a privilege!

There are loads of good systems with baskets but i don't do that, just prefer to get it away ASAP.

Luckyelephant1 · 20/10/2021 04:33

Really good tips already here but also it might be time to assess whether you are doing too much laundry as well? As in are you washing sheets every other day or something rather than once a week. Also kids clothes can be worn more than once before washing unless stained. Mumsnet will have you believe you need to wash all your sheets, clothes etc on the hour every hour.

BirdyBee · 20/10/2021 04:34

I have my tumble drier and heated airer upstairs that saves it all being piled up downstairs and everyone has their own clean basket

ThePoint678 · 20/10/2021 09:57

Don’t buy new baskets! Scale back on the volume of clothes. Kids need three sets of clothes fit the season and one set of going out/good wear and that’s it! I do a load everyday and usually rather than putting away that one outfit it is worn the following day. You need much less than you think.

KrispyKale · 20/10/2021 09:58

Probably too many clothes, too many changes.

KrispyKale · 20/10/2021 10:08

For the years with small kids I stopped wearing and buying anything handwash or in need of ironing. My DH irons his shirts as needed and mainly moved to wearing polo shirts and sweaters.😂
With kids clothes we tended towards particular colours: one was blue with orange, one was mainly red. That way everything is more able to mix and match and obvious to sort. Now they choose their own clothes but I buy distinguishable socks. That sounds controlling but they now see it helps them sort their own stuff, so I kind of feel vindicated. (But don't tell anyone I told you OP.)

BertieBotts · 25/10/2021 16:16

Starting point I would say.

Gather together the amount of clothes you need for each family member over the course of one week. (Clean or dirty - doesn't matter).

Put them into washing baskets - don't separate colours, people etc just fill one up untit it eyeballs "one washing load". See how many times you can do this. If you want to be even more accurate, you could actually fill the washing machine with each "dummy load" but not turn it on.

Now you know how many loads of washing you need to do per week to stay on top of things. For example mine came up as four. So I try to do 2 every Tuesday and Thursday. I have a whole system with airers and podcasts :o That does not always happen! But it gives me a rough idea of whether I'm on track or not. I also know I can do 5 or more in a week to get ahead or catch up on a backlog.

Don't expect to ever get to Laundry Zero. It's OK to have stuff in the system.

Agree with avoiding anything complicated to wash, and ditch ironing, or restrict to things like shirts for adults only.

Beamur · 25/10/2021 16:23

Laundry is just one of those relentless jobs.
3 of us in the house. I do at least one wash a day. DD wears clean clothes daily and will only use a towel once. Beds changed once a week. Plus pet beds
I just slot it in along with everything else. Washing on in the morning. Fold up dry clothes from airer daily. Put away daily. Tumble dry towels. Ironing maybe 2/3 times a week usually while watching TV and chatting with DD. It's never a 2 minute job though. I reckon at least half an hour everyday to keep on top of it