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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Tell me about your laundry system

16 replies

Bumperlicious · 22/10/2010 19:31

We are really crap at keeping on top of laundry, doing it, but mainly putting it away. DD1's room is full of laundry yet to be put away, and clothes she has worn but not dirty enough to be washed yet (please no debates about the morality of re-wearing clothes Grin.

Could really do with some tips for keeping on top of it without being a slave to it. Something more than stop being such a lazy cow. For reference I have a newborn & a 3 year old.

OP posts:
RuthChan · 22/10/2010 19:49

I do at least one load of laundry everyday.
I use washable nappies, so I have to keep on top of it to avoid running out of those.
When I take the dry washing down I fold it and put it into a pile for each member of the family.
When the piles get to a reasonable size they get put away in the correct drawers in each person's room.

With regards to semi-worn clothes. I agree with you. I don't wash items that have only been worn for a short time. My DD changes her clothes up to 4 or even 5 times a day so that wouldn't be realistic.
If the clothes are clean enough to be worn again, they are clean enough to go back in the drawer. Otherwise they get washed.

MaudOHara · 22/10/2010 20:09

Dont know why but i cant bear to put worn clothes back in drawers / wardrobe so they go on a hanger and get hung on back of door.

We've got a monster sized washing machine and dryer so tend to do a load every other day then a couple at the weekends to do school uniform.

If its dry weather then it goes on the line if not then on indoor airers / hangers etc then when almost dry a quick tumble to get the creases out and then put it away - I reckon you could probably get your 3 year old to help with a fair bit of it Wink

Hassled · 22/10/2010 20:13

We keep wearing clothes until they need washing - in my case, because I'm like that, this usually means at the end of the day. But there isn't really any scope for "pending" clothes in this house - back of a chair at a push but I usually take the line that if a jumper's not dirty you just wear the same jumper the next day until it is dirty.

I do a wash daily, and about twice a week do a sort. One sort is stuff that can go straight upstairs without ironing, and then the next sort involves actual ironing. It all goes upstairs and away immediately because otherwise it becomes hideous (I've been there).

BadPoet · 22/10/2010 21:30

I wash daily, and sort out dry load from the day before. non-iron stuff goes straight upstairs, sorted into piles on my bed and put away (usually as kids brush their teeth etc at night). Iron stuff goes in a basket which sit on the machine and waits for my twice weekly ironing session, then put away.

Worn but not dirty clothes go on the radiator (kids) or chair in bedroom (mine and dh's). DD's at school so her pinafore and cardi tend just to hang around on a downstairs radiator until she needs fresh ones.

This is how it works (in theory Wink) now. When I had a 3yr old and a pukey newborn in cloth nappies I did two loads a day, dried it wherever and however I could and never ironed anything. There was always at least one big pile waiting to be dealt with and I was often fishing through them for something to wear. Cut yourself some slack! Smile

invisibleink · 22/10/2010 21:33

I have the same system as BadPoet, except I try and iron daily as I hate it and short bursts is best or I just putit off and then end up having no clothes!! I have a 5 yo, 3 yo and 5mth old.

Crazycatlady · 22/10/2010 21:55
  • All dirty laundry into laundry room every morning (2 mins)
  • 1-2 loads per day - 1 before work, 1 after (10 mins)
  • Once dry, non-iron stuff gets folded in the evening before dinner. (5 mins)
  • Ironing twice a week for 1/2 hr while dinner cooks
  • Putting away clean, folded clothes and linen - 2-3 times per week in the evening (10 mins)
  • DH looks after bringing laundry down every morning and carrying clean stuff back up. I look after washing, drying, folding, ironing.
  • DH knows that neatly folded piles of clothes on the table means he needs to take them upstairs... DD's clean stuff gets put away as we get her ready for bed and then we then both put our own clean stuff away before bed
Original poster
Bumperlicious · 22/10/2010 22:03

Thanks for the replies.

Badpoet we are definitely in the rooting through the basket phase. Does help that my mother helpfully took all my dirty laundry home to wash when dd was a week old (& both dd1 & dh had had vomiting bugs) but 3 weeks on hasn't had a chance to come back up! So we all have barely any clothes!

I do keep sorting piles out on my bed, getting interrupted halfway through then being too knackerd by bed time to finish so pile it back in the basket.

OP posts:
LillianGish · 22/10/2010 22:10

I usually do one load a day to keep on top of it all (sometimes more depending on drying conditions). If it's clean enough to be worn again it's clean enough to go back in the drawer/wardrobe and I'm all in favour of wearing stuff as many times as poss before washing. At the end of the day (bathtime) clothes go either in the laundry basket or back in the cupboard - your three-year-old could start to help with the basket bit. I iron as little as possible (dh's shirts are main job) and try to do it when listening to The Archers - so never more than 15 mins! Clean laundry goes straight away. Important to have enough space for everything to facilitate putting things away - I have frequent throw outs of clothes which are too small/too worn out and pack away unseasonal items in suitcases to make more space. I think sometimes not putting stuff away is just a case of not having enough hangers/drawer space - something easily fixed.

Original poster
Bumperlicious · 23/10/2010 11:26

Thanks for the tips.

I don't do ironing as a rule so not worried about that. It's just finding the time to put all the washing away. I have a load to do then a load of washing on and I think 'oh I'll wait till that load is done' and it just builds up. Is little and often the key?

OP posts:
DuelingFanjo · 23/10/2010 11:33

I pick dirty stuff off the floor and try to put it into the laundry basket then at the weekends do a few loads. However if it's dry in the week I will try to get loads done then so I can hang them out to dry while I am at work. Never really use our tumble dryer.

If it's not a good day I dry stuff on a clothes horse or radiators then fold them and put them away or leave them in piles in the spare room for ironing as we need them and if they need ironing.

ShrinkingViolet · 23/10/2010 11:35

do you have enough space to put everything away (in the freak event that everything is washed dried and folded in one go? if not, then you need to cull stuff/get more storage.
Once there is enough space for things, it's a lot easier to put it away.

Yes, little and often is the key, also recognising that it's a laundry cycle, so it's never going to be completely finished, just finished for today.

I try to do a load a day, but finishe that sycle for that load, so by the end of the say it's dried and ironed (am a bit of an ironing freak though). Obviously durign the winter it may take till the next day to dry, but that's OK, so long as I've done what needs to be done today - and if I need to airer for the stuff in the washing machine, it's as easy to iron/fold the stuff from yesterday and put it in piles for people to take upstairs and put away (my DC are older though) as it is to find a surface to put it down on [do do laundry but don't do clearing sirfaces slattern emoticon].

ShrinkingViolet · 23/10/2010 11:37

oh FGS, cycle, day, surfaces [we need a spell check smiley]

KatyMac · 23/10/2010 11:37

I might get slapped for this but.....

I put it on the floor in the bathroom & it miraculously appears back in my wardrobe ironed & everything

If you want more details I might consider asking DH how he does it but tbh I think that might open up a can of worms I wish to leave unopened.....sorry

mousymouse · 23/10/2010 11:40

I have 3 laundry baskets

  • towels and washcloths
  • darks
  • lights
when a basket is full I wash, which is about every other day, couldn*t cope with more drying anyway. I fold and pack away the clean clothes just before hanging up the newly washed laundry.
cece · 23/10/2010 12:01

1 wash per day here.

Usually on a roatating cycle of;

whites
coloureds
black stuff
towels
bed clothes

then back to the beginning.

Sometimes this is rudely interupted by sport kit loads after the weekend.

I then dry on airer or out on a line.

Fold up once a day. Put into piles allocated to each person or linen cupboard.

This is then taken upstairs to bigger piles on the landing... when they are too big someone snaps and puts some stuff away.

2madboys · 23/10/2010 12:12

I do a load each day. Monday - whites, Tuesday - coloureds, Wednesday - towels, Thursday - dark stuff/black, Friday - Bedding and Reds/pinks. I wash overnight on economy 7 and then into the dryer in the morning before 8 to get that on Economy 7. I do ironing usually at 8am while my boys read their school books before we go out.

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